Daily practice routine?

cfdrum

Junior Member
Hey everyone,

Just curious as to what everyones practice sessions consist of...what are some crucial exercises that you guys do (for jazz, independence, mainly).

Also what books have been absolutely crucial to your playing?
 
30 minutes of stick control excersises to begin with, practicing each one 20 times at three different dynamic levels, pianissimo - mezzo forte - triple forte. I am up to 8th notes of 130bpm now after starting this routine. And since can now play clean-ish paradiddles of 16th notes at up 140bpm-160bpm (Before it turns chaotic and strained), where before i started this i could only go up to about 110. Honestly didnt realise how much playing slow helps you play fast, i still have a long way to go but now i know im getting there.

Then about 40 minutes of just playing a new beat to the metronome, i practice each new beat both left and right hand lead, with different ostinatos to get my bass and snare drum coordination down, and also on different surfaces while keeping quarters with my left foot on the hats.

Then if i have time ill play an excersize for getting round the kit, like four/three/two hits on each surface for 5 minutes to get muscle memory kicking in around my set up, this is probably the area i need most improvement on, but i just love locking in with a beat to the metronome too much to get around to practicing this.

And all this is on the rare days i get free from college work...woe is me huh.

And my favourite book by far is jonny rabbs jungle and drum n bass, i love the grooves in that. Since getting that book it has absolutely defined my playing style, while i cant play them perfectly at high tempos (i realy havent got much speed at all) i utilise this style as fills, and beats very regularly when just jamming, like displacing the backbeats and such, so much more tastefull than a roll around the toms imo. Also

I still consider myself very much a beginner though, as i realy dont get much practice time to improve that much haha.
 
Depends on circumstances.

If I'm away or can't get to my kits, I'll do 1/2 hr to an hour on the pad with the metronome - singles, doubles, various paradiddles, flam taps, foot/hand 'diddles.

If I do have access to my e-kit I then add a couple of playalongs from the ipod - currently that's Billie Jean and Dylan's As I Went Out One Morning.

Then I'll get onto the acoustic kit and work through my band's set, concentrating on areas I need to improve.

All that'll take me 1 - 1.5 hours and I do it most lunchtimes (I work from home)

Then in the evenings lately I've been on the e-kit playing through Ableton drum tracks of my band's set, getting into the groove, playing with new fills etc.

Good thread this - I may have to check out Stick Control
 
I practice a lot of snare drum exercises either on a pad or on a snare. I'll typically warm up and then play a few select exercises that focus specifically on the aspect of my playing that I am trying to improve that day. If I'm working on drumset material I'll apply the exercises to the kit and then move on to whatever I have set out for the day.

I would say that my routine is consistent in the sense that I try to practice consistently, but what I practice from day to day varies depending on what I am trying to improve, what I need to learn, what I need to prepare for a performance, etc.
 
Hey there, here's my "routine", FWIW:

1) Warm up with always the same series of rudiments specified by my teacher: I'll write it down in case anyone wants to try it out (repeat 4 bars of each and don't stop between them:

[double taps (8ths) / singles (16ths) / doubles (16ths) / paradiddles / double paradiddles / triple paradiddles / 16th note triplets (3 hits per hand) / five-stroke roll / seven-stroke roll / 8th flams / flam tap / flam accent]

Starting slow, then speeding up and writing down the progress. (5 months ago my max was 110bpm. Nowadays is 155 !!!! :D I usually spend about half an ahour on this routine.

2) Practice bass drum exercises.

3) Whatever coordination/independence exercises or grooves my teacher sent me.

4) And finally, fun time. Play whatever I feel like playing.
__ __ ___ __ __

Note: There are days where I ignore 1, 2 and 3 and just fool around. :/ I'm trying to avoid it, though.

Anyway, keep practising guys!! Cheers. :)
 
Mine is pretty simple. I don't really time myself but i'll spend several minutes working on rudiments before i do anything. I'll start with single strokes then doubles then paradiddles etc.... until i feel warmed up and loose. I don't really work on foot technique..that's really never been much of an issue with me. From there i basically just sit and play weather it be with my band or playing by myself.
 
HOW to practice is what eats me away the most. I don't want to spend time making nothing. The biggest mistake is obviously practicing what you already know. That said - nowadays a sit a few hours/day trying to adhere to the following routine:

30 min with Stick Control / Master Studies (hand exercises/rudiments etc)
30 min bass/double bass with bass drum encylopedia (Bailey's book)
30 min pure funk drumming (advanced funk drumming/future sounds/code of funk...)
30 min "polyrhythmic concepts" like Chaffees patterns, Rhythmic Illusions / Rhythmic
Perspectives (Harrison).

