3 Reasons Your Drum Feels Sucks (And What to Do)

[@drumyak2339]

The worst is when you think you're in the zone and you watch back and you're not. It's basically cry in corner of the shower time at that point.

[@vaughanxaviermusic]

Fr bro. Fr

[@ChickkPeaBbygOrl]

Me

[@MassholeDrums]

Bro seriously. That happens to me too much I've noticed the more I record myself the less that's the case though. Recording and listening to it forces you to focus more on your timing and precision

[@Max-dd4ow]

You should do a lesson on “the best songs for beginning jazz drummers”

[@SimonLopezPsymon]

Totally agree !

[@richwatts8824]

Agree

[@kaderblaine]

Agree. If you do, could you include some for brushes as well?

[@joshuahaydt7553]

Here's an upvote.

[@Sn00ze]

Yes

[@rasm0225]

Reason 2 and Omegle is like the coke/Pepsi challenge. In a small sample, people prefer the more sugary option. But no club is going to play non-stop chops. If the Omegle guy had them listen to 5 min of chops or 5 min of groove, people would take groove.

[@jensbaumann7958]

I also feel like playing a really tight groove is not that appreciated anymore since people hear programmed beats all the time. To be able to play a strong beat is quite hard but from a non drummer/musician not considered "impressiv".

[@veroman34]

omegle guy is ZachGrooves and his channel is really worth a watch btw

[@t3hgir]

@@jensbaumann7958 Death to cicada hihats and other programmed drum tropes

[@jacobdejongh9042]

This is the perfect video. Every point made is accurate and described articulately and I'm so glad this channel exists.

[@aavila1206]

This is my favorite lesson you’ve done. As a bassist my mind is on groove not flash and when a drummer grooves man oh man the possibilities are endless with the 2.

[@earldrum]

Feel (Groove) gets you gigs and chops get you views! It’s a new paradigm! All great working drummers have feel, some may also have chops. Groove is how we fit our drumming into the music ... playing with other musicians.... to get gigs it must feel good! Impressive Chops don’t get you gigs, unless that’s what the rest of the musicians want from you. Most song writers want their song to feel good, your chops may get you noticed, but if the feel suffers then you won’t keep the gig. Bottom line play with musicians, learn to leave space to groove, and hold the chops back for your Instagram or KZbin channel!

[@exquisitecorpse4917]

I'm a near beginner with no chops, got gigs by playing pocket, paradiddles, and baby's first fills, and I keep getting called back. It's amazing what you can do just by showing up on time (sober) and staying in the pocket.

[@earldrum]

@@exquisitecorpse4917 ... I agree, being on time and being dependable is a very important part of getting and keeping gigs! You learned a valuable lesson! 👍🏻🤘🏻✌🏻

One thing to add here is one from your 80/20 course: "Think of the drum kit as an orchestra of separate instruments." Each of them needs equal attention in order to make the orchestra feel and sound good. I paraphrased it ofc but it stuck in my mind so much i think of it every time i sit down to play.

[@joaquinvildosola]

Haha you are the best Nate, not only a problem solving master, a learning engineer, an amazing coach but, cherry on top, very entertaining! Thank you

[@chrisbardolph]

I have nothing but respect for the subtle feel of the drums. I've played for several years in a funk/soul/dance band as the bass player, and have played with a number of different drummers. People subbing etc. And sometimes things just.... fit. It's effortless. Other times you feel like you're constantly finding your spot in the groove, and at the end of the gig you're mentally tired. It's hard to put your finger on it exactly but there are some very subtle things going on in the recipe of a groove.

[@zakstoldt4708]

DUUUDE! Love the honesty in this one. Great opportunity for self examination. Thanks for bringing up this convo and sharing some wisdom.

[@DrummerIvanB]

Next level is to sing the hi hat part w out playing it then sing the bass drum w out playing then sing the snare w out playing it, then sing the down beats then the up beats while playing. This will tighten you up like never before!

