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The Complete Roadmap to SKYROCKET Your Drumming In 2026 — Transcript

by Dimitri Fantini · 15,406 words · 2,278 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00[music]
0:03Have you ever wondered if the advice
0:04you're following to get better at
0:05drumming is wrong? Well, I think a lot
0:07of it is and it's holding you back. In
0:09fact, I know it is because in 2022, I
0:11started using a new system to teach
0:12drummers and it skyrocketed the drumming
0:14of thousands of my students. So, in this
0:16video, I'm going to give you the exact
0:18blueprint to fix your hand and foot
0:19technique and skyrocket your
0:20coordination, grooves, and fills, no
0:22matter how long you've been drumming, so
0:23you can finally play the way you hear in
0:25your head. Time stamps are below so you
0:26can skip around because this video is a
0:28compilation of my best drum lessons here
0:30on YouTube. But if you haven't watched
0:31one of these videos before, watch this
0:33video in order and don't skip anything.
0:36When I say don't skip anything, I mean
0:37actually implement and do the things I
0:39recommend you do and you'll see your
0:40drumming take off. [music]
0:46Let's start with posture. The first step
0:47to all of this is to get our posture
0:50comfortable and our arms as relaxed as
0:53possible. Set aside your sticks. Set
0:55aside your drums, your drum set, your
0:57practice pad. Set it off to the side a
0:59little. That'll do. Okay. I want you to
1:01begin by sitting up relaxed, shoulders
1:04back, spine straight in your chair or
1:07drum throne. So once you're sitting up
1:09straight, I want you to shake your arms
1:12out like this.
1:16Get them as loose and I like to say
1:19jiggly as possible. And I want you to
1:22let them drop.
1:25When you're here, I want you to feel
1:27that your entire upper arm, lower arm,
1:30forearm, hands, fingers, all of this
1:33stuff is completely relaxed. Pretend
1:36that it's just jello- as loose as
1:39possible. Shake it about.
1:43And I want you to just let them drop at
1:45your side.
1:47Both hands. Stay here for a moment and
1:50feel what this feels like. and look down
1:52at your hands and arms and look down at
1:55your body. Pay attention to this feeling
1:58because this is the feeling you want to
1:59be able to call upon as we move to the
2:02next steps. This feeling of total
2:04relaxation. I probably look ridiculous
2:06right now as I'm talking to you. But
2:08this is exactly what we want. Just total
2:11total loose relaxed limbs.
2:16Next step is to bend your elbows 90°.
2:22Make sure your arms are completely
2:24straight down. And then bend your elbows
2:27forward so they're parallel with the
2:29floor. You'll also notice that I am
2:32dangling my wrist. So I haven't
2:34straightened it yet. So this is the this
2:36is step three is to straighten the
2:38wrist. And I want you to let it drop
2:40again.
2:42Straighten.
2:43Drop. because we want to be deeply aware
2:46of how much relaxation or tension we are
2:49adding to every mechanic that we're
2:52going to work with. Now that you've done
2:53that a couple times, go ahead and
2:55straighten your wrist out.
2:58And let's do the same thing with the
2:59fingers. So our elbows 90°, our elbow is
3:02also at our side. We're not holding it
3:04back. We're not holding it forward. And
3:06we're not holding it out like this. So
3:09it's dropped like that. I want you to
3:12then straighten your fingers out.
3:16And then let them drop.
3:19Straighten, drop. Straighten, drop. You
3:25can hold your arm up like this. Now,
3:27when you have your fingers nice and
3:29relaxed and loose,
3:32that natural position is going to be
3:34very close to how you want to hold the
3:36stick. Because what we're aiming for
3:38with all of the technique fundamentals
3:40we're covering today is to be as relaxed
3:43as possible as much as possible with
3:47every part of our body as possible while
3:50still executing what we want to execute
3:52on the drums. So that means our grip
3:55should barely change from this total
3:57relaxed state. Oh, and real quick, you
3:59can grab the entire technique checklist
4:01we're covering totally free. So grab it
4:03below if you want to lock in perfect
4:04technique for good. So, let's pick up a
4:06stick. Hold out your dominant hand nice
4:08and relaxed. We're gonna start by
4:11placing our thumb and index finger on
4:13the fulcrum point of the stick. Now,
4:15where that is along the stick is very
4:18important, but we're going to cover that
4:19a little bit later. For now, just know
4:22that it's approximately a third of the
4:24way up the stick from the butt end.
4:27That's where we're going to put our
4:29thumb and index finger. So from this
4:31position, we want the entire pad of our
4:34thumb along the stick. And then our
4:37index finger, we want the dip joint,
4:41which is this last knuckle. We want the
4:44side of it to be at the same point
4:48opposite our thumb. The next step is to
4:51place the back of the stick against the
4:53fleshy part of your palm. Now, we're
4:56looking to place this in the middle of
4:58the fleshy part of your palm. The stick
5:00should not touch the bony part here and
5:02should also not touch this area out
5:05here. We want it right in the middle.
5:07Not here,
5:10not out here, in the middle. After that,
5:13go ahead and gently wrap your back
5:16fingers around the stick. Make sure that
5:18the pads of all your fingers are on the
5:21stick. The exception being your index
5:23finger. That will be the side of the DIP
5:25joint for your index finger that's in
5:27contact with the stick at the focal
5:28point. about the same height as your
5:30thumb. You should notice a gap between
5:33your index finger and your thumb. This
5:34is something really important to
5:36remember. This gap, you can just stick a
5:39finger in there. This gap is the most
5:41important thing to keep in mind while
5:43you're playing and practicing and
5:44developing these fundamentals. You want
5:47to make sure that gap is always there.
5:49And there are a couple of common
5:50mistakes that you want to be aware of
5:52coming up.
5:55Whenever you go to practice, whenever
5:57you go to play, whenever you're working
6:00on technique, [music] working on
6:02different stroke types, whether that is
6:05moler stroke, French grip, rebound,
6:08whether it's doubles, open, close, all
6:10these techniques that you should learn
6:11whenever you're practicing or playing,
6:13it's really important, especially in the
6:15beginning, especially right now, to go
6:17through what I like to call the stick
6:20grip checklist. The stick crop checklist
6:22is a set of parameters to check off kind
6:25of like a pre-flight checklist on an
6:28airline before a plane takes off at the
6:31airport. I don't even know much about
6:33planes, but they check everything about
6:35the plane to make sure it's safe, make
6:37sure it's set up optimally for a safe
6:40flight before they take off. And so
6:42that's the same idea here. We want to
6:44make sure that we have our technique
6:45nice and relaxed and avoid a bunch of
6:48mistakes that can hold us back before we
6:50ever play a note. So before you play a
6:53note, after you play a note, these are
6:55the times to use the sticker checklist.
6:58Think of it as a pre-flight and a
6:59post-flight checklist. Here are a couple
7:01of mistakes that you want to make sure
7:03you're not making before you play, while
7:05you play, after you play. Number one is
7:08closing the gap. So instead of keeping
7:10this gap open, some drummers close the
7:12gap. And if you try it right now with
7:14me, you should immediately feel a lot
7:16more tension in your forearm. And then
7:18if you open that gap back up, you're
7:20going to feel it all relax. So closing
7:22the gap is the first mistake you want to
7:24make sure you never do. Always keep that
7:27gap open. Always keep it nice and
7:28relaxed. I want you to memorize
7:30everything we're going over here. So I
7:32made a PDF of all these grip fixes so
7:34you don't forget a single [music]
7:35detail. Link is below if you want to
7:36grab it. Number two is putting the index
7:39finger on top of the stick. Now, there's
7:42a couple of special cases where you
7:43might want to do something called, I
7:45think, a stick shot, where you bury the
7:47stick into the drum head for a special
7:49effect, but this is probably something
7:51you're rarely going to use. So, don't
7:54even think about that right now, and
7:55keep your index finger on the side of
7:57the stick, not on top. Make sure you see
7:59a little bit of your index finger
8:01dangling below the stick.
8:04Number three, don't let your thumb slip
8:07off the stick. I want you to strive to
8:09keep the entire pad of your thumb in
8:11contact with the stick. That's going to
8:13give you the most control. If your thumb
8:16slips off, then you start losing control
8:18and you compensate by gripping the stick
8:20tighter in other places. And again, that
8:23causes pain, that causes tension and uh
8:26over a long period of time, it causes
8:27permanent injury. So, we want to avoid
8:29all these things by maintaining contact
8:32for control, but staying relaxed with
8:34our grip and making sure that gap is
8:36always there. It's important to remember
8:37that you can't force progress by doing
8:40more of the wrong method. If you've been
8:42making these mistakes or any of the rest
8:44we're going to be talking about in this
8:45video, the number one thing you should
8:48do is fix them. Watch this video 10
8:50times if you have to. And really focus
8:52on getting each step under your belt
8:54until it's natural and automatic to not
8:58make these mistakes because doing more
9:00of the same mistakes only makes things
9:02worse. Bad habits break drummers.
9:05Mistake number four is when the stick
9:08rotates out this way in your palm
9:11creates a lot of difficulty in
9:12manipulating the stick and the arc and
9:16way you have to use the rest of your arm
9:20and body can contort in different ways
9:22and make it really difficult to control
9:23everything. So if you hold the stick out
9:25here, correct that to the middle of the
9:28fleshy part of the palm right there.
9:30Mistake number five, and this might be
9:33second most important in my book, that
9:36is when you let your back fingers off
9:39the stick. If your back fingers are
9:40coming off the stick and not in contact
9:43back here, then this is one of the most
9:46important things for you to fix and work
9:48on in terms of the stickup checklist,
9:50that pre-flight, post-flight checklist.
9:53Make sure before you go to play a note
9:55that your back fingers are touching.
9:57Make sure during
9:59the path of the stick and the motion
10:02your back fingers are touching. And make
10:04sure when you recover with that rebound
10:06or whatever the stroke type happens to
10:08be, make sure your back fingers are
10:09again on the stick, not off like this.
10:12This is really important to get down now
10:14because when you're learning the
10:15techniques for double strokes, if your
10:18back fingers aren't able to move and
10:20stay with the stick, this is really
10:22going to hold you back. Keep these ideas
10:23in mind as you practice these next steps
10:25and remember them throughout all the
10:27techniques that I'm going to teach
10:28[music] you. Right now, we're going to
10:30start with getting a grip on well, what
10:32you need to know about grip. Now, there
10:35are a number of different grips you can
10:37use on the drums, including German grip,
10:40American grip, French grip, and others.
10:43And it's important to know these, but
10:44today we're going to focus on German
10:46grip.
10:51[music] Getting these first steps is
10:53essential to playing proper muller
10:55technique and open close technique. And
10:58you'll need both in order to play around
10:59the drum set effortlessly with power,
11:01speed, and most importantly, control.
