Advanced Drum Lessons

There comes a point in every drummers life when they have outgrown
rudimentary techniques. Everyone wants to challenge themselves.
The reason most of us are so drawn to our instruments is solely due to the fact
that they are so complex and bring forth so many possibilities. Learning how to
play the drums takes persistence, patience, and some good lessons..
There also comes a point when you may have hit the wall and run out of new
ways to challenge yourself. No matter what your reasoning for wanting to
advance your skills and open your mind, these advanced drum lessons will help
you do just that.
We will be taking an outside approach to doubles bass and snare using concepts
such as odd time signature and syncopation. Get ready to have your body and
musical spirit pushed to the limits!

Lesson 1: Extreme Note Value Changes

Using Guitar Pro 6 to transcribe, this lesson involves the usage of odd drops in
note value. Using only your bass pedals, we will also be exploring an uncommon
time signature; 12/4. This exercise uses thirty second notes, sixteenth notes,
and eight notes.
Notice the oddness of the groupings of notes. This exercise has a very
progressive metal feel to it, utilizing experimental, yet functional, groupings.
The twenty two thirty-second notes followed up by the four eighth notes makes
for a very difficult exercise.
This exact tactic was employed to help you open your minds to drastic tempo
changes and the ways that they can change the overall feel of the piece. It is
important that you use a metronome to practice this exercise, starting off at
around 80-100bmp.

Lesson 2: Syncopation, Drastic Note Variation and Odd

Rests
This exercise is a lot more difficult. Using the snare to accent the thirty-second
note bursts, this exercise could take you months to learn. The syncopated
sixteenth notes in place of eighth notes make for an interesting flare, as well.

Not only is this exercise extremely difficult, it is also in an abnormal time

signature; 7/4. Before you even sit at your kit for this one, try clapping out the
beat to memorize the rhythmic pattern. Another highly progressive and jazz
influenced exercise, the best way to approach playing this is to learn it in
sections.
The first section is fairly attainable, but the last half after the third grouping of
thirty second notes will take a lot of time and practice. This exercise was built to
teach usage of odd rest placement and syncopation, as many modern
experimental and progressive bands today use these techniques to add
tremendously technical variation throughout their songs.

Lesson 3: Non-Grooving
Our final lesson has a more improvisational feel to it. The piece doesnt have a
groove, but more of an experimental feel. Once more, this piece utilizes both
odd rests and note groupings.

The hardest thing for a drummer to learn is to not always play like a drummer. If
you listen to bands like Spiral Architect or Spastic Ink, you will see the full scale
of this. When playing this last piece, as with the others, use a metronome, and
be patient.
They may seem wild at first, but these pieces will be invaluable tools in helping
you to create your own image as a drummer. Once you have mastered these
exercises, your will find it easier to approach music from a whole new level.

List of Intermediate and Advanced Drum Lessons:

#1 Essential Snare Techniques And Drills You Need to Know
Most drummers use the snare drum as a method to keeping time but the use of
the snare isnt limited to only that. In this lesson, we will explore the different
ways in which the snares could be used.

#2 3 Steps to Increase Your Level of Drum-manship

Do you want to get better at your drumming? Using 3 simple tips, we will give
you the tools that will help you achieve a higher level of playing in no time.
#3 Advanced Tom Tom Beats to Challenge Your Skills
Tom toms are often overlooked beyond the beginner beats. In this article, we
will show you 2 examples of advanced tom tom patterns that will enable you to
challenge yourself and have fun at the same time.
#4 Drum Fills to Spice Up Your Playing
How do you breakaway from the repetitive beats and rhythms in songs? As
drummers, we can apply fills and improvisations to spice up your style and
create your own signature sounds.
#5 6 Common Traits Among Great Drummers
Imitation is the highest form of flattery. Did you know that learning from the
pros is one of the best ways to get educated and develop the skills that you
already have? We list a series of positive traits that all great drummers should
have.
#6 Accented Semi Quavers Rhythms to Spice Up Your Style
The sixteenth note is very commonly found in different types of genres like
speed metal, jazz, hard rock. Discover how you can make use of accented
semiquavers to add dynamics into your playing.
#7 Off Beat High Hat Rhythms For Additional Flair
Learning how to play an off beat can really add flair and uniqueness to your
style due to the nature of the timing. Besides standing out with your own style,
it can help you improve on your cymbal skills too.
#8 Produce Unique Sounds With Advanced Cross Sticks Rhythms
Cross-sticking is an interesting way to create new sounds and tones. Not only is
it easy to learn, it can also add a whole new library of complex rhythms to your
arsenal.
#9 The Benefits of the Moeller Method
The Moeller Method is one of the most versatile and useful technique that was
ever created. Since the 19th century, it had stood the test of time and is
regarded as an essential technique in every drummers skillset.
#10 Creativity in Your Drum Beats
Whenever the discussion of improvisation and creativity is brought up by my