I try to divide it between hand exercises, foot exercises, style/independence studies and polyrhythmic studies.
Hand/foot are relatively stable parts in my routine and must always be included. Style/Independence can be
"either or", as Jazz drumming style gives jazz independence, Latin drumming gives clave independence & so forth.
Polyrhytmic thinking/Metric modulation etc is for me to delve deeper into groupings/ideas/accents/odd times etc.


Books I love:

Stick Control
Master Studies
Encyclopedia of Double Bass drumming
Extreme Interdependence
Rhythmic Illusions
Rhythmic Perspectives
Polyrhytms (Magadini)
Conversations in Clave (Hernandez)
Drummer's Bible
The New Breed
Future Sounds
The code of funk
Advanced Funk Drumming
The Art of Bop Drumming
...
 
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First thing is to list some goals and how much time one has to devote towards that goal on a daily basis.

I have a pretty long routine, but lately I`ve tried to make things more effective and split certain sections, that got too long, up so that they don`t take too much time, but I still get the benefits over time.

To keep my concentration up I try to take frequent breaks and start the day with musical things and then move to technique maintenance and endurance exercises at the end of practice or the end of the day.

For snare work, I`ve tried to spend more time on etudes and actual pieces than just moving through standard technical exercises.
 
HOW to practice is what eats me away the most. I don't want to spend time making nothing. The biggest mistake is obviously practicing what you already know.

I think John brings up a critical point here. There is a really interesting, newish book called "The Talent Code" that talks in some depth about the physical change that has to occur in the brain in order for skill to develop. When you practice in a focused, deliberate, and repetitive way at the very edge of your ability, you send signals to your brain to make better connections between specific neurons, which in turn leads to an increased degree of control/skill. The author (Daniel Coyle) compares this better connection in the brain to the difference between a broadband and dial-up internet connection. He also differentiates between practice that does not result in better connections and practice which does, which he refers to as "deep practice".

The reason I am saying this is that I believe the one consistent principle in putting together a practice routine is that it has to be tailored towards this type of deep practice. It doesn't matter what style of music you play or what kind of musician you are, if your practice routine does not prioritize deep practice, you won't really progress in any meaningful way.

I think that everyone intuitively feels this way, but it is important to be explicit about it so that people have a concrete principle to guide their practicing. I have personally really tried to implement this in my own practicing, and have really seen a lot of meaningful progress as a result (not to say that I don't have a long way to go!).

In any case I have a blog post about the book and some specific stuff that I have done with it here:

http://haredrums.blogspot.com/2011/10/thoughts-on-practicing-talent-code.html
 
At the mo i only really practice rudiments, in the past i have done a lot of work on indepence and that, but i really want some monster chops now, whilst i have allways practiced rudiments i have allways needed to work on other things to be a tight drummer in a band, now im there with that its chops all the way.

30 mins singles
30 mins doubles
30 paradiddles,
1 half hours working outa stick control

I work my feet in there, i work them round the drums, nothing too strict, just helps me to concertrate. I do this about 5 times a week, i play a gig every saturday, 2hr covers set which keeps my grooves ticking over really, do a jazz gig on sundays sometimes now. Once a week I generally go nuts, play to some backing tracks, open solo for an hour and stuff like that.
 
Well, I must say I envy you guys who have routines like the one above for having the time and the drive to spend two or three hours doing just paradiddles or single strokes. I can't imagine doing it for that long if only because I'd be incredibly bored doing it. The nature of my work means that I can't have much of a routine anyway - some days, I work late and so get home at about ten, other days I arrive home as other people do and can't play without causing a lot of irritation and so on, so forth.
 
Its taken me a long to get that point, i have had to become a working a drummer in order to have the time, and with that sacrifice earning as much as some of my "succesfull" freinds my age. I started drumming at 19, my parents did'nt want a drum kit in the house, spent a few years not really learning much at all but learning how to play in a band. Its only in the last four years (30 now) that i have had somewhere to practice everyday, i built a studio to play in.

To be honest its hard work, guys can glam it up as much they want but it is work, the benifits obatained from working this way far out weigh any boredom i might feel from time to time. Its all about wants and needs really, you can change your circumstances if you want something bad enough.
 
Not meaning to cause trouble but I probably will lol. I am 47, been playing professionally since 17, and now just part time. I spent my early days practicing rigorously, usually 6-8 hours a day, most of those hours being wasted because of over satuation. Then the next 15 years or so, I barely practiced at all, just played, alot. My feel and time generally got pretty good. Now, I am not playing out much, most of my drumming is by myself, so now my technique is boring me. So i am practicing stuff again.
Reading all these great practice regimens here and the dedication by all the posters, why are there so many mediocre drummers out in the clubs? Rarely I see one that I enjoy watching and listening to. Don't think I am so egostical i think I am better, it is just that, if all the practice makes us good drummers, why does the percentage of good ones seem so low? Something to think about, myself included.
 