11:04When you're playing German grip, after
11:05you're holding the stick, go ahead and
11:07get back to our playing position of
11:09sitting straight up, arms relaxed,
11:11elbows bent 90°, and then you're holding
11:14the stick with the wrist straight. When
11:15you're at this point, you can drop your
11:16wrist a little bit onto the pad. And
11:18German grip specifically is when the
11:20back of your hand is pointing up towards
11:22the ceiling. You're going to notice that
11:24your thumbs are to the side and your
11:26back fingers are under the stick. With
11:29German grip, the main mechanic you're
11:31going to be using is the hinge of your
11:34wrist. So, you're going to use your
11:37wrist as the primary driver of this
11:40force for now. There's more to it later,
11:43but for now, we want to focus on wrist
11:45strokes. And that means using only your
11:48wrist and not your elbow. In fact, using
11:52your elbow at this point is mistake
11:54number six. I want you to avoid whenever
11:58possible playing from your elbow with
12:01your wrist locked.
12:04For the most part, even when we start to
12:05engage the elbow later down the line,
12:08you're still using your wrists and your
12:10fingers uh more than the elbow is being
12:12used. So, make sure for now you're not
12:14playing like this. You want to isolate
12:16and use just your wrist. The trick to
12:18this is as you go to play and you're
12:20resting the tip of the stick on the
12:22drummer pad, take a finger or two
12:24fingers or your whole hand and place it
12:27above your arm touching right below the
12:29wrist and slowly, very slowly move your
12:33wrist up
12:35and down.
12:38This way you can make sure that you're
12:40gently reminding yourself to isolate and
12:42just use this mechanic. And as I
12:44mentioned before, make sure you're
12:46watching your grip and using the stick
12:49grip checklist. Making sure the gap is
12:51there, making sure your thumb is on, the
12:53back fingers are on, everything we
12:54already covered. At this point, you can
12:56experiment with rotating your forearm
12:59and wrist a little bit to find the
13:00optimal angle for moving the stick up
13:03and down comfortably. We want to find
13:04the path that is the most natural,
13:07relaxed, and without tension for your
13:10body. Everybody's body, hands, arms,
13:13everything is a little bit different.
13:15It's all relative and it's all a little
13:17bit different for everybody, but the
13:18most important parameters are stick grip
13:20checklist and making sure that you
13:23[music] feel relaxed and you feel at
13:25ease and there's no tension in your
13:26movements. There's no strain. If you
13:28feel pain in the way that you're moving
13:30back a little bit with your wrist,
13:32something's not right. And we want to
13:34change and alter that gently, slowly,
13:37and experiment to find the correct angle
13:39of everything that works for your body.
13:41Keep going back to this step to lock in
13:43the muscle memory of these wrist
13:44movements. The number one thing most
13:46drummers aren't taught is a how critical
13:49it is to understand muscle memory and b
13:52exactly how to take advantage of our
13:53muscle memory to get the most out of our
13:55practice. the more you learn to use your
13:57muscle memory to its fullest. Knowing
14:00the right techniques like this and how
14:02to practice them correctly and knowing
14:04the right way to program these
14:06techniques into your subconscious, the
14:08faster and further ahead you're going to
14:09leap.
14:13Rebound strokes are not just important
14:16on their own. They're also an essential
14:18step towards learning tap strokes,
14:21control strokes, molar technique, open
14:25close technique, and in general getting
14:27a great sound out of your drums and
14:29symbols. [music]
14:33You'll use rebound strokes for so much,
14:36and I'll share more about that in a
14:38little bit. You'll play the same things
14:39you play, but faster, more fluidly, and
14:42with less effort when you master rebound
14:44strokes. Rebound strokes build off the
14:47wrist strokes we started to learn
14:48earlier. Rebound is also a big part of
14:50French grip finger strokes, and I want
14:52you to learn that soon. But first, let's
14:54continue focusing on the German grip
14:56version, and then you'll learn how to
14:58get the dynamics under complete control.
15:00What that means is we're going to start
15:02again with German grip. That's back of
15:04the hand up, thumb to the side, and
15:07using wrists only. Get it all the way up
15:11to a comfortable position. Don't wrench
15:14your wrist. really far back. If you feel
15:16that tension, you've gone too far. For
15:18me, this is approximately 45 degrees. If
15:22this is 90, feel a little much. I just
15:24do 45 when I'm practicing these wrist
15:27only rebound strokes. There's other ways
15:29to get the stick higher and keep that
15:31comfortable. But we want to master this
15:33version first. So, when you bring your
15:36wrist back, and for me that's about 45°,
15:38I want you to hold it here as your new
15:40starting position. and then slowly bring
15:44the stick down so that the tip of the
15:47stick touches the pad. There's a very
15:49low angle for the stick. It's not flat
15:51against the pad, but just a little bit
15:54uh raised from there. Once you're in
15:56contact with the pad, make sure again
15:59stick grip checklist. Watch for the gap.
16:03Feel the back fingers. Make sure the
16:05thumb isn't slipping off. Make sure your
16:07hand is relaxed and not gripping the
16:09stick tightly. Then slowly
16:14bring the wrist back up to its starting
16:16position. Going back to the subject of
16:17muscle memory, it's so important to do
16:20this slowly a whole bunch of times to
16:23make sure you're doing it with these
16:25correct parameters in mind and you're
16:26doing it in a way that doesn't hurt your
16:28body. As long as you're staying relaxed
16:30and you don't feel pain and you're
16:32coming up straight up with the stick and
16:36you have all the previous mistakes
16:38fixed, just do it slow a bunch of times
16:40so that you memorize that feeling. You
16:42know what it feels like. You know what
16:44to look for as you begin to speed this
16:46up. So, one more time. Start high, go
16:49slowly down, come back up nice and slow
16:52a couple of times.
16:56Here's
16:58where we actually finally get to have
17:00some fun today. And what that means is
17:03we're going to play a note that you can
17:05actually hear. And that means again
17:07we're going to do the same thing. We're
17:09starting high high 45°, but we're going
17:12to come down fast. Here's the tricky
17:16part. When you come down fast with your
17:19wrist,
17:21the stick with a
17:24rubber pad or a high tuned snare drum.
17:28Yes, some pads are less bouncy. I
17:30suggest you get a a bouncy traditional
17:32rubber pad to learn this technique and
17:35really learn to utilize this rebound as
17:38much as possible. When you impact that
17:41pad or drum or symbol, the stick wants
17:43to bounce back up. The tricky part is
17:47letting it, the secret to playing
17:49effortlessly is letting the stick do the
17:51work. It's going to come back up for
17:54you. It's going to bounce right back up.
17:56What you're looking for is when your
17:59wrist comes down fast
18:02with force. When your wrist comes down,
18:04you want to relax totally at that
18:07instant. What that looks like is
18:11straight wrist, drop it. This is the
18:14feeling that you already practiced
18:15earlier of just relaxing your wrist,
18:19letting it go limp. You want to unlock
18:22that wrist the moment the stick impacts
18:25the pad. So, you're coming down and
18:27relaxing. As a quick example, if I
18:30practice the proper rebound stroke
18:32technique without rebound, if I just
18:35play on my leg, it doesn't come up. What
18:38I'm doing is I'm coming down with force
18:41using my muscles to come down.
18:46Uh you do this too many times, it's
18:48going to hurt, but that's besides the
18:49point. At [snorts] this point, loose.
18:52Absolutely loose and limp.
18:54It doesn't come up. So, what we're
18:56learning to do when we're utilizing
18:58rebound to its fullest is we're learning
19:00to not pick the stick up every single
19:02time. So, we come down only. It bounces
19:05back up. We don't have to do the work of
19:07lifting our wrists back. It's really
19:10nice. On the pad, it looks like this.
19:28What a lot of drummers find is that
19:31they're not relaxing their hands enough
19:34during the rebound. If you have a little
19:36bit of tension in your wrist
19:39after the impact, the stick wants to
19:41bounce up, but you are preventing that a
19:44little bit. And that can manifest in a
19:47couple of different ways. Most often,
19:49there's a little bit of a liilt where it
19:50kind of like jerks back up like that
19:54instead of it just kind of snaps up. if
19:56you're totally relaxed. Another
19:58important point is that you want to come
20:00down fast enough to actually get enough
20:03bounce. If you just come down that much,
20:06it doesn't really bounce much.
20:09So, give it some force, but totally
20:11relax at the end. And get the action of
20:13the wrist moving down and then loosening
20:17up in a microcond is something that will
20:20take a little bit to figure out, but
20:22once it happens, even just once, you
20:25know it. When that stick comes back
20:27right up, there's no question you're
20:30going to feel it after a little bit of
20:32experimentation. If at this point the
20:34stick comes off your palm a little bit,
20:38that's okay during the rebound strokes,
20:41but make sure your back fingers, the
20:43pads of your fingers stay on the stick.
20:46Ideally, your goal should be to have the
20:49stick start in the same place and bounce
20:52back up to that exact same position.
20:54We're going to come back to that in a
20:56moment. Spend a lot of time locking in
20:58this feeling of the stick coming back on
21:01its own and carrying your hand, carrying
21:04your wrist. Carrying your hand, your
21:06wrist comes up with it. Don't rush this
21:10step. It should feel like you're
21:12bouncing a ball or dribbling a
21:14basketball. And that brings us to our
21:17first actual exercise that we're going
21:19to cover today. It's a very simple
21:21exercise, but once you've mastered one
21:23rebound stroke at a time, we want to
21:26start to put that into a little bit of a
21:27routine so you're building up even
21:30stronger muscle memory and connections
21:33to getting this right every time. The
21:35exercise is super simple. Put on a
21:37metronome at a moderate to slow tempo.
21:40We're going to play eight strokes with
21:42one hand and then alternate to the other
21:44and go back and forth.
21:50If you make sure one stroke at a time is
21:53perfect before you start to do this in
21:56sequence at each hand, then over a
21:58couple of days of practice, you're going
22:00to feel way more confident and in
22:02control over the stick and
22:03[clears throat]
22:04how it rebounds and how you fit into
22:06that picture. While you're practicing
22:08this, mistake number seven is something
22:10you really want to look out for, and
22:12that is holding your elbows out. Make
22:16sure while you're practicing this that
22:18your elbows are dropped and very relaxed
22:21at your side. That has to do with how
22:23your shoulder is holding or not holding
22:27your arm out. So, make sure to double
22:30check that and let them drop. Not this,
22:34not even a little bit, not even this
22:35much. [music]
22:38Let them drop.
22:41You're going to feel a lot more
22:43relaxation. You're going to feel a lot
22:44more at ease while you practice this.
22:46Now, another common mistake here is
22:50lifting up before each rebound stroke as
22:53you're doing this exercise.
22:55But I want to give you a solution to
22:57this, and it's going to make a big
22:58difference in your control and
23:01consistency with your strokes.
23:05[music]
23:09Okay, don't forget to download the
23:11entire technique checklist. And now that
23:12your grip won't hold you back anymore,
23:14you need to know what to actually
23:15practice with that proper technique.
