Independence question
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Independence exercises and explanation for pocket playing
There are a few things you can do to gain the independence on both hands.
1) practice different hand ostinatos(repeating patterns) relating to different genres. for example, if you can read, you play the jazz ride pattern with your right hand while reading snare notation off a score sheet with your left hand.
2) while practicing coordinated independence between your hands, at any one time try to sing out what one of your hands is playing. for example, lets say you are playing a samba genre and you want to maintain a standard 1en, 2en, 3en, 4en ride pattern while you improvise on your snare. to get your ride on auto-pilot, sing out whatever you are improvising on your snare. once you are comfortable with that you can orchestrate your improvisation onto other parts of the kit.
3) there is this exercise that was taught to me by my ex drum teacher Mr Anthony Fong from Yamaha:
Left Hand: Play triplets on every beat accenting every down beat- Lll, Lll, Lll,Lll
Right Hand: 1) Play every down beat- R, R, R, R
2) Play 8th note triplets- (RRR), (RRR)
3) Play straight 8th notes- 1n, 2n, 3n, 4n
*Switch hands once you can successfully complete the exercise.
* Make sure you are accenting the downbeats while playing the 16th note triplets. many of my students try to cheat by playing the triplet values but accent on the left hand whatever the right hand is playing and vice versa. this defeats the purpose of the exercise.
4) After you are comfortable playing certain exercises or hand ostinatos and are satisfied with the level of independence you have gained, switch hands and try the opposite configuration of the exercise or ostinato. this can be very challenging. not only does it make your weaker hand stronger and gives you equal skill between both your hands which is very important, it also gives you the mental independence training to be able to handle new independence exercises that you come across much more easily than before so give it a shot.
5) lastly, independence exercises do not go easy on drummers so many would have problems even starting out. there is this method of learning coordination call the Stepping Stone Procedure. Big name, but its a simple concept to understand whenever you are having difficulty coordinating certain grooves or fills that you are trying to internalize. I stress very heavily on reading when it comes to drumming so this applies to those who can read percussion notation. When it comes to coordinating grooves and you have it on the score, read the whole groove vertically note by note instead of horizontally reading individual parts of the drum and trying to add the other limbs. This is not efficient. secondly, play as many successive notes as you can and once you reach the note you are having a problem with, just stop. next, play the grove or fill just like you did before but this time, play it successively with the note you are having a problem with. using this method, add one by one note till until you can play the whole motif comfortably.
for pocket playing,it is a style that consists of a simple, solid beat that lacks the flair of a lot of fills and stuff.This style is typically done on a kit using relatively few pieces.for example,you could pull it off with just a kick drum, snare, and hi-hats; but the number of pieces is irrelevant as compared to how you play them.Pocket drumming is when a drummer sits a groove so deep and never lets the tempo waver, creating a comfortable pocket for the rest of the band to play in, it is falsely labeled as an easy thing to do, however very few drummers can pull it off, and it takes a talented band to create a deep pocket. The drummer can not be held solely responsible for the time. I have personally seen some of the best drummers pocket groove's destroyed by inexperienced musician's. Check out James Brown or the Meter's for this style of playing.
There are a few things you can do to gain the independence on both hands.
1) practice different hand ostinatos(repeating patterns) relating to different genres. for example, if you can read, you play the jazz ride pattern with your right hand while reading snare notation off a score sheet with your left hand.
2) while practicing coordinated independence between your hands, at any one time try to sing out what one of your hands is playing. for example, lets say you are playing a samba genre and you want to maintain a standard 1en, 2en, 3en, 4en ride pattern while you improvise on your snare. to get your ride on auto-pilot, sing out whatever you are improvising on your snare. once you are comfortable with that you can orchestrate your improvisation onto other parts of the kit.
3) there is this exercise that was taught to me by my ex drum teacher Mr Anthony Fong from Yamaha:
Left Hand: Play triplets on every beat accenting every down beat- Lll, Lll, Lll,Lll
Right Hand: 1) Play every down beat- R, R, R, R
2) Play 8th note triplets- (RRR), (RRR)
3) Play straight 8th notes- 1n, 2n, 3n, 4n
*Switch hands once you can successfully complete the exercise.
* Make sure you are accenting the downbeats while playing the 16th note triplets. many of my students try to cheat by playing the triplet values but accent on the left hand whatever the right hand is playing and vice versa. this defeats the purpose of the exercise.
4) After you are comfortable playing certain exercises or hand ostinatos and are satisfied with the level of independence you have gained, switch hands and try the opposite configuration of the exercise or ostinato. this can be very challenging. not only does it make your weaker hand stronger and gives you equal skill between both your hands which is very important, it also gives you the mental independence training to be able to handle new independence exercises that you come across much more easily than before so give it a shot.
