Avoid a SPEED WALL with this method of practice

[@lindy-loumaddock5979]

I'm loving all your lessons. Just started at 62, and I'm excited by the challenges ahead. Every one of your lessons is so well explained and demonstrated, I have the confidence that the technique will come. I am excited to practise every day, and I'm being really patient with myself and slowing everything right down to be mindful of correct technique. I know it's going to take time. At the moment I'm still trying to find the right position to be able to comfortably use both feet. Thank you so much for this.

[@lindy-loumaddock5979]

I took my practise pad away on holiday, and did some detailed scrutiny of my grip. However much I concentrated, my left hand did not feel the same around the stick as my right. The right hand feels really comfortable and sits right at the fulcrum. The left hand just does not, so I examined it closely. It turns out on my left hand, my middle finger is longer, whilst my thumb is 1/4 inch shorter than my right hand!! So my grip is NEVER going to feel the same or look the same on each hand. I have tried experimenting, and it seems if I slightly rotate my left wrist so that the back of my hand is facing up more, it seems to work. Has anyone got any other suggestions that I might be missing? Thanks.

[@janarleth9811]

I did the singles exercise. Started really slow and didn't speed up for three minutes and then gradually increased speed. I paid attention to how the sticks felt in my hands and what they were doing. When I got fast enough to hit a wall I went back to slow gradually. Took me 11 minutes. That was the best my fast singles have sounded in years. Felt good too. I feel much less stress by not sounding awful. We practiced like this when I was in drum corps in the 70s and I sounded great! Then I didn't drum for 35 years. Drumming isn't like biking. I could still drum after 35 years but I sounded different - choppier for one thing. Thank you for a great lesson!

[@frankcouste4785]

I love these videos. I almost got in the habit of learning songs before I learned the drums. Just got my kit last month and can carry a beat but nothing else. I’m definitely sticking both basic but necessary exercises to get me ready to learn a song. God bless and thank you

[@frankcouste4785]

I just finished practicing my singles and doubles. I literally realized the position of my elbow and how I was gripping the sticks that made my practice successful. I’m off the next 4 days so I’ll be hitting the basics hard. I need too anyway I have only been playing a couple of weeks but I believe I have potential

[@DrewAUM]

You are right. The last band I was in, during practice when our songs started getting stale, we tried rehearsing each song much faster AND much slower. We all found that playing out songs much slower was WAY harder than faster. It really makes you think. Timing becomes far more important. A huge factor in tightening up the band.

[@jpizzleforizzle]

The Stone book is still my favorite after decades of (off and on) drumming. Perfect for dusting off old chops.

[@mikeZL3XD7029]

One that needs to be mentioned here, is stick bounce going into a roll, with the practice pad you will have the sticks bounce, it might be an open roll, but it is a roll all the same. One other thing, lift your heel of your foot when you use your bass pedal, as you speed up. I'm an ex-pipe band drummer.

[@pal4597]

Thanks for this! Perfect timing for me.

[@dazza3115]

Great advice Stephen

[@mvl8209]

I've been playing for 15 years (not on drumset, just snare), and I've always had problems with buzz rolls (because of weak hand). Recently we got a new instructor for the snare line, and he does something our previous didn't do: warmups. Slow single strokes, slow paradiddles, slow doubles and increase the speed on the doubles until one by one we fall out, then again single strokes and speed them up, then the "phil collins drum solo" (all with 1 hand, then switch) By doing these warmups, I do notice that it becomes easier. I also asked for a practice pad and now I do the same warmups, as well as practicing my buzz rolls. I'l start with slow, with 16th notes (single strokes), then do the same but try to make them buzz, still slow. So now I'm practicing basically to get "brrr brrrr brrrr brrrr" - which works, slow, but faster I get "brrr tat brrrr tat" instead of "brrrrrrrrrrrrrr" > where "tat" is my weak hand not buzzing it anymore. I was taught 5 stroke buzz rolls, but the new instructor noticed that I'm not doing 16th notes, but 16th triplet notes (which is something that unconsciously happened in those 15 years, probably to try compensating the weak left, with more strokes total). Now I'm actively working to get 5 stroke buzz rolls, actually be 5 strokes, and buzz the whole way through!

[@nicolaslampreda5332]

keep it up man!

[@mvl8209]

Thanks for the encouragement! :)

[@janemuncaster3360]

Thanks, Stephen - what an important reminder, which is now on my 'Principles for '24' list !

[@tristantowner-cohen2744]

Can you please share the "Principles for '24' list?" And sorta explain please.

[@bgnPrinceton]

@@tristantowner-cohen2744 Pretty sure it's a personal goals for 2024 type of thing.