23:19Have you ever watched a great drummer
23:20and wondered how do they make it look so
23:22easy? Well, there's actually three quick
23:24steps that make this simple stuff sound
23:26professional. And in this video, I'm
23:28going to show you what these three steps
23:29are. And I'm going to give you five easy
23:31grooves you can pick up today so you can
23:32use your new skills to sound like a pro.
23:34Now, to show you how this first step
23:36works, let's play the first groove.
23:40Step one is something that's going to
23:42take what you're already doing when
23:43you're playing your grooves and make it
23:45sound five times better. And skipping
23:47this step is what causes a lot of
23:48drummers grooves to sound kind of
23:50sloppy. And as soon as you do this, it's
23:52going to clean everything up. Here's
23:53what step one is. What you need to do is
23:55you need to practice something besides
23:57the beats that you're playing. You need
23:58to practice just that, but in a very
24:01specific way. And we have a couple
24:02different versions of this. Just this or
24:04just that. These are two different
24:05things. And what we're talking about is
24:07we're talking about four limb unison or
24:09unison's across different sets of all
24:11four limbs. All that means very simply
24:13is let me show you with my hands first.
24:16Can you do this? So what I'm doing here
24:19is I'm playing both hands together
24:22at the same dynamic level
24:26and I'm making sure it doesn't flam.
24:29So here's back to unison. It's very
24:32tricky to do and it's the type of thing
24:34that a lot of people would almost
24:35consider advanced, but if you can't hit
24:37[music] both your limbs together at the
24:38same time, then why are you trying to
24:39play something more complicated? It's
24:41something that although most beginner
24:42drummers skip it, it's the type of thing
24:43that turns you from a beginner drummer
24:45to an advanced professional level
24:46drummer. Being able to play both hands
24:48perfectly in harmony.
24:51So, getting it just like that is
24:53important. I'd really suggest at first
24:55you do it on a pad. The reason for that
24:56is that if you play it on one drum,
24:58there's some weird kind of vibration
25:00cancellation that happens and it sounds
25:01kind of peaky and vibrates weird,
25:03bounces weird. But playing it on one
25:04snare, [music]
25:06wo, it's kind of wacky and feels really
25:08weird. So, I definitely say do it on a
25:10pad at first and do it at different
25:11dynamic levels.
25:14Bonus points if you do both hands at
25:17different dynamic levels. So, instead of
25:18playing a flam where this is low, this
25:20is high. And so, naturally, the lower
25:22hand kind of hits first.
25:25That's our flam. Can you have this
25:27height difference be the start, but they
25:29both reach the drum at the same time.
25:34Here's our flam with the left and here's
25:37at the same time.
25:39So, taking the time, setting aside an
25:41afternoon or two to really master that,
25:43get an understanding of it with your
25:44hands is step one of step one. And after
25:46that, step two of step one is to do
25:48this.
25:53You need to next get those unison's
25:55happening between your limbs. So in this
25:57case, I'm playing high hat with my right
25:58hand and my kick drum. But when I'm
26:00doing that, another thing that you
26:02should really watch out for is that you
26:04can play at different dynamic levels. So
26:06we're talking accents and ghost notes,
26:08but different levels with the different
26:09limbs. So maybe the high hat is quiet
26:11and the kick is loud or vice versa. No
26:13matter what those volume differences
26:15happen to be and how strong you're
26:16hitting one or quiet you're hitting the
26:17other, they both hit at the same time.
26:19It's really crucial. Same with both your
26:21hands together. Same with your left hand
26:22and right foot. So this, don't flame
26:25that. Make sure that's really clean.
26:28And all this is going to go a long way
26:30into making groove number one sound
26:31great. So groove number one, I'm only
26:33playing one example here, but it just
26:34means any of your basic eighth note
26:36grooves, make sure you get them this
26:37clean. Make sure every stroke is in
26:38unison. In this case, I'm getting the
26:40snare drum really strong, high hat very
26:43quiet, and the kick drum strong as well.
26:44So check it out.
26:50And that brings us to step number two.
26:53And step number two transforms any
26:55groove a whole heck of a lot. So we're
26:57going to use groove number two to
26:58demonstrate that. Check it out. [music]
27:04So groove number two, very simple. We're
27:06literally playing paradittles, but it's
27:08the right hand on the high hat, left
27:09hand on the snare drum. We're adding a
27:10couple kick drums. I'm going to show you
27:11what that looks like. But while you're
27:12playing this paradittle, what's
27:14especially important, here's our snare
27:15drum. kick drum on here and then kick
27:17drum here. Snare drum kick drum
27:18occasionally on the E of four. That's
27:20the sequence. What's especially
27:22important is that you are experimenting
27:24experimenting with all this stuff. And
27:26what do I mean by that? We're
27:27experimenting with our dynamics.
27:30Sometimes you might be playing these
27:31really small piso kind of stuff. I don't
27:33use those terms a lot, but you might be
27:34playing little tiny ghost notes.
27:35Sometimes you might be playing, let's
27:37say, these two right hands on the high
27:39hat right before the four a little bit
27:41stronger. And you're going to get
27:42different things depending on what you
27:43do. I'll play two measures quiet with
27:46those two brights and then I'll play
27:47them a little bit stronger. [music]
27:56[music]
27:58Hear that louder at the end right there.
27:59And that's the type of thing that lets
28:01you kind of like let rhythms dance and
28:04[music] little moments pop out and be
28:06like fun and a little spicy, right? But
28:07we're not done yet with the dynamics.
28:09You can use step two, which is adding
28:11dynamics and being really conscious of
28:13that. You can use this all over the
28:14place. And we're going to use groove
28:16number three to demonstrate that because
28:18you can use this so many different ways.
28:19So groove three, we're going to be
28:20playing 16th notes on the high hat. But
28:23check out what I do with my right hand
28:24on the high hat. Also, bonus points if
28:26you can name this groove in the
28:28comments. [music]
28:33So what's going on with my right hand
28:34here is that, by the way, this is just
28:36one of many variations I'm going to show
28:37you. I'm going down and up with this
28:39motion here with my right hand. I'm
28:41hitting down and specifically hitting
28:43the side of the stick on the edge of the
28:45high hat. And as I lift up with that
28:48puppin motion that I talk about all the
28:49time, I'm tapping with the tip of the
28:52stick on the top of the high hat.
28:56[music]
28:58So, this goes hand inhand with step one,
29:00the unison strokes across all four of
29:01your limbs. to get all these different
29:03motions and techniques to be in line in
29:05unison in time with your other limbs.
29:07So, as I go down and up, I sometimes
29:09need to get my kick drum with a down
29:12with down with a kick. Sometimes while I
29:16go up and tip the uh hit the tip of the
29:19stick on the top of the high hat, I need
29:20to get the kick drum on that, right? So,
29:25one and two and three and four and one
29:30and two. So that's on the and with the
29:32kick drum with the up motion or with
29:35down down or maybe both of them
29:37[clears throat] kick kick which is with
29:40down up. So there's all these little
29:42considerations with your motions,
29:43techniques and movements that you want
29:44to get in line. So step two and one go
29:46hand in hand. That's just one of many
29:48like dynamic combinations you could do.
29:49You could play all this quiet.
29:52[music]
29:54You could play with the first of every
29:55fourth note accented.
29:59>> [music]
30:05[music]
30:06>> There's so many little things to pay
30:07attention to in terms of dynamics and in
30:09terms of your timing and how you're
30:11lining up your limbs that really go a
30:12long way towards making your grooves
30:14sound really, really pro. So, the next
30:16thing you need to pay attention to, step
30:18number three, I'm going to show you with
30:20groove number four. I want you to watch
30:22and tell me in the comments if you know
30:23what step number three is to making your
30:25groove sound professional.
30:30>> [music]
30:34[music]
30:35>> All right, you got your answers below.
30:37Well, if you said ghost notes, well,
30:39you're kind of right. But that's not the
30:41actual answer here. What we're actually
30:42talking about specifically starts with
30:44ghost notes. That goes so much deeper
30:46than that. Talking about articulation,
30:47and that means we're not just dynamics
30:49or ghost notes. Ghost notes are
30:50dynamics. Articulation is really the
30:52sounds you're pulling out of the drums
30:54and symbols themselves. Your touch on
30:55the instrument and the different options
30:57and the whole pallet of colors available
30:59to you. Which means right in these
31:00instances, I'm not just playing ghost
31:02notes for those in between notes besides
31:04the backbeat. I'm moving around to the
31:05edge of the drum. Sometimes I'm playing
31:07the rim. I'm sometimes playing a buzz or
31:10sometimes playing a dd. So buzzes and
31:13ddles for instance sound great leading
31:15into the one. [music]
31:21[music]
31:27[music]
31:30But when you're thinking about those
31:31articulations and dynamics and ghost
31:32notes, really pay attention to the
31:35internal arc of those dynamics. I'm
31:37going strong with the back beat. I'm
31:38going really quiet with ghost notes. And
31:39even those ghost notes, those other
31:41articulations can have a shape to it.
31:44You don't have to just go loud for the
31:45back beat, really quiet for everything
31:46else. There can be other notes that pop
31:47out just a little bit. [music]
31:50So that note a little bit stronger than
31:51a ghost note.
31:53And then right there, a ghost note right
31:55afterwards. So I'm going backbeat,
31:56medium, ghost note. [music]
32:04[music]
32:11[music]
32:13There's so much right there. And me in
32:14particular talking about articulation, I
32:16really love my ghost notes to be light
32:18and airy and not so deep as the normal
32:21snare hits. So, I often you're going to
32:22find if you watch any of my videos, I'm
32:24very frequently moving my left hand over
32:27to the edge [music]
32:29for a little bit like more overtones,
32:31less of the deep fundamental of the
32:33middle of the snare drum. I'm playing
32:34over here for my ghost notes during
32:37grooves. All this means that
32:37articulation goes so much deeper than
32:39just what drummer symbol you hit. But
32:41it's truly like something you can
32:43explore on a really deep level. How many
32:44sounds can you get out of the high hat?
32:46How many sounds can you get out of the
32:47snare drum? So, group number five, we're
32:49playing the same beat, but it sounds
32:50like this.
33:00And how many sounds can I get out of
33:01just different ways I can play my game
33:05my hands and fingers on the snare drum?
33:06It's just it's infinite.
33:09[music]
33:11Do you ever feel like all the effort you
33:13put into learning the drums will never
33:15pay off? The thing is you could be
33:17right. The way you practice matters
33:19because if you're practicing the wrong
33:20stuff, all the time you put in goes to
33:22waste. So, how do you fix that? I've
33:24helped hundreds of drummers level up
33:26their playing and even go pro by showing
33:28them this one technique that drastically
33:30speeds up their progress. In this video,
33:32I'm going to show you what this
33:33technique is, the tricks pro drummers
33:35use to make it sound amazing on the
33:37drums, and I'll give you my simple
33:39six-step process to master it so you can
33:41actually play what you hear in your
33:42head. To start, let me show you the
33:44technique in action. [music]
33:48So, have you spotted the technique yet?
