practice

drummer 96

Junior Member
I'm 17 years old and in high school and i was basically just wondering if there's anything i could do in class to practice that isn't loud or anything. I couldn't think of anything and I'm trying to go to college for drums so i want to get in as much practice as possible.
 
If you're interested in playing heel down, you could do extreme toe lifts to build the muscle in the front of your shin. Do about 300 at a time, both feet.
 
you can do rudiments with both feet - singles, doubles, paradiddles...
But do this only in health, spanish, art or history class and at lunch....pay attention in math and science lol.
 
Here's another suggestion, get a metronome with a flashing LED light, turn the sound down and look at the flashing light and tap silently with your hands and/or feet to the Tables of Time, that would be a very good use of your time.
 
Use your class time to do all of your class work and homework. That way when you get home you'll have time to devote to true correct practice. That is the strategy my oldest took during his high school years and he's off to a top tier conservatory in the fall.
 
Yup, you can practice playing Tacet bars.

Practice being fully where you are and doing what's necessary in that moment.

Attention and focus are your most important tools as a musician. And it's not even close.

So, stop dithering around, driving everyone else around you to distraction and being a general nuisance. Show up on time, be relaxed, still and quiet and speak when you have something relevant to ask or say. Contribute intelligently and listen more. Listen more. When given a task, go diligently about your work. Help others with theirs once you've completed it. Be excellent at being in class.

I 100% Money Back Guarantee that will make you a much better musician.

Oh, and provide rim shots if anyone says anything funny.
 
When you're in class, you need to concentrate on your class.

Dan

Use your class time to do all of your class work and homework. That way when you get home you'll have time to devote to true correct practice. That is the strategy my oldest took during his high school years and he's off to a top tier conservatory in the fall.

Echo these, I take drum practice very seriously but I'd be incandescent if anybody was so impolite as to practice during any lesson that I taught!

Plus what Boomka said - very eloquently put.
 
Last edited:
Yup, you can practice playing Tacet bars.

Practice being fully where you are and doing what's necessary in that moment.

Attention and focus are your most important tools as a musician. And it's not even close.

So, stop dithering around, driving everyone else around you to distraction and being a general nuisance. Show up on time, be relaxed, still and quiet and speak when you have something relevant to ask or say. Contribute intelligently and listen more. Listen more. When given a task, go diligently about your work. Help others with theirs once you've completed it. Be excellent at being in class.

I 100% Money Back Guarantee that will make you a much better musician.

Oh, and provide rim shots if anyone says anything funny.

. .
 

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I nominate what Boomka wrote for 'post of the month'.
 
The heel down practice with your feet is a great idea. Even if you play heel up on the pedals, part of what's going on is in the ankles and that'll do some good for sure. And if it's loud, heel up will work too (I used to do that during lunch in the cafeteria).

Using your hands on your legs is a fantastic wrist isolater, that'll do you lots of good too.

Not that you might get away with this, but I used to drum on the front of my shoes in the back row of my driver's ed class. I learned some good flam stuff and still haven't wrecked a car! (knock on wood).
 
One of the most beneficial practice things I've done over the years is practice playing bass drum parts with my left foot while driving a car. The cars I've owned have all had a rest plate for the left foot that makes a loud enough noise to be audible above the radio. I can play bass drum with my left foot if I had to, and my left foot independence/coordination playing hi-hat patterns improved by leaps and bounds.
 
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