students, I always tell them that they need to keep an open mind and
experiment with things that they had never tried before.
#11 Imagination And Identity
If you want to establish your own unique style for people to identify you with, it
is time to start thinking outside the box. Setting yourself apart from other
drummers is the best way to build up your reputation.
#12 7/8 Grooves And Unconventional Time Signatures
When we talk about odd timings, many drummers cringe at the thought of
expanding their play to new areas of music. In 7/8 measures, it can create an
impression of unfinished music and help expand your musical knowledge.
#13 Basic Syncopated Grouping Patterns
Syncopation patterns can be attained through the additional off-beat strokes in
a bar of music. This changes up the groove by making it slightly un-ordered and
the trick here is to make it sound natural.

Snare Drumming Lessons And Techniques to Master

The snare drum is the most basic of voices in your drumming kit. We use the
snare drum so often that we usually overlook just what it is. I mean, its there,
and it helps us keep tempo.
Yet do you really know how much the snare drum is capable of?
Most drummers simply use the snare drum, as stated above, to keep tempo. Or
they simply use it because they believe they have to, that its proper for a
drummer to use the snare drum.
But that shouldnt be the reason we do anything as musicians.
In this article, well discuss different uses for the snare drum that you may not
have thought of before. Hopefully, some of these uses will be interesting
enough to change your playing, even in the slightest of ways.

Holding Your Drumstick

First, before we delve into this snare drumming lesson, you need to observe
how you hold your drum stick. Believe it or not, all of your creativity is
transferred through your mind, down your shoulder, into your arm where it
makes a pit stop at the elbow, then out of your wrist and into your hand.
This means that if you have a bad grip, youre already a step behind. Bad grip
leads to pain. Pain leads to bad form, which leads to a bad little thing called in
injury. Injuries will put your away from your kit for months.
For general purposes, we will simply discuss a traditional matched grip.
Point your palm towards the ceiling and lay your stick across it diagonally. Now
wind your index finger and middle finger youre your stick. Your hand should be
three quarter of the length down your stick. You shouldnt have a death grip on
the stick, either; a loose grip is sufficient. Now turn your palm towards the floor,
and as you do, cradle your ring finger and pinky finger around the stick.

Ways Of Snare Drumming

Now that you know how to properly grip the drumstick, we can talk about how
to use the snare drum to make your music more interesting.
Use accents. Accenting notes will help bring a note to the forefront. Not only
this, but it will take your playing away from the generic time keeping properties.
When you accent a note, your stick should fall roughly eight to ten inches to the
snare drum head in order to generate sufficient power.
If you love accents, you may simply cherish the grace note. A grace note is
meant to be felt, not heard. That being said, your stick should fall no more than
two inches onto the drum head. This helps to create a whisper. Again, this helps
to highlight other notes, once more taking away from the general time keeping
purpose of the snare drum.
Finally on our snare drumming lessons is the off beat. Off beats are simply every
other beat in an eighth note pattern. These, for obvious reasons, are odd feeling
beats. They can also make a pattern more interesting.
There are no set ways to play the snare drum, so in the end, try not to limit
yourself. Keep your mind open, and overall, have fun.

3 Steps to Increase Your Level of Drumming Today!

Every drummer wants to get better. The world of music is such a vast pool of
talent, and nearly everywhere we go we see someone who makes us envious
and we wind up wishing we were that good.
In this article, using three simple steps, we will give you all of the tools that are
sure to make you that good.

Step One: Practice

Stop being lazy!
There is no overnight program to becoming a drumming god or goddess. No
amount of DVDs are going to help you if you dont practice.
Practice is the only key component to making you a better drummer. Sit behind
your kit every single day. If you make an excuse not to, dont try and fool
yourself; youre weaseling your way out of practice. If you are okay with this,
then you are also okay with not living up to your full potential as a drummer.
If you believe that simply watching other drummers and commentating on their
skills and techniques or lack thereof will make you any better, you have a whole
world of other things coming. Unless you are putting in your hours every week,
youll be at the same skill level next year as you are right this moment.
But at least you wont be in for a surprise now, because you have been told.
You can spend all of your time wishing, or you can spend it doing. The choice is
yours, but let us warn you that wishing isnt a proven way to accomplish
anything at all. In fact, it is the number one component to laziness. A good way
to get started is with using good drum lessons on DVDs. You might want to
check out our review page for programs on different genres of playing.