33:50You can use it for so much. It's kind of
33:52insane. It gets you greater endurance
33:54with one hand with a lot of repeated
33:56notes. It gets you faster, cleaner
33:58rolls, doublestroke rolls, and it makes
34:00so many other patterns and rudiments
34:02easier and cleaner pretty much on
34:04autopilot. So, let's break down what
34:05this technique is and how you can use it
34:07to completely transform your rudiments
34:10and how you apply them on the kit. Get
34:11everything so much faster and cleaner.
34:13It's something that didn't have a name
34:14when I was taught it by my teacher and
34:16it's not the same thing as push pull.
34:18This was something that you've probably
34:19heard of, push pull. A lot of people see
34:21my technique and come to me and ask,
34:22"Hey, can you teach me push pull?" And I
34:24say, "No, I can't teach you push pull. I
34:26can't play it. I don't find it very
34:28effective." Anytime that I've tried to
34:29use it, so it's not push pull.
34:31Eventually, with the popularity of
34:32pushpull online, I realized, you know,
34:34what I'm doing is not really a push and
34:36a pull. It's more of an open with the
34:39fingers and a close. It seems like a lot
34:41of other people in the world have kind
34:42of settled on the same name, but it's
34:44really rare to see it taught right and
34:46even played correctly. So, I'm going to
34:47break this down for you. Now, the
34:48advantage of open close technique is
34:50that you actually get to use two
34:51different movements and really muscle
34:53groups to move the stick. And when you
34:55do that, it means that you can play more
34:57efficiently. It means you can play
34:58faster in sequence. And it means that
35:00you can get everything more even
35:02because, well, I'm going to show you
35:04what this does to like your stick
35:05height. It's actually kind of fantastic.
35:06We're going to start with just breaking
35:08down what it looks like and then I'm
35:10going to give you the steps to feel it
35:12yourself. So, nice and slow. It looks a
35:13little something like this.
35:21The other amazing thing about open close
35:22technique is I would actually call it
35:24the cure for, and I'm sorry if there's
35:26any watching, the cure for what I call
35:28the high school band teacher
35:29doublestroke technique. Because if you
35:31learn drums in middle [music] school or
35:32high school, you're typically learning
35:33to play double strokes with an adapted
35:36buzz stroke technique. If you play a
35:38buzz roll, which is all about back
35:39finger pressure,
35:42so it [music] like starts to bounce
35:43really fast, you let off that pressure
35:46so it starts to dribble slower
35:50and then you just stop it after two.
35:53That's the high school band teacher
35:55doublestroke roll technique.
35:57The problem is that the second stroke
35:59doesn't bounce very high.
36:01If you get da da da da, you get this,
36:07right? It's not very pretty. Has a lot
36:09of limitations because it's not even. It
36:11doesn't have clarity and attention to
36:12detail on every single note on a snare
36:14drum. The two side by side. Here's our
36:15high school technique
36:19and here's our open close technique.
36:22Right? Nice and even and crisp. So you
36:23get
36:30really crisp doubles. And it's so useful
36:33not just for on the high hat or on the
36:35snare, but also any rudiment that has
36:37doubles. Paradittleles have doubles in
36:39them. [music]
36:41Doubles right there. Right, left, right,
36:43right, left, right, left, left. And so
36:44[clears throat] if you do it for all of
36:46your rudiments, you get extremely even,
36:48clear paradittleles, paradittle, ddles,
36:50Swiss armor triplets. We're going to
36:51show you how to do this step by step.
36:53We're going to do this really fast.
36:54Let's check it out. I want you to hold
36:55the stick in the air. I want you to
36:57actually I like doing this dropping your
36:58elbow so that you're kind of in this
37:01T-Rex position. Back fingers should all
37:03be on the stick and you should see this
37:05gap as well between the thumb and first
37:07finger. So all the back fingers on. It's
37:09against the hypoththenar in the middle
37:11of that. And then we're going to first
37:14actually take our fingers off. Back
37:15fingers I should say. So you have index
37:17and thumb [music] on the stick. Next
37:19with another stick, lift up this end.
37:21You're not allowed to move your hand.
37:23You're not allowed to move your fingers,
37:24your wrist, your arm. Only the stick
37:27pivots at the fulcrum. So, it kind of
37:29seesaws. You lift it up and it falls
37:32back down. Right? That's step one. The
37:34back fingers off. Step two, put the back
37:36fingers back on like I said in the
37:37beginning. So, then the back fingers are
37:39on. And what you do is you make sure
37:42that your hand doesn't move, your wrist
37:44doesn't move, your arm doesn't move. The
37:46only [music] things that move are the
37:48stick, which pivots at the fulcrum, and
37:50your back fingers. The back fingers
37:53specifically move with the stick and
37:55they actually they get opened by the
37:57stick. That's the key thing so that
37:59you're not actually [music] flinging
38:01them out, but they're getting pushed
38:02open while the stick goes up on the
38:04other end. This is why a big thing that
38:06you don't want to do is you don't want
38:07to do this with only one hand. This
38:10stage of practice is two hands, two
38:13sticks. So, make sure it's always with
38:16both sticks, both hands. If you do it
38:18with one hand, a lot of people try to do
38:20this. It's not the same thing trying to
38:21push it open with your fingers. It's an
38:23entirely different mechanic and movement
38:25to try to do that which isn't happening
38:26on the drums. So, we have to push it up
38:29over here. And when that goes up, goes
38:32down on the other side of the fulcrum.
38:34Goes down over here and that's going to
38:36push your fingers open. So, I really
38:38recommend you do it with another stick
38:41like so. So, do it really slow.
38:48The really key thing is that you don't
38:49let any of this move. Your wrist doesn't
38:51move, your hand, your arm, it stays
38:53completely still. All that moves, stick,
38:56and your back fingers. [music] So, if
38:57you can do that slow, I then want you to
39:00hold it here. Kind of looks like like
39:01that, like you know, like a sock puppet.
39:03And it should be you should be able to
39:04hold it with your fingertips like so.
39:06And then you close your fingers back
39:08[music] to the first position. You can
39:09close them slow, you can close them
39:10fast, but we have this. Hold it and then
39:13close it back. Make sure you close back
39:15to a relaxed position. That means you're
39:17always going to be coming back to this
39:18to practice. So, step three looks like
39:20this.
39:24Now, what am I doing? I'm doing step
39:26two, but I'm knocking it up fast. What's
39:27going to happen is the stick gets
39:29[music] knocked up on the other side. It
39:30goes down, pushes your fingers open with
39:32some actual force. And the first thing
39:34that's going to happen, if you've never
39:35tried this before, is your wrist is
39:37going to go back. Even if you let your
39:38fingers open a little, they're not going
39:39to open enough. They're going to be too
39:41slow opening. Your instinct is going to
39:42be to have your hand go back with a
39:44stick like like this. Even a little bit
39:47right there is too much. What I want you
39:49to try to master is getting it to stay
39:52completely still. And of course, you got
39:54to do the other hand as well.
40:01By the way, if you're having trouble
40:02mastering this, then the first step is
40:04actually mastering your grip and getting
40:06that truly right. Make sure you're not
40:07making any mistakes. I have a free
40:09technique fundamentals course that you
40:10need to check out and go through. I'll
40:11put the link down below for you. So,
40:13we're doing it fast and I want you to
40:14hold it. Then I want you to close it.
40:16And when you close it, make sure that
40:17you do not squeeze and clench up and get
40:20tense cuz then you're going to do it on
40:21every stroke and you're going to wreck
40:23your hands really fast and you might
40:24even be able to do the technique, but
40:26you're going to have so much tension as
40:28you play your doubles. It's just going
40:30to be really rough on you for playing
40:31just 10 minutes. So, we can't have that.
40:32You need to have like a lot of
40:33relaxation to be able to play [music]
40:35with with endurance and be able to
40:36endure a one twohour set, right?
40:41If you have the core mechanics like we
40:43just broke down, well, you need to apply
40:44it to the kit. But how do you do that?
40:46Let me show you. It looks something like
40:47this.
40:49[music]
40:54>> [music]
41:00>> Now, what's happening? Instead of
41:02knocking the stick up in the air, I'm
41:03coming down with either a wrist stroke
41:05or some sort of molar stroke or some
41:08somewhere in between or some
41:09combination. And then as I strike the
41:11drum, it bounces up and in the back of
41:14the hand, it goes down. It pushes my
41:16back fingers open.
41:22A really key thing is that your wrist
41:23drops. You want to make sure that you
41:25don't go down, hit it, open the fingers,
41:27and have your wrist go back up like
41:28that. No wrist going up. It's got to go
41:31down, dropping, and then it's got to
41:33hold there. Now, if you open it a ton,
41:35your pinky does not reach the stick. And
41:37that's okay. But if you go smaller, your
41:39pinky stays on the stick and you're good
41:40with that, right? I would recommend when
41:42you can keep the pinky on, you use it.
41:44[music]
41:48but it's not like 100% required to get a
41:50good grade here.
41:52[music]
41:54So, you've applied it to the drums, but
41:55how do you actually do like a proper
41:56doublestroke roll with it or apply it to
41:57your rudiments? Well, it's going to look
41:59something like this. We're going to take
42:00that action on the drum and make sure
42:03that it's super even in terms of stick
42:04heights. When you come down, the stick
42:06[music] bounces back up to the height
42:07that it was originally. So, I'm going to
42:09come down and the stick is going to come
42:10right back up to this point and I'm in
42:12position two with my fingers open. I
42:15close my fingers going to come back up
42:16to that point again. I'm using my stick
42:18heights as a measurement to make sure
42:19both strokes are even. Do that with your
42:21right hand and then your left hand for
42:22playing double strokes, which means
42:24right, right, open, close, left, left,
42:26open, close. With all of that in mind,
42:27you want to make sure your stick heights
42:29always come down and back up that exact
42:31same height. And then you can keep the
42:33other stick there so you have a frame of
42:34reference. Call this my uh stick
42:36leveling exercises. It works wonders for
42:38my students. It's really fantastic. All
42:39this together means once you have your
42:41stick leveling practice together, you're
42:43playing extremely even double strokes.
42:45The other important thing to remember is
42:46that tempo, it doesn't matter. I don't
42:47want you to [music] worry about tempo at
42:49all. I don't want you to get this fast.
42:50I want you to get this even and I want
42:52you to get it perfect. So, don't just
42:54think about how do I get this roll to
42:55sound fast like a roll. Think about is
42:57this as clear as possible every single
42:59stroke. Every single one completely even
43:02in terms of stick height and velocity
43:03and volume. So, really listen to volume.
43:05Really listen and watch for your stick
43:08heights. I'd honestly recommend quarter
43:10notes at 40 or 50 BPM.
