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Practice

Rob Knopper Shows Us 4 Steps To Build Machine-Gun Doubles

Here’s a great way of approaching double strokes. Rob Knopper explains a method to help you develop “machine-gun” doubles. In other words, a very even sounding double stroke roll. You need to figure out for yourself how you’re going to get the second stroke to be louder than the first. My doubles came together when I learned to use my middle finger as a spring. I can also use my fingers to help as well as a little whip of… Read More »Rob Knopper Shows Us 4 Steps To Build Machine-Gun Doubles

Benny Greb Free Lesson on Drumeo – Art & Science of Groove

I just discovered this brilliant video lesson/educational presentation by the famous Benny Greb who’s doing the rounds promoting his new DVD The Art & Science Of Groove which was produced via a Kickstarter campaign (including a few shekels from yours truly…). The DVD is really good, I have on my To Do list to review it. Anyway, Mr Greb explains and demonstrates a bunch of the concepts from the DVD here and it should whet your appetite for getting a… Read More »Benny Greb Free Lesson on Drumeo – Art & Science of Groove

Jojo Mayer – Secret Weapons for the Modern Drummer Pt. 2: A Guide to Foot Technique

I’m rather excited to discover that the long awaited sequel to Jojo Mayer’s insane video on hand technique is due out soon. Secret Weapons for the Modern Drummer Pt. 2: A Guide to Foot Technique is released by Hudson Music “soon”. It promises to be “The most comprehensive guide to foot technique for drummers ever available”. The hands video is best viewed as a compendium of technical information rather than a step by step guide that needs to be mastered… Read More »Jojo Mayer – Secret Weapons for the Modern Drummer Pt. 2: A Guide to Foot Technique

Free MP3 Metronome For Your Downloading Pleasure

NOTE: The MP3 metronome was created aeons ago and it seems most of the files have vanished since I made them. I will attempt to fix this and create a new link ASAP. Despite living in a world where you can install apps on your toaster, some of my students don’t have access to such modern miracles. So I whipped up this batch of 5 minute long MP3s with tempos from 60 BPM to 300 BPM in increments of five… Read More »Free MP3 Metronome For Your Downloading Pleasure

Don’t Think!

This is sage advice but not so easy to follow. As a nouveau jazzer, I find myself thinking about everything too much. I get pages of Riley flashing through my head mid-performance. I’m playing in a restaurant so I am thinking about keeping the volume down and thinking about whether the next thing I do will be too loud. I think about tensions arising in different body parts, my posture, what drum-striking implements I need in the next song. I… Read More »Don’t Think!

Lesson with Ralph Salmins

I saw Ralph Salmins at a clinic put on by my old teacher, Phil Solomon, in Brighton a few years back. Ralph’s playing and approach were presented in a fun and informative way and his professionalism and practical attitude towards his work as one of the UK’s leading session drummers was inspiring. I asked Ralph for a lesson but due to complicated schedules, we couldn’t find a suitable date. My next meeting with Ralph was at this year’s Ultimate Drum… Read More »Lesson with Ralph Salmins

A great post on establishing good practice habits from musicianwages.com

Establishing Good Practice Habits as a Professional Musician One of the most difficult duties of a professional, freelance musician, is finding time to practice. Yet practicing should be at the heart of the musician?s daily routine. Much like a professional athlete needs to constantly maintain their level of fitness, so must musicians keep their skills sharp. Yet unlike an athlete, musicians? skills can continually improve over decades before peaking, making for a long, fruitful career. It?s just a matter of… Read More »A great post on establishing good practice habits from musicianwages.com

Practice; what it entails and how to do it effectively

If you want to get good at your instrument, practice is the key. Not just any practice, mind you, but well planned and focused practice is required in order to make good steady progress. Here is a great article I came across with some great advice from a fellow drum teacher in Australia. Practice; what it entails and how to do it effectively PT1 Practice; what it entails and how to do it effectively PT2

Avoiding Avoidance

Here is an interesting article about not avoiding those challenging things we should be doing (like, er, posting on one’s blog…). “Do you ever dodge your creative work? Say, your practice time arrives, and you race off to do some chore. It might be a chore that you detest, but now it calls to you. Then, instead of refining your music, you start cleaning the house or doing whatever” http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/avoiding-avoidance.html

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