Step Two: Play Right

Flailing about your drum steps like some kind of animal isnt going to make you
any better.
If you believe that you can make up for your sloppiness by twirling sticks and
jumping up and down, you obviously need to reevaluate your current situation.

It is true that fans go to shows to be entertained to a certain degree. No one

wants to hear an awful drummer smashing his kit to bits like a drunken man. Sit
up straight and conduct yourself like a human behind your kit.
Putting on a show is fine and dandy, but playing your set well should come first
on your list of priorities. It will separate you and your band from every forty year
old cover band that still thinks they are a bunch of rock stars because they can
play Free Bird. Be professional, and take pride in your execution.

Step Three: Refer to Step One

Yes, yet again we are telling you to practice.
And for good reason.
There are no cheats to becoming a better drummer. You need to practice. There
is no way around this, so you might as well learn it now.
If anything, you should have been halfway to your kit after reading step one.
Since you are reading step three, you obviously arent, so please take this as
the incentive to get behind your kit and start practicing. You owe it to yourself,
and any potential fans you may ever have; so do it.

Advanced Tom Tom Beats to Challenge Your Current Skills

Drummers grow. As they do, they require more challenges. If there arent any
challenges, how is playing the drums even remotely fun? One of the fun ways to
advance your skill is through the use of the tom toms.
In this article, we will go over two sample advances tom tom beats that will
allow you to challenge yourself, as well as give you some ideas on how you can
change your playing to create more challenges for yourself.
Before we get into the bulk of the article, it is important that you look at your
skill level. It is dire that you are honest with yourself. Honesty is the key to
proper learning. If you attempt to tackle a lesson that is far out of your reach,
you may have issues with mechanics.
If you understand the use of syncopated rhythms and know how to play
syncopated patterns, you are halfway there already. If you arent or you are
new, head to the beginner drum lessons section to hone your skills first.

The other thing you need to assess is how comfortable you are with rests. Our
examples will have odd rests, which means that you need to be completely
comfortable with odd timings in order to tackle them.
If youre comfortable with your syncopation, and your rests are as good as
theyll ever be, then its time for our examples.

Advanced Tom Tom Beats Example 1:

It is best that you clap this pattern out before tackling it on your kit. Make sure
you know the timing of each note, as well as the rest placement. Remember to
focus on each note as it comes. Thinking ahead will simply jumble up your
hands. Once you can comfortably clap the pattern, use a metronome to play it.
Start off slow and allow your hands to memorize their strokes.

Advanced Tom Tom Beats Example 2:

As we mentioned earlier, clap this pattern out before you dive head first into it.
The rest placement is a bit odd. This is why it is important to be comfortable
with odd note placements. Once mastered, they can be your best friend as a
drummer.
The key is to take it slowly and allow your hands to do all the work. Some of the
rests come on the primary beats, while some come on the secondary beats.
Make sure that you are fully comfortable with this before you decide to sit at
your kit to play the pattern.

Broaden Your Creativity

Now that you have seen some examples of advanced tom tom drum beats to
spice up your drums playing, try creating your own.
Trying different note groupings, and different patterns can have great results.
Notice how the second example ascends and descends whereas the first mostly
descends. Dont limit yourself to linear patterns; try different techniques. If you
notice that most of your tom tom grooves are descending, try mixing it up and
use some ascending patterns or some mix the two up.
The only limits are those of your creativity. Try playing your favorite patterns in
different ways. Add rests and different note values. You may notice we used all
sixteenth notes; you dont have to do this. Keep your mind and ear equally
open, and above all, practice.

Using Drum Fills to Add Color to Your Practical Playing

No one likes to hear the same drum patterns throughout every song. Likewise,
no drummer wants to play the same patterns day in and day out.
The only problem is no one wants to rush to ruin a song.
So how can we, as drummers, spice up our drum playing without sacrificing the
integrity of our piece?
The answer is simple really; through drum fills.
Drum fills are, as the name implies, filling in spots with a quick run. They can
add extra flavor and added texture to a piece, or they can completely ruin our
piece.

Avoid Messing Up Your Piece

The key to not ruining your piece, as most of us dont want to do this, is being
tasteful.
Drum fills can be extravagant, or they can be purely simplistic. The length and
the style of the fill should depend on the piece itself.
This means, in simplistic terms, that your fill should be an extension of the song
you are playing it in.

If you are playing a jazz piece, it is quite obvious that 250bmp double bass
drum fills are out of the question. They will simply ruin the piece, as they wont
fit well. Be intelligent; you know what style you are playing, and thus you know
what techniques are used within that style.
In most cases, a simple run on the toms is sufficient. In other cases, you may
want to use a cymbal choke. Its all about context.
If you are playing a country piece, or a ballad, you want to keep you mind within
that style of music. Consider it beforehand, and plan out your fills. Being
spontaneous can lead to some great things, but it can also lead to some awful
things. One of those things is playing to an extreme opposite. You may think it is
a neat idea to add a blast beat fill to your blues song, but no one else will. Keep
your listener in mind at all times as in the end, they are always right.