43:14And the reason for that is you need
43:16enough time to make sure every single
43:19stroke has all the parameters that we
43:21talked about. Every single one has the
43:22volume that we need, the height we need,
43:24the motions. You need to make sure that
43:26your technique has all the other steps
43:28in place. So, how do you actually get
43:30this into your music? Well, the first
43:31thing is keep doing that [music] step.
43:33Don't move forward until it's completely
43:36perfect. And what do you do when it's
43:37perfect? Guess what? Don't [music] go
43:38faster. I want you to repeat it. The key
43:40thing is repetition. Because repetition
43:43becomes muscle memory. It becomes
43:44something that's encoded into your
43:46brain. And only once it's encoded into
43:48your brain can you repeat it on
43:50autopilot and you need it on autopilot
43:52or you're not going to be able to do it
43:54fast correctly and those mistakes were
43:55going to keep creeping in because you
43:57jumped ahead and tried to do it too
43:59fast. And I do not want you going fast.
44:02So crucial. So how do you know when you
44:03do bump up the tempo? Well, you're
44:05allowed to speed it up when it's perfect
44:07and it's automatic. You have to have
44:08both those things in place. If you sit
44:10down and you go to practice this for the
44:12fifth time and you're like, "Oh, I can
44:14do this just smoothly, naturally,
44:16evenly," then BPM can go up just a
44:19little bit. If you were at 50 quarter
44:20notes, go to 60. If you were at 60, try
44:2265, 70. Eventually, you're going to get
44:24to 100 BPM quarters. And the thing is
44:27100 BPM quarters is the same as 50 BPM
44:30eighth notes. So, you know, you could
44:32put it at you could put your metronome
44:33at 50 BPM, turn on the eighth notes, and
44:35play along with it. And then let's say
44:37you're 50 BPM eighth notes. You
44:39gradually rise it all the way up to 100
44:41eighth notes, which is the same thing as
44:435016th notes. Then you just gradually
44:46gradually get that faster and faster
44:48until you're at 16th notes at 100, 16th
44:51notes at 120. That's where it starts to
44:53sound like, oh, I got the doubles. I'm
44:54doing doubles cleaner than ever before
44:56and we're in fantastic shape. That's
44:58truly what you're looking for.
45:03Now, there's so much you can do with
45:04this. Like I said, this is going to
45:05transform your other rudiments as well.
45:07You should be doing it during your
45:08paradittles. You see that? Open, close,
45:10open, close. Left, right, open, close.
45:12Right, left, open, closed, open, close.
45:15You should do it during your paradittle
45:16ddles. Right, left, open, closed, open,
45:18closed. Right, left, open, close, open,
45:20close.
45:24Should do it during your Swiss Army
45:26triplets as a variation, not the main
45:28Swiss Army triplet. If you're doing
45:29Swiss arm triplets with accents, I don't
45:30really do open closed, but it's really
45:32pretty spicy to do it this way, which is
45:34open, closed, open, closed, and then the
45:36same thing in a slightly different uh
45:37displacement with the left hand.
45:40So, I really like doing Swiss Army
45:42triplets in unison. So, not a flam, but
45:45together
45:48with the open close technique. As you
45:49can see, right hand's open, close, open,
45:52close. And the left hand is, it's hard
45:54to say,
45:56open, close, open, close. If you look at
45:58the left, open, close.
46:06[music]
46:08Are you sick of your feet not getting
46:10any faster no matter how much you
46:11practice? Well, there's one simple trick
46:13I teach to my students to immediately
46:14boost their kick speed with minimal
46:16effort. And it's surprisingly easy to
46:17learn. So, in this lesson, I'm going to
46:19show you exactly how this trick works in
46:20detail. How to get your foot up to
46:22ridiculous speed step by step and a few
46:24easy exercises to use your newfound
46:26speed in your drumming right away. By
46:28the way, I made a PDF with all the
46:29exercises today. Grab it below to follow
46:31along. Okay, before I can show you this
46:32exercise, you need to learn the
46:34technique by itself. The foot technique
46:35is very simple. It's based on a heel up
46:37technique. Instead of using our ankle
46:40or using your entire leg, [music]
46:43we're going to be doing what I call the
46:45slide technique.
46:48Now, I'm going to show you how to do
46:49this step by step. The first thing you
46:50need to know is that you need to keep
46:51the ball of your foot in contact with
46:53the pedal board at all times. You don't
46:55want to come off of the pedal and then
46:56have your foot hit the pedal board and
46:58then the beater hit the drum. It's going
46:59to mess up your timing and it's going to
47:00mess up your control and ability to play
47:02fast. So, at all times,
47:05[music]
47:06keep the ball of your foot in contact
47:07with the pedal board. But, we're going
47:08to do something special for the slide
47:10technique, and that's we're going to
47:11pull our foot back. instead of it being
47:12like approximately on the entire pedal
47:14board. I'm going to pull it back so the
47:15ball of your foot is about in the middle
47:17of the pedal board or so. You can play
47:19with the exact placement and find what
47:21works for you. I find it doesn't matter
47:22too much if I'm a little behind the
47:23middle, a little ahead of the middle.
47:24It's not too important. You're going to
47:26play one hit and then you're going to
47:28stay there and then you're going to now
47:29at slow speeds only, you can kind of hop
47:32your foot up and press at the top. If
47:34your foot comes off the pedal board a
47:36little bit at slow speeds, don't worry
47:37about that too much. You should also
47:38test right now the real thing, which is
47:40hit the middle of the pedal board and
47:42then push your foot forward to the top
47:44of the pedal board. So the ball of your
47:45foot ends up at the top. Here's that
47:46again. [music]
47:50You can see I'm sliding forward. Maybe
47:52if you have super grippy shoes, this
47:54won't work. But I've I've done this
47:55barefoot. I've done it with socks. I've
47:57done it with most any shoe that I've
47:58worn. Now with socks, you're going to
48:00wear your sock away. So just be aware of
48:01that. So you can do that really slow and
48:04put that in time.
48:07>> [music]
48:10>> Another crucial part of this technique
48:12that is going to let you play fast for
48:13an entire show without getting tired is
48:15to rest your heel. Now, that doesn't
48:16mean we're playing heel down. We're
48:17still playing heel up. But whether
48:18you're playing a single hit like this,
48:21or you're playing the slide technique, I
48:23want you to on the final hit, rest your
48:25heel. It comes down at the same time.
48:27So, don't hit the ball of your foot then
48:29the heel like this.
48:31That's not it. You want to hit both at
48:32the same time like this.
48:37Then your entire leg is resting for even
48:40a couple of like milliseconds and it
48:42really adds up to having a lot more
48:43endurance. With the slide technique, you
48:45do that for the second hit. Once you
48:46slide forward, you can see how my foot
48:48and my leg is just completely relaxed.
48:50Now the heel kind of hits the heelboard
48:52here, slides into it at the end.
48:56That also means the beater is coming off
48:58of the drum. So you're not choking your
48:59bass drum. So you're going to have a
49:00better bass drum sound whether you have
49:02a pillow in your bass drum or not.
49:03sounds better if the beater comes off
49:04the head. So, make sure you're doing
49:05that, too.
49:09Now, on to the first pattern that you're
49:11going to get blazing fast. Now, I have
49:13my own personal top secret like
49:14variations on these patterns that I'm
49:16going to show you a bit later, but
49:17first, you have to master these. Our
49:18first pattern very simply is a right,
49:20left, kick, kick, and we're going to add
49:21that slide technique. So, slow, you
49:23might hop off a little, you might be
49:24able to not hop off a little. It's going
49:25to look like this. Slow. [music]
49:34[music]
49:40All right, that's exercise number one.
49:42Here it is. Fast. [music]
49:45Now, you're going to notice when I start
49:46to speed up this technique that I'm just
49:48pushing forward and getting two hits.
49:50So, it starts to feel less like a down
49:52hit in the middle and then a push
49:53forward. And it feels just like a push
49:55forward.
49:57>> [music]
50:00>> All right, let's keep going with the
50:01exercises. Exercise number two, three,
50:03and four or so, we're going to actually
50:05build up different variations of this
50:07pattern. We were just playing right,
50:09left kick, kick. We're going to do all
50:10the variations that are two hands and
50:12then two kick drums. So, we have right
50:14left kick kick.
50:16[music]
50:18We also have left, right kick, kick.
50:23[music]
50:24Okay, so those two sound different when
50:26you move them around the drums. Check it
50:27out. I'm going to move the right hand
50:28around the toms. Right, left kick kick,
50:32left, right, kick, kick.
50:35Totally different. Then we of course
50:37have your actual like ddles or doubles.
50:38So right, right or left, left.
50:43[music]
50:48So, right, left, kick, kick, left, left.
50:52[music]
50:54Don't forget to grab the PDF with all
50:56these exercises so you can level up your
50:57chops. Now, there's a couple more really
50:59spicy things. And by the way, you can
51:01use this in grooves, too. I'm going to
51:02show you that in a little bit. But
51:03first, what you can do with right left
51:05kick kick and left right kick kick is
51:07you can alternate them. And that just
51:08sounds like crazy cool. So, right left
51:10kick kick, left right kick kick, [music]
51:14and just, you know, keep going back and
51:16forth.
51:18>> [music]
51:26[music]
51:27>> That's really fun. And then move that
51:28around.
51:33[music]
51:36The next variations you need to practice
51:38before we get to my top secret
51:39variations are the four note versions.
51:41So the simple ones that we're going to
51:42do for now are just right, left, right,
51:44left, or left, right, left, right. both
51:46followed by those two kicks with the
51:47slide technique. By the way, do this
51:49stuff stupid slow. Right, left, right,
51:52left.
51:55So, you really make sure that you're
51:56sliding forward with each one and you
51:58get all of that super locked clean in
52:00time. It makes a huge difference if you
52:02spend a couple of days on that before
52:03you try to like just go crazy. Now, our
52:05Fortnite variations, right, left, right,
52:06left.
52:08[music]
52:14I probably don't even need to ask you.
52:15There's going to be some comments down
52:17below mentioning who plays this pattern
52:18the most, if you know what I mean.
52:22[music]
52:25So, that was me orchestrating the right,
52:26left, right, left. [music]
52:29And that's all there is to it. Left,
52:30right, left, right.
52:34[music]
52:35Same thing. So, make sure you're
52:36practicing both. And also make sure
52:38you're practicing alternating from one
52:39to the other.
52:42All
52:42>> [music]
52:47[music]
52:49>> right, I promised you my top secret
52:51variations on these fills sound wicked.
52:53But first, we got to put this into your
52:54groove. So add that slide technique
52:56whenever you have 16th notes above 90 to
52:59100 BPM and you want to get like two
53:01kicks in a row. So something along these
53:03lines.
53:05[music]
53:12That one's pretty straightforward. Make
53:14sure you practice that though really
53:15slow with the kick technique lined up
53:17with the really slow ones like this.
53:21[music]
53:27So you can see I'm doing it even at
53:29those speeds where I don't need to in
53:30order to get it clean for the higher
53:32speeds. But we're not stopping there.