5) lastly, independence exercises do not go easy on drummers so many would have problems even starting out. there is this method of learning coordination call the Stepping Stone Procedure. Big name, but its a simple concept to understand whenever you are having difficulty coordinating certain grooves or fills that you are trying to internalize. I stress very heavily on reading when it comes to drumming so this applies to those who can read percussion notation. When it comes to coordinating grooves and you have it on the score, read the whole groove vertically note by note instead of horizontally reading individual parts of the drum and trying to add the other limbs. This is not efficient. secondly, play as many successive notes as you can and once you reach the note you are having a problem with, just stop. next, play the grove or fill just like you did before but this time, play it successively with the note you are having a problem with. using this method, add one by one note till until you can play the whole motif comfortably.
for pocket playing,it is a style that consists of a simple, solid beat that lacks the flair of a lot of fills and stuff.This style is typically done on a kit using relatively few pieces.for example,you could pull it off with just a kick drum, snare, and hi-hats; but the number of pieces is irrelevant as compared to how you play them.Pocket drumming is when a drummer sits a groove so deep and never lets the tempo waver, creating a comfortable pocket for the rest of the band to play in, it is falsely labeled as an easy thing to do, however very few drummers can pull it off, and it takes a talented band to create a deep pocket. The drummer can not be held solely responsible for the time. I have personally seen some of the best drummers pocket groove's destroyed by inexperienced musician's. Check out James Brown or the Meter's for this style of playing.
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wow, thats some explanation man. Thanks, but i think all i could do is just the excercise taught by your Yamaha teacher and maybe the first 2. As i'm not able to read notes currently. I really wished i could though, but i have to wait till another time to take lessons. But regarding that excercise, when you say accent on the left hands, "Lll" means i accent on the "L"? I hope you could break down the part that you highlight to me, regarding you say like your students cheating.
Thanks for the definition of keeping in the pocket. But does it mean that whatever fills the drummer is doing, and however long that fill is. He still comes but in time, and crashing on the right moment?
Thanks, man i really wish i could be able to understand most of what yu're typing. But i hope you understand why i didn't understand. in fact i save it all in a Microsoft word file, just incase next time i would need them. By any chance, which music school do you teach at?
Thanks for the definition of keeping in the pocket. But does it mean that whatever fills the drummer is doing, and however long that fill is. He still comes but in time, and crashing on the right moment?
Thanks, man i really wish i could be able to understand most of what yu're typing. But i hope you understand why i didn't understand. in fact i save it all in a Microsoft word file, just incase next time i would need them. By any chance, which music school do you teach at?
Drumbassador
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okay to learn reading you don't necessarily have to find a teacher. there are books that you can find which teach you reading but most of these books are meant for beginners. gauge your own standard.
regarding the exercise, when i meant "Lll", you are right. you do accent the first note. that's why i put it in capital letters. regarding my students cheating, what they do is they fail to accent the first note as stated and they just play the triplet values as in "lll" all the way. whenever the right hand plays, they accent the left hand in unison. in this way, you are not training any independence. if you wanna do this you would rather train filling up empty spaces in between accents in my opinion.
for pocket playing, usually when the drummer is filling, the note values or the subdivisions mostly remain the same. the idea is for the drummer to groove along and keep a steady tempo so that the person listening can move along to the groove. lets say a drummer is really deep intro the groove. for a person listening, it would be easy and would feel good to bob his head to the groove and that is what you should aim to do when you are " in the pocket". you can have killer chops but the maturity comes when you only give it when needed. this also gives value to those chops considering the fact that it is rarely shown. moreover if you want to be a pocket player, try to keep the subdivisions of your fills the same as your groove especially when the melody is going. using polyrhythmic fills for example are going spoil the groove.
btw i'm currently serving my NS in the SAF Music and Drama Company as a vocational drummer and percussionist. i'm also currently a session musician and a private educator at Zomrec studios off Jln Sultan. i do teach at a student's place if needed.
regarding the exercise, when i meant "Lll", you are right. you do accent the first note. that's why i put it in capital letters. regarding my students cheating, what they do is they fail to accent the first note as stated and they just play the triplet values as in "lll" all the way. whenever the right hand plays, they accent the left hand in unison. in this way, you are not training any independence. if you wanna do this you would rather train filling up empty spaces in between accents in my opinion.
for pocket playing, usually when the drummer is filling, the note values or the subdivisions mostly remain the same. the idea is for the drummer to groove along and keep a steady tempo so that the person listening can move along to the groove. lets say a drummer is really deep intro the groove. for a person listening, it would be easy and would feel good to bob his head to the groove and that is what you should aim to do when you are " in the pocket". you can have killer chops but the maturity comes when you only give it when needed. this also gives value to those chops considering the fact that it is rarely shown. moreover if you want to be a pocket player, try to keep the subdivisions of your fills the same as your groove especially when the melody is going. using polyrhythmic fills for example are going spoil the groove.
btw i'm currently serving my NS in the SAF Music and Drama Company as a vocational drummer and percussionist. i'm also currently a session musician and a private educator at Zomrec studios off Jln Sultan. i do teach at a student's place if needed.