Practicing Your Fills

If you plan out your fills, it is important that you practice them. Fills can be used
in a variety of ways; to enter a chorus, to accent a riff, to outline a solo
anything, really. The important thing is that you take the time to practice, as
you dont want your great idea translating poorly due to poor execution.
If you have an idea of what you want to add to a song as a fill, play it for your
band members. Most of the time, they will tell you a complete honest opinion
up front. This is because, not only are you playing over your song, but you are
also playing over their song. They want it ruined just as much as you do.
In the end, the best approach to spicing up your drumming through use of drum
fills is to be careful. Outline your ideas thoroughly in your head, put them to
work in practice, and if they sound good, use them. If not, chuck the idea and
wait for something new.

6 Common Traits Among Great Drummers You Should Take After

Learning from the pros this is probably the most inspiring way to educate and
nurture the skills that you already possess. This concept is applicable to almost
any field that needs learning. If you are trying to learn drumming, this same
notion is a great way to learn.

Although practicing and reading the technicalities of drumming is an imperative

part of learning, understanding the common traits among professional
drummers can provide with tips to reach success.
This article will give you the 6 common traits among great drummers. Most of
the traits are observable from the performance and the music of the great
drummers of all time.

Traits Any Successful Drummer Should Have

If you are a real drummer, you should be able to detect those traits quite easily.
However, just for clarity, this article enlists them. You can examine this list to
ensure that you are developing the traits any successful drummer should have.
1. Early birds Any drummer should have a sense of urgency. This is
especially true if you are a budding drum player. Regardless of the event that
you will be attending, it is important to be early or at least, on time. This also
holds even during practice sessions.
2. Diligence It would take more than just talent to succeed in the field of
learning how to play the drums. You need to be diligent enough to attend all of
your practice sessions. Some great drummers are even practicing in their home
after their practice sessions. Indeed, taking full responsibility of your own skill
will pay in the future.
3. Creativity All drummers should be considered artists. If you are planning to
be one, you should start developing a great sense of appreciation for
art. Composing beat patterns will indeed need creativity, so you should be able
to articulate yourself freely using notes.
4. Eagerness To succeed in a field like drumming, you would need an
unending source of eagerness, the most important trait in the 6 common traits
among great drummers. All of your idols today have grabbed every opportunity
given to them to reach drum mastery. This is the reason why you should be
eager enough to face every opportunity in reaching success.
5. Adaptability Hand in hand with creativity, adaptability should also be a
trait you should possess. Since most drummers can make sudden changes in
the music they provide as dictated by the surrounding, it would be a very
important trait. You should develop this characteristic as early as your beginner
years.

6. Musically inclined This trait seem to be the most obvious, but you should
still develop it as a musician. Drummers use their set of ears to create
masterpieces, and your goal to do the same. Keeping your mind sensitive to
what is good beating will help you through composing your own solos.
The 6 common traits among great drummers listed above should not serve as a
borderline. Every good drummer possesses more than just the six traits listed
above. The question now lies on how you can become develop your own traits.
Make it your goal to surpass the number of traits that you can enhance.

Accented Semi Quavers Rhythms to Spice Up Your Style

The sixteenth note has made quite a name for itself. Speed metal, jazz, hard
rock; those are only a few of the genres that incorporate the sixteenth note into
their music regularly.
Before we get into accented semiquavers, first you need to take a look at your
drums playing.
When you are striking, how high off the drum is your hand?
How even are your notes?
How even are your accents?
Do you use too much or too little power?
Once you analyze your playing while keeping these questions in mind,
undoubtedly, you end up with quite a few answers. Some might even shock
you.
If you play with greater stick height, keep in mind that your strokes take longer
to fall. If your power is distributed unevenly, work on keeping your notes within
an equal volume range. The same goes for your accents; you dont want a
pleasant accent to be followed up by a cringe-inducing ear splitter. The key to
learning to accent notes is to be able to keep your accents the same, and your
regular notes the same, that way listeners can easily distinguish one from the
other.

Here Are Some Examples Of Accents

Here are some examples of semiquaver accents, transcribed using Guitar Pro 6.

This first example shows the accent on the first beat. You want the accent to
have as much power as possible, while still maintaining pleasantness. You dont
want your friends and family going deaf. Remember that the power is mostly in
your wrist and forearm, so dont drive the stick with your bicep like a wild man,
either.
This second example has accents on every other beat. This means that you will
be accenting with both your main hand and your off hand. Accenting with both
hands will make the piece more difficult, but it will also help you control the
power of both hands much more efficiently.