[@360.Tapestry]

interesting tip. i'll give it a shot

[@augareth]

Ouch Nate, stop being mean! (replace the word mean with HONEST) and while I'm at it, how are you inside my head and know what I'm NOT doing??? I needed this video on day 1, you're 14yrs late, that's on you!.

[@jamesblace5761]

But Honest sounds boring and less entertaining, just look at zack grooves, he insults his Audience all the time, they seem to like it😅

[@tomaszmikinka8681]

Chopps gives You thrills. Pocket pays Your bills.

[@drummerdovas756]

Your aproach seems great, the importance of what to practice cannot be overstated. A clear system + consistency gives the best results

[@briantopps5638]

I practice pocket all the time. Its essential to sounding tight even with your band. You've got nothing to loose. You can only get better

[@Chiroman527]

"Common, It's Rushing"... "Don't Ever Do That Again"... Classic lines so applicable. So many great drummers, makes me feel so small. BUT , I'm just an 70 Year Old, retired guy who plays for Recreational fun. I resurrected drumming in my life after 50 YEARS (1969). I can't touch these guys, but However, I would love to be able to come close to Steve Gaad on Aja. I now have a better understanding of the key Phrases: CHOPS, POCKET< GROOVES .... Thx 80/20 !

[@Spike_365]

I feel as if my feel feels like i need to work on my feel. That’s how i feel

[@TruthAndMoreTruth]

If you play an edrum kit, open a DAW app, play along to a generic bass, chord track, and record the MIDI data as you play along. This lets you see that actual note placement and the velocity with incredible detail. I thought I was rushing, but I was actually dragging. *Note: if your velocity is maxing out on any of the drums, fix the sensitivity on that pad. This is common with the bass drum.

[@rexwave4624]

Bass player here, discovering the same things.

[@dannorris642]

I'd like to state that even us seasoned church drummers struggle with this. Feel and pursuit of good time is a life-long quest. For me, being a rhythmic guide to other musicians helps me. I might be able to come up with a really slick groove for a tune, but if our the worship leader or our golden-aged pianist have a hard time following it, I might have to simplify things to help them with their time.

[@360.Tapestry]

you're not alone. our rhythm guitarist starts most songs and she seems to only know one kind of strumming pattern and no feel for letting certain notes hang. she's fairly consistent and reliable, but she plays like a robot and not very musical

[@timothymckenna1702]

Love your drum channel! So reel and informative!

[@360.Tapestry]

my feel improved when i started working on my stick handling technique - for a long time, i didn't think it was that important, but stick control and feel there translates all over it's just a few super basic drills, but i think it is a key differentiator between noob drummers and serious students who have a crisp touch and i'm just saying this after weeks of work. who knows how and what else will develop and what i'll uncover on the journey

[@sleepyancient6655]

One of my favourite songs to play to (Days by Flow) is all about groove, and it's quite the dramatic piece. It's not a hard song to play, but playing perfectly in sync with it is somewhat challenging and feels amazing. It's a great practice song for practicing pocket. Otherside by Mikeschair is another great groove song. Granted, live with other people is the best way to learn, but I find these two songs work because placing the beats where they are on paper works as groove (helps get the feel down)... if that makes sense to you?

[@MiddleMalcolm]

So many players... and NOT just drummers, don't practice and focus on groove and feel! I have had many overconfident students get deflated after showing off their "chops", when I puzzle them with an "easy", medium tempo groove. Immediate redirect in their practice time. LOL

[@MartinTrappen]

8:34 It must've been the 'stache! That's the secret to the groove!

[@hermanmelville3871]

The great Fred Dinkins once told me, "if you can't dance to it, how can you expect the audience to?"

[@melvinondrums7034]

Dude P.iT alumni?? Fred is killer man .

[@HR2635]

you are correct.. ghost notes..or a great internal subdivision "clock" is key..

[@two-eyesmckay1400]

Ouch...Mr 20...I fear you are inside my head. Very cool and observant. The whispery stuff though...is actually quite scary. Thanks for a great vid.

