Natural Speed

soccer383

Junior Member
So I recently saw this interview of Tony Royster Jr. where he explained that his speed (in his singles specifically) came very natural to him, to the point where he would surprise himself. He talked about how when he would practice, he would imagine in his mind the sound of a fast roll and then somehow, almost magically, he would be able to play it. I thought that was really interesting seeing as how there are certain speeds I sure can imagine myself playing but can't actually physically do it. Any thoughts on this so called "natural" speed? I'm sure there is something with his muscle development, or maybe the fact that he was such a drum prodigy at such a young age played some kind of factor into all of this.
 
... or maybe the fact that he was such a drum prodigy at such a young age played some kind of factor into all of this.

Bingo! I think that applies to any kind of practice that is started very early in life. If you start young and stick with it, things will seem to come naturally.

In his case there would be other factors too but I think this is the main one. I'd speculate that most people wished they'd started drumming earlier.
 
i can totally see where tony is coming from, well sorta. i imagine this amazing fast drumming and then i sit down at the kit and remember im me, and then i cry ;)
 
Sure it's completely natural... Just not to all but to _some_ of us ;-) Including Tony. Excluding me.

There seems to be some analogy to other musicians... Take e.g. Shawn Lane (RIP) in the guitar world. Shawn said himself he feels his nervous system is extreme or something to that extent. Watch/hear him play and then compare this guy to the ordinary guitarist... worlds apart.
 
Last edited:
It's all in the mind, you know...

This calls to mind something that happened to me very recently. I would say my limit for relatively clean single strokes with my feet is about 150bpm at the moment (16ths). Yet during a rehearsal recently I played a whole 16-bar chorus at 190bpm and it was absolutely fine...clean, relaxed, everything. And everyone in the band was surprised, including me. What can account for this?
 
I started playing at 21 years old. I wish I would have started when I was 2 because it's incredible difficult to get my old muscles to learn something new. I wish I would have been playing drums in middle and high school band. Heck, 8 years later and I'm still working my paradiddles up to speed.
 
Tony Royster Jr is certainly one of this gifted musicians who had dexterity at the drums from a very young age, but unless you work on that gift/talent, it won't happen, and Tony has practiced very seriously his chops and rudiments on the kit, and used methods such as the moeller technique to push his extraordinary skills even further, it's not just all natural speed, there is serious dedication and practice behind it as well. :)
 
Back
Top