[@peterlittleton1995]

Hi I been playing 45 yesterday and only just took time with single and double smoke rolls,late in life..?but thanks to your tips, Pete in the uk

[@Noodles2408]

It was up until this video I was certain your secret to technique was really all in the moccasins😂 Love the videos man, thanks for making such valuable information so accessible. In multiple formats too! Just downloaded one of your E-Guides

[@MrGrey-ks8cn]

To answer your questions: I need to work on my coordination, especially left foot integration. I try to play Jazz, as you know and am desperately practicing the first two pages of Jim Chapin's "Advanced Techniques..." it took me two weeks of going crazy slow, till I now get the hang of it and can do this steadily at 70 BPM. Furthermore I work on paradiddles between 60 to 100 BPM, varying dynamics, accents and sticking, like straight, inverted, paradiddledidle, paraparadiddle. A bit like browsing through stick control with paradiddle-focus. Now I love playing Funk!

[@eliznaomistuart]

This such an awesome lesson!! I've been trying different ways to practice stick control and this one is so fantastic. I'm also trying practicing stick control with kick and snare on one and three whether starting with the right hand or left hand, and that adds an extra ciirdination challenge. Thank you so much for this great lesson!

[@stevesherwin8018]

Yes, I am the same. I need to slow down on the same areas. Singles, Doubles and my bass pedal. Thanks, Stephen

[@Will-Iam-INFJ]

Thank you friend

[@kolusus]

Thanks man for this video! This week I was having a big problem with a groove, and today i practiced really slow like you sad and man i got the rhythm. Thanks for this amazing video and I will practice more with my right foot

[@DarthKastos]

I love this piece of advice! When I was learning to play keyboards I followed a similar approach to develop speed and it worked nicely. I’m happy to see that this also translates to other instruments!

[@angieedwards9720]

My answer is definitely “all of it.” 😄 I’m 45, been playing for 1.5 years and have had a teacher for the last 6 months. The first year on my own, my only goal was to practice everyday for 30 minutes. (My husband is a musician, so we already had a drum set and a bunch of books.). In that year, I worked through the book Mastering the Rudiments. It’s all about gaining speed and as you can imagine I was constantly hitting speed walls. 😂 Now with a teacher I’m learning to play the kit, read music, and eventually develop my voice as a drummer. All that background to say, I get impatient with how slow I have to play everything! Yes, because I only have so much time to practice and also because getting to this magical smooth, fast, and loose playing seems so far off in the distance I’m not always confident I’ll ever get there. This video echos my teacher reminding me to slow things down and the application of the slow to fast and back down again exercise is really helpful. As someone just entering the drum world, there’s such an emphasis on speed it seems the marker for being a “good drummer”. I’m more interested in playing a smooth groove right now, but there’s this pull to go faster in order to feel like I’m making progress. This video is reminding me that when we see amazing drummers wailing on the kit, they practiced slowly like this to get to where they are. Thanks for this video!

[@pal4597]

Work very hard on your groove, and you will always get gigs...you have to be a good hang as well though. I'm not a technical player, but I've always worked.

[@angieedwards9720]

@@pal4597good advice. What do you mean about “be a good hang”? Be enjoyable to be around?

[@pal4597]

You got it! 😊 Keep grooving!

[@adityatyagi4009]

Practice things slowly so you learn them fast is what I say! Great lesson. I love the Lord of the Rings reference!

[@bryceowenmusic1829]

Thanks for this, Stephen; both the video and the course! I'm looking forward to jumping into it. I'm a righty who plays kit left handed (just turned it around one day on a whim early on in learning and it felt more natural), and my weak hand is, after 25 years of inconsistent playing, still my left. I'm hoping to make huge progress employing this tempo technique along with the steps in your weak hand course. Other areas of weakness are definitely inconsistent tempo/stroke in my bass foot and a largely underutilized hi-hat foot. So yeah...lots to work on.😅

[@davidnoakes4836]

Thanks, this is a real help.

[@Saabdude40]

I was at a Mike Mangini clinic in 2004, he asked "what is fast?" I said "Fast is slow, only faster." He gave me his sticks he had just played with.

[@sdw-hv5ko]

Kick singles are definitely a serious weakness for me. Excited to try this out!

[@mftc82]

Great lesson Stephen, sometimes the best approach is staring us right in the face! Question to you and everybody here though, I always hear the idea of speeding up but staying relaxed, but I always start to tense a little as I speed up and I just can’t shake it. What’s the best approach here? Slower for longer before speeding up? ? Set my speed wall slower than I can play when I’m tense then work up to the next speed wall? Would like to crack this one day. Thanks

[@TheJennivision1]

I found recently that playing stick control type exercises as QUIETLY as possible also exposed major issues!