[@carmenip6924]

Nice video. can u also do a series about reading sheet paper n rely on it/ how to do a full gig without any of it

[@Idolikethis]

When you did the thing yesterday while playing bc you were confusing yourself! It's funny that's exactly what I did for myself.

[@ean2009]

I can definitely agree with #1 as a new drummer. I thought I could just do it if I learned the groove. Nope. I have to learn feel. This is a lot harder than I thought it would be 😅

[@xreemwolf4082]

Seym

[@robertobrien2903]

Playing with the metronome through my PA as I play is great but I also like playing with the drum beats on my Roland keyboard. It's nice to just listen then only match with the bass drum Rhythm, then hi hat and bass drum and keep adding until you match with the full drum beat from the keyboard and can stay in the pocket with it for several minutes. The goal is for somebody to come in the room and thinks you have the set mic'ed up since they see you are playing and hear it through the speakers as well.

[@peacegroove7854]

A have a similar exercise where I play a groove (HH with the foot) and I "mute" 1 limb at a time, going clockwise, and then bring them back and start again going counter clock. Or I play 1 limb alone and start bringing in the other limbs like: RH+LH, then RH+HH, RH+K etc. The idea is that I can really focus on the rhythmic relationship between different parts. Thanks again bro!

[@davidaaronartist]

The drummer in my imagination is amazing,but my body can't express that level of greatness

[@cedricvanroosendael1777]

I think it’s also really important to play to backing tracks with your own made beats since I feel that’s easier to get a feel for then someone else’s beat. Besides that what you mentioned with the books is definitely true, you need to implement the things out of your book into your playing in order to really benefit from it. But hey great video!

[@LieuweBuik]

for what it's worth, I like the Freddy Mercury stache

[@grrrund]

Hey, I really want you to look at Josh Garza and more than any other track of his “Often mistaken for the sun”. I like you. You’re an honest guy, and consistent in another way I can’t put my finger on.

[@jamesford3432]

In that omegle experiment I kind of wondered if chops did well because it was solo. Also your videos get me thinking I was told to quit by a teacher because I naturally swung a bit on everything and my left hand is naturally too weak to play rudiments. Years later with KZbin I wounder if I should have just double downed and developed my shortcomings in to feel

[@abheceshabemuskk3531]

did you quit?

[@jamesford3432]

@@abheceshabemuskk3531 for many years until all the lock downs. Wish drum youtube was this good 10 years ago

[@JadeHager]

Not actually a drummer, but I am someone who has made a little bit of change as a rhythm guitarist. The best thing I've done to actually improve my groove is subdividing parts in my head, it forces you to tighten up your playing by landing on these smaller places that aren't necessarily on the page, and has helped me understand more complicated rhythms. Guitarists tend to value chops even more than drummers, which has made a decent rhythm guitarist a hot commodity, especially in genres outside of funk, jazz, and blues

[@drumr72]

Thanks for the tips as always and you nailed the comment about ghost notes.

[@flowerlandofjohn]

I tried to show “my money”, but no links allowed 😅 However, I actually spend about 50/50 on groove/chops, and the same goes for my uploads. But I think I spend more time on groove because I don’t read or write music. My ears is all I’ve got! 🤩😂

[@ricomuerte1012]

I do practice pocket but not near as long as I should. Great vid bro, gonna do the leg practice and see how it goes.

[@macvoutie]

This is an excellent video about how to learn how to lock everything in the pocket so to speak but I have to question if that is "feel" given the fact that many great "feel" drummers of the past didn't always lock in and play perfect time. Levon Helm, John Bonham, Art Blakey and so on. The list is long and covers all genre other then true studio players. Speaking of studio players, having studied with Gary Chester I can tell you if you weren't nails with the time he'd jump all over you but that's time not feel.

[@rexwave4624]

Jim Gordon. Nailed every song.