53:33You can add this in and kind of sneak in
53:35two notes. We'll put it in time and you
53:36can do some triplets. Check this out.
53:38[music]
53:40And that's as simple as right kick kick,
53:42right kick, kick.
53:48[music]
53:50Or you can do 30 second notes to put on
53:52the A but didd it.
53:57[music]
53:59And we can get that a little faster.
54:04>> [music]
54:08>> And you can even get it like try to
54:09sneak it in even faster. And don't worry
54:11about the timing. Just get it right
54:13before that snare drum and it's going to
54:14be this nice like right into it. Sounds
54:17super cool. And let's see if I can get
54:19that like not strict 30 seconds, but
54:20like scrunch up even closer to the
54:22snare. Here we go.
54:25[music]
54:27All
54:30>> [music]
54:38[music]
54:40>> right, on to the top secret patterns.
54:42These are super simple, but I asked
54:43myself, I had trouble with the first
54:45couple of patterns getting them into
54:46actual fills and chops and grooves and
54:48things like that because there's a
54:49problem which is you're doing it,
54:52[music]
54:55you have to do right, left kick, kick,
54:57kick if you want to crash and kick on
54:59the one afterwards. So, it's a pain in
55:01the butt. I'll do it if I have to when I
55:03like get into trouble like something
55:05like this,
55:07[music]
55:09but it's not ideal and especially any
55:11faster than that. And it's quite hard to
55:13get three kick drums in a row. So
55:14instead, I said like, okay, what on
55:16earth do I need to do to fix this
55:18problem? And I realized that the the
55:20solution was in displacement. So we're
55:22going to take right, left, right, left
55:24kick, kick, and we're going to displace
55:25it or uh kind of shift those two kicks
55:28over one to the left. And that left hand
55:30goes at the end. So instead of right,
55:31left, right, left, it's right, left,
55:33right, kick, kick, left. [music]
55:36And so what that means, that's 1 2 3 4 5
55:396. And because you do the doubles not at
55:41the very end, but your your kick kick
55:43has a left to kind of give time for your
55:45foot to reset before the next beat, you
55:47can end on the one. 1 2 3 4 5 6 1.
55:53Basically that.
55:55Now you can make this triplets [music]
55:59or you can make it 16th notes, 32nd
56:01notes. Put it in that type of dupal grid
56:02setting. And that means like the simple
56:04one would be just start the sixth notes
56:06on the end of three. We're going to play
56:0716th notes. It'll be 1 and 2 and 3 and a
56:10four and a
56:13[music]
56:15like that.
56:19You see the orchestration
56:23which is right, left, right, kick, kick,
56:27left, crack. Now, the really [snorts]
56:29great thing about this is you can add a
56:32kick to the first note every single
56:34time. Right, and kick. [music]
56:42[music]
56:46So it's very easy to like add a kick and
56:48crash every time you want to do it if
56:49you are so inclined. And you can also
56:51finish with a right hand instead of a
56:52left hand to crash on your left.
56:56[music]
56:57Now don't forget to do the left hand
56:59variation. Left, right, left kick, kick
57:01right. So that would be this. [music]
57:08[music]
57:10And you can trade those back and forth.
57:11Check it out.
57:14So, I'm going to end on the right to
57:15start the left-hand inversion. So, it
57:16actually flips a little bit. Right,
57:18left, right, kick, kick, right, and then
57:21left, right, left, kick, kick, left to
57:23lead back to the right hand. And that's
57:25this.
57:27[music]
57:36[music]
57:38Now, that's the triplet version, but
57:39don't forget if you're in 16th notes,
57:41you can fix right, left, kick, kick.
57:43Make it more easy to play with finishing
57:44with your kick drum, finishing with a
57:45crash, etc. by doing right kick, kick,
57:47left, [music]
57:48and then loop that. So, that's one ea or
57:50it's 30 second notes.
57:55Now, could flip that left kick kick
57:57right. [music]
58:03[music]
58:04I accidentally kind of displaced that
58:06one, but
58:08[music]
58:17[music]
58:18as a really basic version, you've got
58:20that. But check out what happens when
58:21you like go back and forth. Right kick,
58:23kick, right, left, kick, kick, left.
58:30>> [music]
58:35[music]
58:43[music]
58:44>> You can put all that together and do two
58:46groups of six and a group of four for 16
58:48notes.
58:50And what I'm doing there is right, left,
58:52right, kick, kick left. That's six.
58:54Again, right, left, right, kick, kick,
58:56left. That's six. right kick kick left
59:00finish it
59:02[music]
59:06with thousands of options of what to
59:08practice rudiments grooves fills even
59:10all those hand warm-ups where should you
59:12focus to improve your drumming and get
59:13better 10 times faster for years I've
59:15helped beginner and pro drummers alike
59:17master the fundamentals and I've created
59:19the best simple 30-day plan to get
59:22comfortable on the drums level up your
59:23speed timing coordination and more so
59:26let's jump into it with week one, we're
59:28going to skyrocket your progress by
59:30dividing your practice time into four
59:33areas of practice. There's actually a
59:35huge problem that happens in the
59:37practice room for the majority of
59:38drummers. And it looks a little
59:40something like this. Let's say you're
59:41trying to master a song. You learn the
59:43beats. Maybe it's different in the verse
59:44and the chorus. You got to figure that
59:45out. You got to memorize it. You know,
59:47site reading is great, but it's really
59:48nice to like feel it and know it. And
59:49then you're like, "Oh man, that fill was
59:51really tricky. Let me start working on
59:52that fill." You look it up. You look on
59:54on YouTube and well, you learn the fill
59:56and then you learn the second fill, then
59:58you learn the third fill. You got to get
59:59the beat better. Oh, wait a minute. The
1:00:01person playing that beat on YouTube,
1:00:02they're doing it different than the
1:00:03record. How do I find that? And it's
1:00:05this huge maze to navigate. And it feels
1:00:07like you're kind of like picking things
1:00:08at random to learn. [music] Like, yeah,
1:00:09we want to be able to play these songs,
1:00:11but the truth is, if you want to be able
1:00:12to play thousands of songs [music] as
1:00:14good as your favorite drummers, you need
1:00:16to work on the fundamentals, and you
1:00:17need to work on these four areas. So,
1:00:19maybe you've started doing some
1:00:20rudiments. You're having trouble with
1:00:21the doubles. You know, rudiments are
1:00:23great to practice. They're going to be
1:00:24incorporated into these four areas, but
1:00:26they're not an area themselves. I'm
1:00:27going to explain that in a minute. You
1:00:28might be working on some hand warm-ups
1:00:29because there's a bazillion of those on
1:00:31the internet. Hand warm-ups are okay,
1:00:33but there's a much better way to get
1:00:35into your practice routine that we're
1:00:37going to talk about and break completely
1:00:38down. Like I said, we're dividing our
1:00:39practice into four areas. And the funny
1:00:41thing is, we're actually going to skip
1:00:43area four for a little bit and leave it
1:00:45alone. So, we're really just doing three
1:00:47areas. Now, for a lot of drummers, area
1:00:49one is the warm-ups. Area two are your
1:00:51rudiments and area three might be your
1:00:53songs, learning your songs, maybe your
1:00:55chops, maybe that's area four. But it's
1:00:57a way that's going to get you to miss
1:00:58the bigger picture and miss all the
1:01:00details at the same time. So instead of
1:01:02doing like your warm-ups, we're going to
1:01:04do things like right, right, right,
1:01:06right. We're going to do four rights,
1:01:07four lefts, all that kind of vibe. We're
1:01:09going to do instead of rudiments, yes,
1:01:10we are going to do singles, we are going
1:01:13to do doubles, but we're not doing
1:01:15rudiments. And I'll explain that in a
1:01:16second. And the songs we're going to do
1:01:18something totally different. Like
1:01:18there's some overlap with the last area,
1:01:21area two. But for area three, we might
1:01:22be doing things like our hands. We might
1:01:24be doing things with our feet, but it's
1:01:26not songs. It's sometimes beats, but
1:01:27it's not always beats. So, let's break
1:01:29down each area. So, 1 2 3. We're coming
1:01:30back to four in a minute. And by the
1:01:32way, with this whole 30-day plan, I've
1:01:33created a custom practice planner that
1:01:35you're going to fill out with me. You
1:01:37can create your own plans [music] and
1:01:38really know what you're going to do each
1:01:39and every day to make progress really
1:01:41fast. So, like I said, we're not doing
1:01:43warm-ups. We're skipping them. We're not
1:01:45doing rudiments. We're thinking of them
1:01:46as something else. We're also we're not
1:01:48playing songs and we're not doing
1:01:50quadrant 4 yet. What we're doing instead
1:01:51of those warm-ups, we are working on our
1:01:53technique and we're dividing our
1:01:55practice time into three or four equal
1:01:57chunks. So, instead of warm-ups, think
1:01:58of working on your technique. Instead of
1:02:00working on your rudiments,
1:02:05I want you to work on your patterns.
1:02:07Instead of working on your songs, your
1:02:08chops, your grooves,
1:02:12[music]
1:02:14work on your coordination, coming back
1:02:16to the songs. And that's for limb
1:02:18coordination, by the way. Now, this is
1:02:20just week one. So, I'm going to give you
1:02:21some examples of what [music] you could
1:02:23be doing for where you're at as a
1:02:25drummer. This might be the exact thing
1:02:27you should practice. Or maybe it's not.
1:02:28So, if you've been playing the drums
1:02:30for, let's say, 0 to 6 months, I am
1:02:33going to give you specifically what I
1:02:34think you should work on. But, as
1:02:35always, take it with a grain of salt.
1:02:37You need to judge where you're at with
1:02:38these things. And I'm going to give you
1:02:39the tools to know like when you should
1:02:40put them away and when you should pick
1:02:42up the next stuff. Here's a general
1:02:43guideline of the type of things in each
1:02:44category. So for technique, that means
1:02:46you're working on patterns like right
1:02:47four times and then left four TIMES
1:02:50[music]
1:02:53or maybe right eight times, left eight
1:02:56times.
1:02:59With all of that, it could mean you're
1:03:01working on your rebound strokes, your
1:03:03moler technique, your open close
1:03:05technique for doubles and other
1:03:07patterns. Maybe it means you're working
1:03:08on your finger technique, your French
1:03:10grip technique or German grip like where
1:03:12finger technique in general, right?