To help yourself remember the pattern of accents so that you can maintain your
accent consistency, count your one-twos (one and two and one and two and).
Each time you say one or two, you will be accenting the note. Each and is a
regular note. Counting along is a great way to help muscle memory as well.
The third and final example is a little more difficult. With doubled accents,
followed by doubled, regular notes, your power has to really be in check. This
exercise is a good tool to gauge exactly how in control of your striking power
you truly are.

When accenting the first two notes, be aware of stick height. If you end the
second accent with your sticks too high, you will inevitably strike much harder

than you intend. This will mash together your accented notes and your regular
notes, making them indecipherable from one another.

Using Your Metronome

With your metronome, slowly practice these drum exercises on your pad. Be
sure to take note of your form. As I said earlier; stick height is very important
when accenting notes.
With accented sixteenth notes in your arsenal, you will have the ability to begin
to take on jazz, hard rock, and even fusion.
Keep your form good, and practice hard!

Off Beat High Hat Rhythms to Add Flair in Your Style

Stylized playing; everyone wants it, but not everyone knows how to obtain it.
One of the easiest ways to give your playing a new flair that will make other
musicians take note is by accenting on the off-beat.
So what is an off-beat? When you play a song, there is almost always a pattern
to the way you accent, whether that pattern is with cymbal work, or with the
snare. Regular patterns accent on what is called the on-beat.
If you were to play a song in 4/4, using only four quarter notes, the on-beat
would be on beats one and three, and the off-beat would be on beats two and
four.
There are, of course, on-beats and off-beats in every time signature, but for now
we are going to focus exclusively on 4/4 as this is the standard timing that most
drummers are used to. When you accent on the off-beat, it gives your playing a
different, more unique feel. It also lends itself healthily to experimentation.

Follow The First Pattern

Using the information we have gathered about off-beat patterns, get your
metronome and try one out for yourself. This simple pattern, made using Guitar
Pro 6, uses high hat off-beat rhythms.

As you will see for yourself in this drumming lesson, your first foray into off-beat
accents may be a little difficult. Drummers are primarily taught to follow a
groove, and this can make learning off-beat patterns take a bit more time, as
off-beat patterns tend to follow a stranger course. While they do have their own
groove, off-beat patterns, to some, may seem odd and unpleasant.
Notice that this simple pattern uses only the high hat and the bass drum. This
will help you to establish off-beat coordination between your legs and arms. This
is usually the hardest part of learning off beat patterns, as when using both of
your hands the groove seems to just flow in reverse.

See The Second Pattern

Once you have mastered the first example we can move on to a bit more
difficult version of the off-beat high hat rhythm. This example involves the use
of double bass and the snare, utilizing both of your hands and one to two of
your legs (depending on how you want to play it).

I do suggest running through the piece at least once using all four limbs, as this
will increase the difficulty greatly and help you to gain better awareness of your
limbs as well. With better awareness, you increase both accuracy and fluidity,
not to mention dexterity as well.
When playing this example, be sure to strike the snare, the high hat, and the
bass drum on the off-beat at the same exact time. On the on-beat, be sure that
your snare and bass kick are timed as well. Observe your playing, and allow
yourself to relax if you get tense. If you learn tenseness during practice, it will
become a playing habit. This can lead to playing related injuries down the road.

Implement Off Beat When Playing

When you are able to play these to examples without error or hesitation, try
implementing the off-beat into your own playing. If you have some favorite
grooves you jam out on a steady basis, try accenting them on the off-beat. This
will help you accent the off-beat later one when you are improvising.
For now, keep playing, and dont stop challenging yourself

Advanced Cross Sticking Rhythms to Impress People

Whenever the subject is an irregular way to produce sounds using the drums,
the first thing that comes to my mind is how I believed during my first drum
lesson that using drums you can produce just about any musical sound.
I did not know anything about drumming techniques, rhythms or grooves; all I
knew that the solo my drum teacher played to me at the beginning of the class
seemed so complex and astonishing that I immediately become a believer of
limitless drumming.
Cross sticking is not something that pushes your skill limits too far: it is basically
an interesting way to produce sounds using your drums that is rather easy to
learn.

How Should Proper Cross Sticking be Delivered?

In order to execute a proper cross stick hit, put the tip of the drum stick on the
middle of the area between the center of the drum head and your left hand.
Grab the shoulder of the stick with your left hand (in some cases you might use
the right side, too), and hit the facing side of the rim with the butt of the drum
stick.
Pay attention to the direction of the drum stick: too many drummers execute
cross sticking with the butt touching the drum head. Proper stick direction
results in a brighter, cleaner sound and even if it might feel harder to deliver
in the beginning, after a little practice it will surely feel natural.

