Healthy Practice Routine

I believe the best way to practise drums is with an organised practice routine. A balanced diet of rudiments, beats and fills as well as plenty of musical applications like learning tracks or being creative.

Part 1.  Warm Up

Warming up on the drums can include stretches, warm up patterns and rudiments. I usually swap them round every day to keep it varied and interesting.  This should take up at least 5mins or 1/6  of your practice time. So if you were practising for an hour - 10mins; half an hour - 5 mins; but if you only practise for 15 or 20 mins still make time for 5 mins to warm up.

Part 2. Vocabulary

In the same way as learning a language it is important for us to build our rhythmic vocabulary. This involves looking at different styles of drumming and focusing on learning patterns, beats and fills. To start with 8th note rock/pop beats with different bass drum and hi hat patterns that will provide a lot of mileage, then moving to more funk oriented patterns with different snare placement and harder bass drum patterns and finally to more unusual patterns with displacement or odd time signatures. As I discuss in my other article this is often about creating and maintaining muscle memory, so learning these beats slowly is a must; you must learn to walk before you can run.  The same applies to fills. Learn them slowly with lots of repetition. Once you have the hang of a fill it is best practised in a musical context, so try and play it after 3 measures of a suitable beat then try and apply it to a song; this leads nicely to the next part of practice.

Part 3. Application

Application is your chance to be creative in your practice. You have had prescribed rudiments and beats to learn but now you must put them into action. This section of practice could be playing along with a piece of music or loop. It could be creating a drum solo or piece of drum music incorporating grooves and fills. It is important to remember that creativity comes from structure and this section of practice is not called woodshed. It’s not about trying to fit the largest amount of notes in the smallest amount of time. Drumming should always be to even tempo and it is important not to do lots of speeding up and slowing down because it will not allow you to develop your sense of timekeeping and groove.  You should practise Vocabulary and Application for the same amount for time. For example 30min practice - 5mins warm up; 12mins vocabulary, 12mins application, 1min free.

 Part 4. Free (optional)

This is an optional section of the practice routine that can come at any point. Sometimes it can be frustrating working on co-ordination or tricky sections of pieces and you need a break to let off some steam. Rather than stop practising I recommend having some time to just do whatever you feel for a minute or so then bring the focus back to the exercise you were practising. This can help alleviate stress and maintain a solid practice.

So there you have it: a simple guide to good practice. The most important thing is to practise regularly. It is ok to miss a day or two but it is better to practise for short, regular periods rather than one big practice at the weekend.  Also remember practising something incorrectly makes it worse each time you play it. Strive for accuracy and attention to detail, and take everything at a slow easy pace and it will make it much more enjoyable.

Stay loose and have fun!

Stu