[@BONHAMOLOGY]

Really excellent video! Very much needed! 👍🏻👏🏼

[@minisurfbanana]

Dude u need a cymbal endorsement...u have almost 100k followers. How cheap are cymbal companies to not send you a set of cymbals. Pretty cheap investment on their part...seems a home-run to me!!!

[@benjaminperez4570]

Church drummer, checking in here to remind you, always play with a metronome

[@TupDigital]

Good vid my man! I value your focus on the intangibles. Also 1:53 👍

[@arbolrosa]

Just the video I needed. U rock!

[@markvandivier]

Awesome haircut from 15 years ago. I like how you just put it out there.

[@8020drummer]

There's soooo much wrong with 25-year-old Nate 🤣

[@ZarbinDrums]

I think if you took at the studio effects off the colenburg video, it would still rock but not sound as hip.

[@hameddrums1543]

Man you're awesome, one of my favorites ✌🏼👌🏼

[@JohnnyAvram]

Guys. Just practice your grooves at 30 bpm and below with micro-time shifts in metronome. That will ease your pain in a long run

[@sethcashman1011]

“I’m gonna ask you to be honest with me - and more importantly, be honest with yourself.” Hahaha, hey, that’s Zach Danziger’s line! Thanks for addressing this topic, Nate.

[@8020drummer]

Wait! Zanziger says that?

[@georgebirddrums]

Feel like the trick to good feel is to work on smoothing out the gross muscle movements

[@JohnKostarasskn]

yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah so I jumped in for a band for a few shows and during rehearsals the singer/guitarist says - that has never felt so good! It never happened again - I don't know how I did it but I knew it was killer at the time... ahhhh

[@BelloTritone]

Thank u !! Love your channel

[@stevenraparelli3396]

Dig the lesson on feel. If while you are playing you are not trying to make someone dance,or feel the mood you are trying to bring to the music, something is off. Feel me up. Haha!

[@8020drummer]

I’ve gotten this comment a lot. I think it’s necessary but not sufficient. You can’t groove unless you feel the groove, but it’s possible to feel like you’re grooving and not sound like it to an outsider.

[@majumaju1687]

who is 0:20 drummer? I can’t find only the movie

[@LegionOfWeirdos]

0:40 - I think the fell would be better if you woke up first. 🙃

[@Varra1]

let him sleep

[@tingkagol]

This channel is giving me huge imposter syndrome attacks

[@natan_km]

Amazing stuff as always 👌

[@nicholasindalecio8211]

This guys the king!

[@DanielJansen01]

Nate, how on earth, with your light touch, do you break cymbals and hats??

[@666joKer1]

Thanks, Nate! Great video!

[@yamsang0__0]

Poor guy had to compliment Nate Smith even though thats his own name.

[@jcbozich]

I NEED the peanut butter...

[@rodrigorivera4679]

7:05 name of this song plz 🙏

[@patrickbrennan2864]

Play words, not numbers One strike per syllable (obviously) Here’s two six-stroke rolls: your mother loved this park what the hell did you say Let the accents fall where they naturally fall when you speak the phrase - the playing is instantly more musical than it is when played by counting, and the two phrases have different feels - suddenly there are three levels of accents you can control, because everyone has learned the prosody (the rhythm) of speech It helps with feel. (So....should we play in the Romance languages for slower dance music?) Patrick

[@CoolManDes]

Why do my drums have no rebound

[@drumyak2339]

Ha! It wasn't UNTIL I got a church gig and started recording it every week that I realized all these devastingly depressing truths! The good news is, at least I'm not living a lie! The bad news is, I still have to watch the playback each week and cringe!

[@G60syncro]

Groove vs chops... Let me make an analogy here... If you work out and go jogging, fine! Good for you!! But do you actually run to go everywhere all the time? Didn't think so!!

[@leticialopes769]

Nate, I run out of words to say how incredible your channel is, thank you so much for the content and you also look damn hot with the mercury mustach

[@dylanbasley6939]

could someone tel me who's playin" at 6.53 ?