When is Cross Sticking Used?

Cross sticking is mainly present in afro-cuban rhythms. Most reggae rhythms
feature cross sticking, and so do a large portion of Latin rhythms. However,
cross sticking is really just a different sound that can be added to almost any
drum rhythm. For example, a slow rock rhythm quite often gains a deeper
character when played with cross sticking.

The Limitations of Cross Sticking Rhythms What?!

As I said previously, I became a believer of what I call limitless drumming as
soon as my first drumming class. Some people try to categorize different
techniques and tricks and assign different genres or playing scenarios to them.
I preach something else why would you limit yourself to use cross sticking only
in reggae rhythms when your metal beat might become more interesting if you
add a cross stick stroke at the third eighth note. There are two particular use
cases of cross stick hits that I would like to mention.

How Can I Use Cross Sticking Unusually?

Firstly, you should forget about the common belief that cross sticking only works
on the snare drum. Proving the contrary is quite easy. Just play some cross stick
hits on your floor tom or your toms. Please note that playing on your toms
might be a little harder to execute since you have to lean in towards them.
Once you try this kind of cross sticking, you will realize that you have just
discovered yet another interesting sound that your drum can produce.
Secondly, there are endless ways for combining cross sticking with different
drumming patterns. Using cross sticking in linear rhythms results in subtle, tight
rhythm. Linear rhythms are a special type of drum rhythms where you only play
one part of the drum set at any given time.
That is, there are no overlaps, you do not play the hi-hat and the bass or the
snare drum (or anything else) at the same time. Since linear rhythms often have
a quite clean character, a subtle cross stick hit played instead of a louder
regular snare hit often fits better with the pattern.

The Benefits of the Moeller Method And What It Can Do

These days it seems that every single drummer has their own method on how
to improve skill. I would be lying if I said that all of these methods work, or if
even half of them are beneficial.
I would also be lying if I said the Moeller Method fell into that negative category.
I have come across very few drum methods that are even half as helpful as
Sanford Moellers method.

The Moeller Method is a method based around the snare drum. It was developed
in the early nineteenth century, and has stood the test of time for a great many
reasons.

The Moeller Method Teaches How To Properly Control

Power
Many drummers believe that they have great control, but the fact of the matter
is many of them are wrong. We all tend to think we are better off than we truly
are. Moeller teaches how to properly control power to help differentiate between
different notes such as accents and grace notes. If you are interested in a DVD
course specially dedicated to this, check out Moeller Method Secrets
I know I have personally heard and feltmy fair share of over powered accents
that made me cringe. I have also heard grace notes so light that they couldnt
be felt with a stethoscope. Proper balance in power is an extremely important
foundational skill for drummers, and you cant master styles such as jazz, blues,
funk, punk, or heavy metal without it.
Stick grip form may seem like a basic piece of knowledge, and that is because it
is. Just like any other basic, it is also often overlooked in favor for jumping head
first into impressive techniques and show off skills.
Moeller teaches how to properly hold your drumsticks to better control your
power, and also elaborates on how to properly use the wrist to generate proper
force.

Importance Of Moeller Method

This skill is more than important, it is necessary to avoid injury. The wrists arent
muscular; they are fragile. Keeping your wrist stiff, while flexing your forearm
and bicep to strike the drum head, is a sure way to injure your wrist. In other
words, using your arm instead of your wrist to drum is wrong.
It is also a form that I have seen far too many drummers adopt. New drummers
dont realize how critical good form is, and thus many injuries follow as a result.
The Moeller Method explains proper form for good striking.
Finally, if you are a speed demon, or even a jazz man, you will be astonished at
how much proper form benefits your drumming. Proper form leads to less
exertion of energy, which in turn means that you will stay fresher for longer.

Proper wrist technique also leads to quicker strokes. Regardless of what style
you play, effortless speed is far more help than hindrance.
If playing injury free and developing proper form are within your range of
interest, the Moeller Method can be an invaluable tool to help you further your
drumming. Balancing your power can not only help you groove more efficiently,
but it can also help you to learn to play drums more dynamically, giving
contrast between strokes and techniques.

How to Infuse Creativity in Your Drum Beats

While the ability to read drum notation is still very important, the ability to look
at the drum set or any other instrument you might be playing as one of your
childhood toys is even more important.
When you were a child you probably did not care too much about rules and
constraints. You found the easiest and most beautifully simple way to express
your feelings and emotions the most appealing.