1:03:13patterns means like getting hand and
1:03:15other limb patterns coordinated and
1:03:18really really deep into your muscle
1:03:20memory. So you can just play them on
1:03:21autopilot. You play them on instinct
1:03:23just at the snap [music] of a finger. So
1:03:25things like of course doubles,
1:03:29things like singles,
1:03:32but also you know we've got our
1:03:34paradittles. These are all rudiments of
1:03:35course, but you need to remember that
1:03:36the rudiment chart is a little it's a
1:03:38little incomplete. So there's more that
1:03:40you need to practice in terms of
1:03:41patterns. I'm going to give you some
1:03:42specifics for like if you're just
1:03:43starting out some of the things that you
1:03:45should work on. We're going to come back
1:03:46to that in a second. So for
1:03:47coordination, let's actually we're
1:03:48talking about for limb coordination,
1:03:50lining things up. So absolutely in the
1:03:52pattern category, you might include
1:03:54things that have flams or unison
1:03:55strokes. Let's say flam rudiments, Swiss
1:03:57Army triplets, maybe things that even
1:03:59involve your kick drum. We're going to
1:04:00come back to those specifics. We're
1:04:01thinking about lining up our limbs with
1:04:03coordination systems.
1:04:06[music]
1:04:12that create freedom on the drums. So you
1:04:14can play whatever you want with all your
1:04:16limbs going and it feels much easier. So
1:04:18things like this, maybe you're playing
1:04:19all your right hands on the high hat,
1:04:21your left hand is on the third beat and
1:04:22your kick drum is on beat one. So that's
1:04:24just the money beat. Boom dot boom dot.
1:04:29[music]
1:04:29That's a really good example of
1:04:30coordination system working on all of
1:04:32your eighth note patterns. Maybe you got
1:04:34two kicks there. Boom boom dot. So
1:04:35eighth note grooves you can literally
1:04:36put into a category of let me make sure
1:04:38like my limbs are coordinated and I have
1:04:40all of these things together. But of
1:04:41course with all these areas the question
1:04:43become like well what specifically do I
1:04:45practice? How many of these exercises do
1:04:48I do? How many of these patterns do I
1:04:49practice each day? How long do I
1:04:50practice them? And of course when am I
1:04:52ready to move on to the next thing? So
1:04:54however much time you have to practice I
1:04:56want you to think of it as a pie chart,
1:04:58pizza, whatever you want to say. We're
1:04:59either going to divide it into all four
1:05:01areas or just the first three. And if
1:05:03you don't have a lot of time, I think
1:05:06the first three areas are going to be
1:05:07paramount. So that's technique,
1:05:09patterns, coordination. And when you're
1:05:10doing this, when you divide your
1:05:11practice time up, that's for one
1:05:13practice session. That's really
1:05:14important point. So if you have 1 hour,
1:05:16then it's 20 minutes of each. If you
1:05:18have 2 hours, then it's 40 minutes of
1:05:20each of these. Or if you're practicing
1:05:22all four, it's 30 minutes time 4. I'm
1:05:25going to say breaks are amazing during
1:05:27this time. If you want to practice 20
1:05:28minutes and then take a 5-minute break
1:05:30and then practice 20 minutes, 5 minute
1:05:31break and then the last 20 minutes and
1:05:33you've gotten done all three, that's
1:05:35fantastic. Those breaks make a big
1:05:36difference in your brain's ability to
1:05:38process what you've just done and make
1:05:40it something that again becomes
1:05:41autopilot, becomes permanent, but you
1:05:43need to make sure you're really focusing
1:05:44on doing these things right. Now, here's
1:05:45the real kicker. So, let's say you
1:05:46[music] have an hour to practice every
1:05:47day this week. So, you have 60 minutes.
1:05:49We're going to divide that into three
1:05:51chunks. We're going to do 20 minutes of
1:05:53technique, 20 minutes of patterns, and
1:05:5520 minutes of coordination. But then
1:05:57what do you do each day of the week?
1:05:58What do you do week two, etc.? Well,
1:06:00here we go. Week one for your technique,
1:06:02you should pick one. You're only [music]
1:06:03allowed to pick one technique to
1:06:05practice for the entire week. So 20
1:06:07minutes every day, you're doing this one
1:06:08technique for 20 straight minutes. For
1:06:10your pattern, you're allowed to pick
1:06:12one, maybe with some variations, but
1:06:14mostly just pick one. Pick singles and
1:06:16do it for 20 minutes straight. Or pick
1:06:17doubles and do it for 20 minutes
1:06:19straight. Just doubles, 20 minutes every
1:06:20day, 5 or 7 days. For your coordination,
1:06:22you're allowed to pick, this is a little
1:06:24bit different, one system or set of
1:06:27exercises. However, if you don't have
1:06:29every single exercise in that set of
1:06:31exercises, that coordination system down
1:06:33perfect, you should just do the ones
1:06:34that you are trying to refine and get
1:06:36really, really nailed. So, it might be
1:06:38just one [music] single coordination
1:06:39exercise, just one single pattern that's
1:06:41involving multiple limbs, or it could be
1:06:43a whole set. And I'm going to give you
1:06:44some examples. So, so far so good.
1:06:46You're practicing three or four
1:06:47categories, but only one thing for each
1:06:49category. And you're doing this seven
1:06:51days. That means seven straight days of
1:06:53singles, seven straight days of rebound
1:06:55strokes, seven straight days of eighth
1:06:57note grooves as your coordination
1:06:59system, etc. Maybe it's maybe some Latin
1:07:01rhythms easier coordination. Maybe it's
1:07:03samba bosan noa jazz coordination,
1:07:04four-way coordination. Maybe it's, you
1:07:06know, syncopation or new breed. But this
1:07:08is only week one. [music]
1:07:13And here's the really beautiful thing.
1:07:15What I want you to do for week two is I
1:07:16want you to put away everything from
1:07:19week one and I want you to pick three or
1:07:21four new things, one for each category.
1:07:22And so we're going to break this down
1:07:24week by week, 30 days or 4 weeks. It's
1:07:26not 30 days, but you get the point. You
1:07:27know what I want you to do? Days 29 and
1:07:2930, I want you to take a break so your
1:07:30brain can process what you're
1:07:31practicing. But let's go ahead and plan
1:07:32your whole month. If you're new to the
1:07:33drums or even if you've been playing for
1:07:35a year or two, I want you to go back to
1:07:36the basics and really focus on this
1:07:38stuff. If you're working on your
1:07:39technique, go grab my technique
1:07:40fundamentals [music] course that's
1:07:41totally free. I'll put that link down
1:07:43below as well. And you can use that to
1:07:44really hone in all these different
1:07:46techniques and make sure you're doing
1:07:47them right. Cuz if you're doing them
1:07:48wrong, this is not going to help you.
1:07:49The practice will actually hurt you.
1:07:51>> So if you've been playing the drums for,
1:07:53let's say, 0 to 6 months.
1:07:55>> Right now, we're just talking about the
1:07:56three. 1 2 and three. We've got week
1:07:58one, week two, week three, week four.
1:08:00For your technique, I want you
1:08:01practicing rebounds. Week one. For your
1:08:03patterns, I want you practicing singles,
1:08:05right, left, right, left. For your
1:08:06coordination system, I want you doing
1:08:08eighth note beats. Super simple. That
1:08:09means high hat on eighth notes, snare
1:08:11drum on two, and four. and then the kick
1:08:12drum moving around to all the different
1:08:13eighth note combinations. So, let's talk
1:08:14about week two. What are we going to do
1:08:16week two? Well, for technique, I want
1:08:17you practicing control strokes. For your
1:08:19pattern, what pattern do I want you to
1:08:20do? I want you to do paradittles. And
1:08:22for coordination, I want you to do I
1:08:24want you to work on your swing pattern.
1:08:25That could just be this. [music]
1:08:30Or you can add your other limbs if
1:08:32you're ready for that. [music]
1:08:38[music]
1:08:40For week three, I want you to work on
1:08:42your upstrokes for your technique. For
1:08:43your pattern, I want you doing not
1:08:45doubles, not singles, not paradittles. I
1:08:46want you to work on right, left, left.
1:08:48And that's all you do.
1:08:53Or if you're a lefty, go ahead and do
1:08:55left, right, right. But this is all you
1:08:56do. Just right, left, left, right, left,
1:08:59left, right, left, left, right, left,
1:09:00left. For your coordination, I want you
1:09:01doing something a little bit different.
1:09:02I want you to do singles on top and your
1:09:05kick drum just on the first one. [music]
1:09:12Don't worry, I know I haven't given you
1:09:13area four yet, but it's coming in a
1:09:15little bit. But here's the thing about
1:09:16week four. Week four, I want you to do
1:09:18rebound strokes for your technique. I
1:09:19want you to do singles for your pattern,
1:09:21and I want you to do your eighth note
1:09:23beats again for your coordination. And
1:09:24what's that? That's week one. And that's
1:09:25the important thing is that you're
1:09:27making sure that you don't get too far
1:09:29away from the things that you should be
1:09:31focusing a ton when you're starting out.
1:09:33Really mastering the fundamentals. So,
1:09:34you're going to do three weeks that are
1:09:36three different things. And then on week
1:09:38four, you're coming back to the first
1:09:39thing. When you really have the stuff
1:09:40down, you can introduce some new
1:09:41elements. But I really want you thinking
1:09:43about week 1, two, and three. You're
1:09:44[music] doing one thing in each category
1:09:46the entire week. And then week four is
1:09:48the same as week one. You're going to
1:09:49find, and this is the magical thing,
1:09:51you're going to find that when you come
1:09:52back around to week one stuff on week
1:09:55four, that you're better than when you
1:09:57stopped doing it. You're better than
1:09:58when you stopped week one patterns and
1:10:00went to week two. You're literally going
1:10:02to feel better at all those things. And
1:10:03that's because our brains whenever we
1:10:05stop practicing, our brains process
1:10:07while we rest. So literally on week
1:10:10four, you're starting those week one
1:10:11patterns again, and you're going to be
1:10:12better than when you stopped the end of
1:10:14week one working on those things. So
1:10:15what's area four? Well, like I said, I
1:10:18want you focusing on the first three
1:10:20areas if your time is very limited. Area
1:10:22four, if you have the time, is musical
1:10:24application. Eventually, this becomes
1:10:26absolutely essential, but I find that
1:10:27most drummers when they're just starting
1:10:29out, they're learning songs. And when
1:10:30[music] they've been playing for 10
1:10:31years, they're learning songs for their
1:10:33band or for their gig, and they're
1:10:34forgetting to improve the fundamentals.
1:10:35So, you need time for it, but make sure
1:10:37you don't skip the rest because
1:10:39everything is built off of those
1:10:40fundamentals, areas 1, 2, and three.
1:10:42Musical application in itself, what does
1:10:43that mean? Musical application can
1:10:45[music] be learning songs, practicing
1:10:46songs, working on your feel and your
1:10:48groove. That should be part of
1:10:49coordination [music] and timing and
1:10:50patterns and all that sort of stuff. But
1:10:52musical application is you actually make
1:10:54sure you're applying it in a musical
1:10:55manner. It could be rehearsing with your
1:10:57band. It could be jamming with people
1:10:59down the street. It could be jamming
1:11:00with the guitarist down the street. It
1:11:01could just be practicing songs in your
1:11:03bedroom. Here's the important thing. Go
1:11:04deep. Pick fewer things. So, if you have
1:11:06the luxury of the time to work on
1:11:08musical application area 4 and you
1:11:09[music] don't need to learn a bunch of
1:11:11songs for your next gig, then work on
1:11:13one thing. Choose one song and work on
1:11:15it for a full week. Go deep on that.