[@tdrum21]

Great list of players right up front here

[@EXTRA300s]

Confidence strangled, self-conscious is as like someone turns the hot water on in the kitchen just as you take nice hot shower because you was freezing to the bones

[@jannik-x]

6:49 source?

[@basilschreyer8807]

Yes please!!

[@audhen1]

Drum Battle by Kneebody

[@smellvad]

Doing god's work

[@ellismanz7180]

3 Reasons ur feel sucks, your wayyy to uptight, your wayyy to uptight, and your wayyyy to uptight - it also helps to know what your tryin to play instead of sounding like your guessing, awkward people sound akward, doe's cat be swingin because dey loose, and play loose and know their notes

[@resop3]

I wonder if there should be a video game for drums similar to guitar hero which would measure volume and placement on a simulated drum set?

[@8020drummer]

I believe that would help, except the problem with simulacra is it's impossible to tell how much they generalize to the real world. So you're always balancing between capturing a slice of reality narrow enough to repeat ad nauseam, but faithful enough that you're not training an irrelevant skill. Damn. Video idea.

[@resop3]

@@8020drummer An alternative (that would only appeal to the very computer geeky), would be a computer program that could analyze two different mp3 files and calculate how close the second recording was to the first in terms of consistency of the beat and volume relative to the first note. It would not give real time feedback like a guitar hero type game but it would provide a brutal critique after the fact.

[@bensinger6637]

You are so good at KZbin

[@pickinstone]

How to improve feel? Listen to Digable Planets and A Tribe Called Quest on repeat for a year. If only it were that easy. Hey, did I hear you sneak in a mention of big beat on this vid? I will always ask about big beat. Everyone gotta practice feel, not just drummers. I was listening to my four to the floor when I was playing behind my drummer friend. Playing quarter note comps on guitar MUST be easy... NOT! I was totally screwing up my friend's solo space. Been practicing feel for my solos, but the most important thing is to have that peanut butter feel when you are laying it down and accompanying someone else--and grooooooving.

[@finzer4000]

What's the best iphone metronome app?

[@reggiebeats2873]

I recommend “Metronomics” ..

[@rufusstanier8893]

absolute gold

[@brendonmasters]

It's so obvious. Play with the biggest baseball bats you can find. Some well known drummers talk about holding up to 7 sticks in one hand. Once you go from holding what used to be a normal 'weight' to holding'heavy' and back. It's very empowering.

[@maxim_hue6089]

Does anyone know what the tune at 6:50 is? It sounds really cool

[@audhen1]

Drum Battle by Kneebody

[@maxim_hue6089]

@@audhen1 Thanks 👍

[@efafe4972]

im actually too trash and slow at flowing good chops so all i practice is pocket rip

[@missyounorm33]

This is great advice. Just don't need to scroll to 9:15 on the video to actually find it. But hey it's free!

[@8020drummer]

Ever hear the one about the guy who asked for the “post it note” version of the advice then never followed it? 😉

[@robertdore9592]

The bottom line is that the 'pocket' is where we keep the money.

[@La_sagne]

hes the one they call dr feel good

[@kevinwalker1708]

ngl i was hoping to go on that conspiracy tangent

[@petermorris3312]

Nasty questions!

[@christophegragnic8681]

Could somebody tell me please who plays at 6:50?

[@8020drummer]

Nate Wood and his band Kneebody! But I said "Nate wood" in the video.

[@christophegragnic8681]

@@8020drummer Thx. You're huge.

[@beautynotstatic2419]

Mucho appreciato.

[@squidskunk]

you're right.

[@drmmr123]

OH YEAH!! FEEL - DA POCKET!! While my "feel" pretty much sucks right now - (for me to ** consistently ** nail the feel,

[@t3hgir]

I feel this is directed at me lol

[@carlupthegrove262]

Great stuff

[@bohdaaanek]

as elitch says 'slow down, do it again'

[@joshuahaydt7553]

....and that's how you get the feel.

[@moritzjackson6991]

Awesome!

[@IamUncledeuce]

I play everything slow... even when I'm playing fast.... sigh...