[@chinmeysway]

prob wanna do this to a metronome at several diff tempos (maybe you mentioned not sure

[@peteroliver7975]

I like that you emphasize the importance of slow and smooth as this is of fundamental importance, however there is a problem with this advice and similar advice from many other drum teachers out there. The problem is that if you give this same advice to 100 drummers and they faithfully follow this practice technique for the same period, they will still end up with a large range of upper speed limits. What your approach does is help to achieve whatever your personal upper limit is, which could still be slow to compared to many other drummers. It will not enable you to play as fast as [insert favourite fast drummer here] unless you have the underlying genetic make-up. I have spent hundreds of hours practicing exactly that way. I have always done the slow-fast-slow method yet have found that my absolute upper speed has never been that high and has not really increased in the past 30 years over my early gains as a beginner. What it has done though is allow me to maintain 90% of my maximum speed for longer and more evenly and smoothly. While your advice is good, and important as a practice approach as it will get results, it is just as important to master arm, wrist, hand, and finger techniques and different grips. The Moller technique is also a valuable system to master. At the end of the day though, each person has a speed limit. Just as there are fast and slow humans over 100m due to genetics, the same is true of hand speed. I suspect that physiology is a significant factor. The tendency to tighten up with speed may be a response that can be treated by hypnosis or some other psychological technique, and it may also be diet and exercise related. Cardiovascular health, general exercise, and stretching the whole body to improve flexibility and muscle looseness is likely to be important. I also suspect that having a good core (torso strength) allows you to pivot your arms and wrists against a solid base without needing to tighten up so soon. In cycling, advances in bicycle frame strength which minimised flex, allowed more of the energy of the peddling rider to be transferred to the wheels achieving greater speeds, and I think that this might apply to drumming too. This idea is called mechanical advantage. I think that those who struggle with speed limits would benefit from exploring these ideas.

[@johnapppel64]

Will definitely start incorporating this into my routine. A question though: I have an old injury in my left hand (broken 5th metacarpal, back in 1987) that resulted in that bone no longer being straight and also weakness in that hand. It really affects both how I can grip the stick (using the middle finger as a fulcrum just isn't possible, at least at present) and, well, that hand is just substantially weaker. I'll give the 3-step course a try, but is there anything else I can or should do to help bring it up to speed?

[@drakehead615]

have you tried the traditional grip?

[@MrGrey-ks8cn]

Stephen, if I hadn't already applied to your NGD community, now I would have, as the drums in the deep reference is marvellous! I am a huge Lord of the Rings fan and now I love your way of teaching even more. Next week's focus will be the "Feet of Moria" working my way from slow singles up the endless stairway to the peak of Celebdil, known as Zirak-Zigil to the dwarfs, and back into the depths of Khazad-dûm. I wonder if it will be a good idea to start at a comfortable speed I usually manage easily, then slow down till it is painfully slow then work up till it begins to break apart and then return to a relaxed speed again. And I would wonder if that relaxed speed would be different then. Keep up the great work! Lino

[@1akey]

Great video! For some reason I'm not receiving the email with the link. TIA

[@cellshadeco]

is the intro "the middle"??

[@dogsaregood1115]

Me when I drop a cup at 3 am

[@goodtimejohnny8972]

I can't take my eyes off of that high hat stand. That has to be the highest available lift rod on the market. Could just be the camera angle.

[@mariocurro1041]

My guess is he has the hats themselves set low on the stand which makes the center rod look really tall.

[@jeffersoncoker]

Yeah I second that comment.. I keep my hihat low so it also looks like that

[@BeatCarrier]

I guess he wasn’t joking when he said “high hat”

[@TyAndras]

Now you got me looking at it! I have a pair of bolt cutters🤷🏼😂

[@velvetsound]

DW3000 stands are like that for what it’s worth. There’s no short push rod option available.

[@gballmaier]

Trying to get my Moeler Technique down.

[@dairyairman]

I have a speed wall with 16ths on the hats with my right hand. I can play them, but only up to a certain maximum tempo, around 75 bpm. I see other drummers, like Anderson Paak, blaze along at a good 20 bpm faster then me, so I know it's possible to play faster. I've been playing them slower lately, trying to make them smoother and less forced. I know there is a "push pull" technique, and I've worked on it. After watching this video, I may spend more time playing them slower to see if I can clean up my technique issues.

[@rickriley9866]

Got it: 1) Slow, 2) Smooth, 3) Speed!

[@StevenMcknightGuitar]

All of it but especially my right foot. It is very easy to overuse the metronome.

[@larrymenconi5287]

I was into it till I realized this whole thing is based on the pyramid is a tomb, built by kufu? What year was this made , nothing about the salt on chemicals on the shafts , nothing about the copper fittings , the electrical markings behind the door , well done but basing the studies and theories on the pyramid being a tomb is at a kindergarten level , but his complex is so past that it’s embarrassing they still teach it , but honestly I did enjoy the flow of logic and I am going to check out some more videos

[@dwaynecollins4974]

I would say keeping time would be my slow practice.😅

[@jchope777]

My slave foot's independence is like.. non-existent lol

[@peterlittleton1995]

Excuse the fat finger spelling

[@dasglasperlenspiel10]

Well over three minutes before absolutely anything educational happens, then a one sentence explanation. This is not teaching.

[@stephencross895]

I think you just confirmed his theory that everyone wants everything right now 😂