1:11:17Maybe day one you're perfecting the
1:11:19groove and the verse. Day two, you're
1:11:21adding, improving the chorus. Day three,
1:11:22you're analyzing each fill [music] so
1:11:24you make sure that you have them all
1:11:25really nailed. And then days four, 5, 6,
1:11:277, you're getting the feel right. You're
1:11:28getting into the flow of things. So go
1:11:30deep with this stuff and don't just
1:11:32scatter your attention across dozens of
1:11:34songs or too many musical ideas that you
1:11:37like, oh, that would be nice. And then
1:11:38you forget to go deep with fewer things
1:11:40because the deeper you go, the better
1:11:42you get. If you stay on the surface of
1:11:43things, then improvement becomes really
1:11:45hard to make and you're just going to
1:11:46waste lots of time in the practice room.
1:11:48[music]
1:11:52Most drummers are working way too hard
1:11:54to play fast. You're tensing up,
1:11:55gripping the sticks tighter, using more
1:11:57energy, and somehow getting slower the
1:11:59harder you try. Sound familiar? What if
1:12:01playing lightning fast fills could
1:12:03actually feel effortless? Like your
1:12:05hands are moving on their own while you
1:12:06just sit back and watch. [music]
1:12:12That's exactly what happens when you
1:12:14learn this simple system of three note
1:12:15patterns that make those fast fills
1:12:17easier than a white stripe speed. In
1:12:19this lesson, I'll show you the patterns
1:12:21that let you play blazing fast around
1:12:23the kit. The exact 7-day routine that
1:12:25hardwires these patterns into autopilot
1:12:27mode, and how to literally play twice
1:12:29[music] as fast with half the effort.
1:12:30Let me show you exactly how this works.
1:12:32This is the triad matrix, and it's super
1:12:34simple. We're talking combinations of
1:12:36three notes using right, left, and kick.
1:12:38Now, we'll get to the entire matrix
1:12:39later because first we want to focus on
1:12:41just a few of these patterns like right,
1:12:43left, left, right, right, left, and
1:12:45left, right, right. By the way, I made a
1:12:46PDF with all the patterns from the triad
1:12:48matrix. Grab it below to follow along.
1:12:49Here's why this is so powerful for
1:12:51playing with less effort. When you
1:12:52practice these three note cells until
1:12:54they're automatic, your brain doesn't
1:12:56have to process every single note
1:12:57anymore. Instead of thinking right,
1:12:59left, left, right, right, left, right,
1:13:02left, whatever it is at high speed,
1:13:04which is exhausting by the way, you just
1:13:05think A, B, A, where A is right, left,
1:13:08left, and B is right, right, left.
1:13:11[music]
1:13:13You're basically creating shortcuts in
1:13:15your brain. And when your brain works
1:13:16less, your hands can move faster on
1:13:18autopilot.
1:13:21[music]
1:13:22Let's start with just two patterns for
1:13:24the matrix. Pattern A is right, left,
1:13:26left. And pattern B is right, right,
1:13:29left. These two patterns alone can
1:13:31create insane combinations. Check this
1:13:33out. If you play abb,
1:13:36you get [music]
1:13:41that's a killer one bar phrase that
1:13:43sounds complex, but it's literally just
1:13:45A's and B's shuffle around. My drum
1:13:47student Chris has been playing for
1:13:49decades, but couldn't break through a
1:13:50speed barrier. After just 7 days of
1:13:52practicing these patterns the way I'm
1:13:54about to show you, his transformation
1:13:55was incredible. He went from struggling
1:13:57with fast fills to playing them
1:13:58effortlessly, and you're about to learn
1:13:59the exact same system that he used. So,
1:14:01here's how you burn these patterns into
1:14:03muscle memory without even trying hard.
1:14:04Leave a comment below. What day of the
1:14:06routine are you on? I want to see your
1:14:07progress through the week. Day one, just
1:14:10play pattern A for your entire practice
1:14:12session. Nothing else. Just right, left,
1:14:14left. Set a timer for at least an hour
1:14:15and just groove on right, left, left at
1:14:17a comfortable tempo. Don't rush it.
1:14:19Break it into two 30-inute sessions if
1:14:21you want, but you're not allowed to play
1:14:23any other patterns. Day two, 60 minutes
1:14:25of just B, right, right, left. Again,
1:14:28break it up if you want to. And if you
1:14:29have more time, do another 15 minutes of
1:14:31A, then a break, and then 15 minutes of
1:14:32B. Day three, now we shrink it down. I
1:14:34want you to do 10 minutes straight of A,
1:14:3710 minutes of B, and then go back to A,
1:14:40back to B. Keep alternating for your
1:14:42entire practice session. Don't do
1:14:43anything else. Maybe even pause the
1:14:45video, do this day, and then come back
1:14:47for day four tomorrow. Once you've got
1:14:49the patterns down, practice them with
1:14:50dynamics. Play pattern A, right, left,
1:14:52left, by accenting the single right and
1:14:55ghosting the two lefts. [music]
1:14:59For pattern B, I want you to ghost the
1:15:02two rights and accent the single left.
1:15:09This is huge for making your speed
1:15:10actually sound good. [music] Okay, next
1:15:13it's time to combine them a little bit
1:15:15more, but into bigger sections. So, I
1:15:16want you to play four bars of straight
1:15:18A's. Right, left, left, right, left,
1:15:19left. And then four bars of just the
1:15:22B's. Right, right, left, right, right,
1:15:24left. At this point, you can probably do
1:15:2630 minutes at a slow tempo and then 30
1:15:28minutes at a faster one.
1:15:33[music]
1:15:36Day five, shrink it down some more.
1:15:38We're going to do one bar of A, one bar
1:15:39of B, alternating.
1:15:41[music]
1:15:51Day six. Now we're getting somewhere.
1:15:53Play A B A B within the same bar. So
1:15:56just one of each. And yes, this is a
1:15:59six-stroke roll, but it's not going to
1:16:00be when you're done with it.
1:16:04[music]
1:16:11[music]
1:16:12Day seven is when the magic happens. I
1:16:14want you to play a whole bunch of abb
1:16:16for several minutes and then more of AB
1:16:18like the last day. And then after 30
1:16:20minutes of just abb,
1:16:23put it all together as a b a
1:16:27b. Now you're combining them seamlessly
1:16:29and it feels as easy as picking up a
1:16:31drumstick because you've programmed each
1:16:33piece so deeply. [music]
1:16:44[music]
1:16:48Once you've got these patterns locked
1:16:50in, we're going to make your fills sound
1:16:51like this.
1:16:56[music]
1:17:02The first step is getting your dynamics
1:17:03under control. Playing fast is one
1:17:05thing, but if all your notes are the
1:17:06same volume, it's kind of just noise. If
1:17:08your doubles, like the left, left in a
1:17:10aren't even in terms of timing and
1:17:12volume, you'll want to work on your open
1:17:14close technique. I've got a whole video
1:17:15on that link below. [music]
1:17:18I'm going to show you the full tried
1:17:19matrix in a moment. But first, let's get
1:17:20your kick drum into the mix because this
1:17:22is where things get really fun. Now that
1:17:24A and B feel automatic, level them up by
1:17:26substituting your kick drum. So, pattern
1:17:28A, right, left, left becomes either
1:17:30right kick kick or kick left, left,
1:17:35[music]
1:17:36left kick, kick
1:17:39or left, left kick. [music]
1:17:42So try playing abb
1:17:45with these substitutions. In fact, we're
1:17:47going to introduce C, which is kick kick
1:17:50left in this case. So now we're going to
1:17:51take abb
1:17:53and turn it into ABC.
1:17:56Because C is a kick substitution, we're
1:17:58now playing right, left, left, right,
1:18:00right, left, kick, kick, left for ABC,
1:18:02followed by right, left, left, right,
1:18:04right, left, and then ABC again. Right,
1:18:06left, left, right, right, left, kick,
1:18:08kick, left. [music]
1:18:17>> [music]
1:18:23[music]
1:18:27>> Now, that's a full bar of blazing fast
1:18:29notes that sound incredibly complex, but
1:18:31you built it from just three simple
1:18:33patterns.
1:18:36[music]
1:18:43>> [music]
1:18:43>> I want you to remember each kick
1:18:44substitution creates a new pattern that
1:18:46needs its own practice time. So don't
1:18:47rush to string them together. Master
1:18:49each three note cell first. All right.
1:18:51So these patterns are just the
1:18:52beginning. The complete triad matrix
1:18:54includes every possible three note
1:18:55combination of right, left, and kick.
1:18:57That might sound overwhelming, but
1:18:58here's the thing. You don't need all of
1:19:00them. I've highlighted the most useful
1:19:01ones in the PDF. And honestly, if you
1:19:03just master four or five patterns really
1:19:04well, you'll have more speed and
1:19:06vocabulary than 99% of drummers out
1:19:08there. The first two patterns I showed
1:19:09you today, A and B, are absolutely the
1:19:11best starting point for this. Master
1:19:12those first before exploring the rest of
1:19:14the matrix. If your playing gets sloppy
1:19:16when you speed up, you're working too
1:19:17hard. So, slow it back down until it's
1:19:19clean and relaxed again. Remember, we're
1:19:21going for less effort here. You should
1:19:23be able to play any pattern perfectly if
1:19:25you take it slow enough. Speed isn't
1:19:26about pushing harder. It's about
1:19:28training your brain to handle dozens of
1:19:29notes without conscious effort. You
1:19:31don't want to have to think about them.
1:19:32If your shoulders are creeping up, if
1:19:34your doubles sound uneven, if your death
1:19:35gripping the sticks, these are all signs
1:19:37that you need to back off the tempo and
1:19:38focus on staying loose. Don't forget to
1:19:40grab the Triad Matrix PDF. It's got all
1:19:42the patterns organized so you can start
1:19:44with the easiest ones and work your way
1:19:46up. Just start with those seven days of
1:19:47focus practice on each pattern. Keep
1:19:49coming back to this video and suddenly
1:19:51that used to tie your hands in knots
1:19:52feel like you're barely trying. Most
1:19:53drummers never discover this. They just
1:19:55keep grinding away trying to muscle
1:19:56through fast passages. But now you know
1:19:58real speed comes from programming these
1:20:00patterns so deep that they happen
1:20:02automatically. But here's the thing. If
1:20:03your [music] basic technique has
1:20:04problems, even these patterns won't save
1:20:06you. You might be making some mistakes
1:20:07that kill your speed without even
1:20:08knowing it. So if you want to prevent
1:20:10those mistakes from ever happening,
1:20:11watch this video next. [music]
1:20:20[music]
1:20:25[music]

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