Make Your Listening Liberal

First and foremost, you should reevaluate your judgment on what is good and
what is bad music. If there is a tune that was made public or is played in front
of a public, than either the author or even the public believes that the melodyrhythm combination in question is valuable.
It might not be in your style, or it might not meet your criteria regarding musical
abilities. But it definitely meets those who listen to it and play it. Every music
conveys a message to someone, and we do not have the right to decide what
message is correct or not and what tools should be used or not.
By opening up your ears and heart to all sorts of music, you will have the
opportunity to find interesting elements in that kind of music and maybe steal
some of those and reproduce them in your own tunes. Remember, ignorance is
bliss.

Apply What You Have Learned for Creative Drums

Playing
There is no point in playing paradiddles, ratamacues, flam drags and all sorts of
seemingly meaningless rudiments if you do not apply them in your everyday
playing. You have been playing the paradiddle for a year and still do not know

what it is good for? I have seen cases like that before: well, apply it in your
rhythms, in your fills, build up a drum solo. The list is endless; all you need to do
is to make your practice practical: use what you have learned.

Do Not Fear The Unknown

Evolution is not brought by the people who live the same way every day and are
satisfied with their current state. Evolution is the product of those who always
question things, who are not afraid of entering the void, who are comfortable
with trying out new things.
If you want more creativity and freedom in your drumming, try something that
you have never tried before. Maybe play a beat backwards. Or chop off an
eighth note from a 4/4 beat and only play the first seven eighths on a loop.
Have you ever thought of just deliberately changing the function of one of your
limbs in a beat? Lets take astandard rock rhythm scenario. Instead of playing
the hi-hat, move your right hand and play eighth notes on your floor tom. It will
give your beat a whole new feeling and this is only one example.
By letting go of conventions, you will soon discover that the drumming world
has a lot of undiscovered treasures to share with you you do not even have to
be too brave (there is nothing to fear). You just have to be a bit playful when
learning how to play drums.

Pay Attention to the Other Members of the Band

When playing in a band, it is not only you who can come up with interesting
rhythm patterns. Even if it is the drum that is mainly responsible for the rhythm
in the music, every instrument has a rhythmical function apart from their
melodic one.
Thus, a lead guitarist can come up with a riff which has a rhythm that changes
the whole song. And you can play along with that fancy new rhythm, creating
something new, something wonderful again. Remember, creativity in your
drum beats holds no boundaries.

How to Develop Your Own Imagination And Signature Identity

This is the single most important aspect of playing any musical instrument.
When drumming you need to set yourself apart from other drummers if you
want to be a success, and having a lot of imagination is the best way to do this.
If you play the drums then its about time you start think outside the box. Try to
play the drums differently to people that you hear on the radio or on records;
establish your own unique identity.

The Drummers Identity

It can be very difficult not to copy other drummers. But remember, people
already have John Bonham or Jimmy Chamberlin. They dont want to listen to rip
offs, they want to find someone new. There is nothing wrong with taking
inspiration from your favorite drummers, everybody does it. However you
should try to make conscious effort to at least present what they are playing in
a different way.
A good exercise to follow is to listen to some of your favorite drum tracks,
preferably from two different drummers. Take the best beat and the best fill
from the songs and then try to splice them together. This method is commonly
used by drummers that want to add their own specific flair to drum tracks.
Another great exercise is to play along to some of your favorite music, but
instead of playing the beat and fills that are in the background try to add in
some of your own techniques. If a beat is played on a hi-hat then why not try
playing it on the ride cymbal?

Thinking Of New Ideas

The best way to come up with new ideas is to learn as much as possible. You
should always be trying to increase your overall drumming vocabulary, and the
best way to do this is to learn new techniques such as rudiments.
There are 40 rudiments in total. Learning all of them will increase your speed,
control and most importantly your imagination. Once you learn a rudiment you
should always try to incorporate it into your playing.
Trying to turn it into a beat, or playing it on multiple drums can be a great way
to get started. Eventually you will find that new ideas will come to you and you
will be able to hear them in your head before youve even picked up the sticks.

Learn New Styles

Many drummers are very one dimensional. They can play certain drumming
styles and genres very well, and others poorly. If you learn to master a number
of different styles then you will be able to take ideas from one style and
incorporate it into another.
This is a great way to add your own specific flair to a song or piece of music. Not
only does it sound original and unique, but it will make you stand out over other
drummers.
As Ive previously stated; the most important aspect of imagination is
establishing your own identity. And the only way to formulate your own identity
is to create new things yourself. By following the exercises and ideas in this
article you will find yourself in a better position to create.

Expand Your 7/8 Drum Grooves Volcabulary

The chances are high that the majority of the music you have heard or played
was set in a 4/4 time signature. Music does not stop there, and by dedicating
some time to the studying of alternative time signatures you will even develop a
better sense for understanding and analyzing music.
Even though the 3/4 time signature is the second most common, it still can be
considered an even time, as it is analogous to 6/8, just as four quarter notes are
equivalent to eight eighth notes.