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plainsman
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great initiative on the reply there *thumbs up*
Drumbassador
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Thank you so much for that compliment. greatly appreciate it. it is all for the good of those who want to learn music.
Drumbassador
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Sure no problem. Feel free to post your question relating to drumming whenever you have doubts. myself and i'm sure many other drummers in this forum would be more than willing to share their knowledge.
drummer4christ
New member
try the 2/3 exercise...your right hand does quarter notes, 1-2-3-4, then your left would do triplets, 1-n-a. Then the other way around.
it will be something like this:
1-------2-------3-------4-------1-------2-------3-------4 Right hand
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 ----------N-----------A-------1 ----------N-----------A Left hand
hope this helps.
it will be something like this:
1-------2-------3-------4-------1-------2-------3-------4 Right hand
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 ----------N-----------A-------1 ----------N-----------A Left hand
hope this helps.
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Drumbassador
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Exercise Further Study
Very good exercise suggestion.A further study to it would be to add accents to the exercise. for example while playing the 4 notes with your right hand, the triplets can be accented in various ways such as Lll, lLl, llL(accent the bold letters).
You can bring it a level further by adding accented patterns to the the crotchet beats together with the triplets with the accents. keep time with the hi-hat and remove the ghost notes resulting in only the accents being played. by doing this itself would provide multiple permutations of accented patterns. you can even go about subdividing the values of the notes further to acquire more options to work with. experimenting on it this way can even land you some nice ostinatos(repeating patterns) that you can orchestrate on the kit to get some nice grooves out of. but this requires further levels of independence considering the fact that your feet would probably need to move at the same time.
next with only the accents playing, sing out the pattern being played on each hand singing out the ghost notes at the same time. this would force your mind to concentrate on one hand at a time while the other hand is moving due to muscle memory.There are many other poly-rhythmic exercises that you can practice which not only improves your coordinated independence, it also improves your soloing capabilities.
Most importantly, remember to practice with a metronome and increase the speed gradually. starting at a comfortable tempo and increasing it 4 bpm at a time would be a good rule of thumb to apply when you are practicing. this ensures evenness in the execution of the strokes at a faster tempos, when you troubleshoot the problems that you are facing with a certain exercise at a slower tempo before building it up to speed. also due to technological advancements, digital metronomes can be programmed to "click" to different note values which in my opinion is good and bad. i have noticed one of my students practicing semi-quaver accented notation and the metronome was set to click semi-quavers at a fast tempo. the problem he was facing was that when he got faster, he did not know what he was hearing. he was confused on whether he was hearing his strokes or the click. it was just too fast for the ear to catch.Practicing like this does not aid you well in your practicing as far as i have seen so what i would advice is to maintain the click value as crotchet beats or quaver beats at most so you would be able to hear what you play and troubleshoot it at the same time making your practice more efficient. I know this thread was initially about hand independence but i felt the importance to share proper practicing procedures and tips to make your practicing more efficient so hope it helps
Very good exercise suggestion.A further study to it would be to add accents to the exercise. for example while playing the 4 notes with your right hand, the triplets can be accented in various ways such as Lll, lLl, llL(accent the bold letters).
You can bring it a level further by adding accented patterns to the the crotchet beats together with the triplets with the accents. keep time with the hi-hat and remove the ghost notes resulting in only the accents being played. by doing this itself would provide multiple permutations of accented patterns. you can even go about subdividing the values of the notes further to acquire more options to work with. experimenting on it this way can even land you some nice ostinatos(repeating patterns) that you can orchestrate on the kit to get some nice grooves out of. but this requires further levels of independence considering the fact that your feet would probably need to move at the same time.
next with only the accents playing, sing out the pattern being played on each hand singing out the ghost notes at the same time. this would force your mind to concentrate on one hand at a time while the other hand is moving due to muscle memory.There are many other poly-rhythmic exercises that you can practice which not only improves your coordinated independence, it also improves your soloing capabilities.
Most importantly, remember to practice with a metronome and increase the speed gradually. starting at a comfortable tempo and increasing it 4 bpm at a time would be a good rule of thumb to apply when you are practicing. this ensures evenness in the execution of the strokes at a faster tempos, when you troubleshoot the problems that you are facing with a certain exercise at a slower tempo before building it up to speed. also due to technological advancements, digital metronomes can be programmed to "click" to different note values which in my opinion is good and bad. i have noticed one of my students practicing semi-quaver accented notation and the metronome was set to click semi-quavers at a fast tempo. the problem he was facing was that when he got faster, he did not know what he was hearing. he was confused on whether he was hearing his strokes or the click. it was just too fast for the ear to catch.Practicing like this does not aid you well in your practicing as far as i have seen so what i would advice is to maintain the click value as crotchet beats or quaver beats at most so you would be able to hear what you play and troubleshoot it at the same time making your practice more efficient. I know this thread was initially about hand independence but i felt the importance to share proper practicing procedures and tips to make your practicing more efficient so hope it helps
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