Understanding the Essence of the 7/8 Time Signature

The overall feel of a 7/8 measure will be as if it was an unfinished 4/4 measure.
It sounds rather unexpected and you usually have the impression that the
drummer forgot to finish his beat.
In order to be able to deliver solid rhythms in this measure, we first have to
learn how to count in the 7/8 measure. In the example below I show you the
four most common ways to count notes in the 7/8 time signature.
First, you can count every single eighth-note in a measure, like this: one, two,
three, four, five, six, sev you should not utter seven entirely, as the second
syllable might confuse you. The next two variations are the most common.
These are one, two, three, four, one, two, three and one, two, three, one,
two, three, four.

There exists another rather accepted way of counting in 7/8, that goes like one,
two, three, one, two, one, two. In the divided examples I have added a bass
drum for every count of one you should practice like this in order to develop
a command of this rather odd and nifty time signature.

Crafting Basic Beats in This Time Signature

There are two basic ways to compose simple beats in the 7/8 time signature.
The first of these (exemplified on the first line below) is based on the
augmentation of the most common bass-snare pulsation by adding extra eighth
notes on the hi-hat between these two.
The other alternative (see the second line of the example below) is to treat this
time signature just the way I described it in the introduction: as an unfinished
4/4. That way, you should just lay a standard 4/4 rock beat over a 7/8 measure
and let the unneeded remains fall into the void. This will create a fascinating,
interestingly syncopated beat.

Composing and Counting 7/8 Fills Correctly

Just like any other time signature, 7/8 is not limited to rigid, common beats.
Drum fills are sort of necessary in almost any kind of music, and the 7/8 time
signature provides you with a very interesting and surprisingly simple platform

to do that. The only thing you have to do is to count what you play until you
have accumulated 7 eighth-notes.
The first example shows the simplest possibility to do this. On the other hand,
the second alternative goes a little bit further by incorporating eighth-note and
sixteenth-note triplets into a bar of seven eighths. It is all just mathematics, so
it is up to you to verify that the examples are correct. The procedure is the
same as it is for 4/4 beats.

Basic Syncopated Grouping Patterns For Good Dynamics

Most of the patterns and beats that beginner drummers are introduced to at
first are driven by a constant pulsation of the hi-hat. In these beats, the other
played parts of the drum kit usually the snare drum and the bass drum are
synchronized to the hi-hat strokes.
Such a straightforward beat can very often be played with wonderful dynamics
and it can rule the entire piece of music through its simplicity. However let us
face it there are situations when you need to spice up your playing so that it
will match the music of your colleagues better. Syncopation can help you in that
manner.
Syncopation can be basically achieved through the addition of unexpected, offbeat strokes to a beat, giving it a slightly unordered groove. Composing such
beats is easier than you would ever expect let us take a look at how it should
be done!

The Most Basic Kind of Example for The Pattern

When you are about to learn something new on your instrument, the first step
you should take is to break the new material into small pieces, into building
blocks. The easiest way to do that is to add off-beat sixteenth notes played on
the bass drum or the snare drum between the standard eighth-note throbbing
of the hi-hat.

In the example below I have noted some of the simplest possible syncopated
patterns. In the first two bars you can see four examples where only one offbeat is added to a group of a quarter length, whereas in the last two bars you
can four examples of how two eighth-notes can be replaced with four sixteenths
in a dynamic, interesting way.

Embedding Simple Syncopated Patterns in Drum Beats

In the example below we show how incorporating one or more of the patterns
presented above can bring some interesting vibe to your beats. The first line
shows how two syncopated building blocks can turn a standard rock beat into a
rather interesting groovy beat that goes nicely with funk music when played
with clever dynamics. You might want to play the off-beat snare strokes from
the second measure as ghost notes in order to create a really smooth groove.
The second line shows a rather complex example of syncopation. It is
interesting to note how sixteenth notes are seemingly randomly assigned to the
snare or the bass drum and the result sounds cool, even that way.

Using These Patterns as Building Blocks for Drum Beats

Once you have a solid command of the different building blocks, you can
combine them in any way you want just make sure that you are not leaving
your time signature without purpose.

There are no rules on what order these blocks have to follow and there are no
limitations regarding the inner composition of these groups that is, you can
come up with almost any combination of notes featuring off-beat strokes and
end up with a nice syncopated beat.
In the first two measures I have added an extra bass drum for counts one and
three, so that the beat would not feel that strange at first. However, the third
and the fourth measure illustrates that beginning a beat with a bass drum is not
compulsory and experimenting around can yield awesome results.