Hey everyone,

Just curious as to what everyones practice sessions consist of...what are some crucial exercises that you guys do (for jazz, independence, mainly).

Also what books have been absolutely crucial to your playing?

for jazz and independence I highly recommend John Riley books and DVDs

quality

I am a life long rock/funk drummer who always had a passion for jazz playing from a distance as a jazz listener but never had the time to spend dedicated to the style and live it because of all the touring and teaching I was doing .........Ive spent the last year pretty much dedicating all my practice time to jazz...

even went out and bought a gorgeous Gretsch bop kit

.....and I have to say .....besides constantly listening to old records and copping licks from all the greats......Johns books and DVDs have been the most helpful

mix those with Joe Morellos "Master Studies" and David Stanochs "Mastering the table of time"......and you got yourself a lifetime of things to work on

trust me
 
Mine's changed recently. I was practising hard on grooves for a gig, but the band's moving in a new direction now.

So, I do about 1 hr a day on Stick Control at 3 different tempos, plus a bit of 4 Way Coordination, then working on new grooves
 
Thought I'd share my current routine as a beginner.

20 min of Stick Control. I always practice using a F/H ostinato around 80 BPM while playing the exercises as 16th notes.

20 min of 4WC on the Kit using the rack toms as my LH/RH and naturally the foot and hi hat as the LF/RF also around 80 BPM.

20 min of playing to recorded music or deconstructing Syncopation for new patterns.

This makes up a single "set" that I repeat several times per day.

Of course using a metronome at ALL times!!!

I've only been using this routine for a little over two weeks and can already see a huge improvement in coordination and how fast my brain/muscles adapt to playing a new patterns.
 
I practice some rudiments which i try to implement in a beat or a fill as soon as i can, cause to me rudiments is learning to swim, but you need the water to find out if you don't drown. Then i practice my hand/foot combinations in order to keep my right foot from following my right hand on the 16th notes which it strangely enough loves to do. Basically for me practice is the process of learning how to maneuver my hands and feet separately from one and other.
 
My routine, of course, depends on how much live stuff I'm doing at the time. If a lot, then some warm-up rudiments before sound-check.

If not, then I start with some snare rudiments until my hands and wrists feel warmed-up, then I move to doing some basic kick/snare/hat beats at a medium tempo. Nothing at all special, just to get motor working. Once I feel confident that I have control of the groove, I start to add complexity to the beat, occasionally changing up the rhythms. Then, once that's finished....15-25 minutes....I move to fills, again starting simple and building in complexity.
Then, as more of a test of my motor memory and hearing, I turn out the lights and play in the dark for 15 minutes or so. This allows me to focus less on sight and more on sound and feel. I have a windowless practice room, so that helps achieve the proper ambience.
After that, the lights go on, and I do some full-volume/full-speed practicing.

At 48, I've been faced with the challenge of not being as young as I used to be. Stretching helps that. A little stretching goes a long way.
 
I really agree with the sentiment that you need to try and work out what you can't do and what your goals are... I read all day about people practicing paradiddles constantly for 2 hours, but are you practicing them effectively?

Why not take one rudiment and orchestrate it as many times as you can? Between the left hand and left foot, while playing a straight beat with the right side, between the left hand right foot, etc etc. Practice should also be a time to help you create! Want to really get your head around some jazz rhythms? Don't just sit there with a book and robotically play what's written. Explore it, internalise it and expand on it. If you can just play what's in the book like a wind up cymbal monkey, then you're probably missing the point of the book. The idea is to explore as many variations of one thing as you can and then expand and incorporate this into your playing.

All genres are good, but if you just want to play straight beats and keep solid time, then maybe spending 4 hours on new breed isn't the way to go.

I suppose it's why people have drummers they aspire to be like, so you can think like them and work out their methods to expand on ground they have covered.

On that note, I have a great document I am gonna upload later with a practice schedule spanning from 1 hour to a larger one to 4 hours that a great teacher of mine wrote. I am sure he won't mind me putting it up here as he's fully credited.

Till then!
 
My most recent routine involves big areas that cover a wide range of topics and then I narrow it down depending on what I want to get accomplished. Right now they are:

1) Technique
2) Coordination
3) Soloing
4) Styles

I try to group everything I practice into one of these four areas, for example all summer long what I've been practicing under techniques is various hand/feet possibilities and Wilcoxon snare etudes. If next month I feel like working on the rudimental ritual then that becomes my new technique goal. This way if I get bored or feel that I'm not progressing or learning anything new i can cycle through different material while still working one specific area of my drumming.

For those interested this is what I've been practicing during summer:

1) Technique - Hand/feet 16th note patterns while keeping quarters with HH, this was born out of a need to understand better the drumming of guys like Henry Cole. Wilcoxon snare etudes which are a fun way to practicing rudiments.

2) Coordination - Syncopation exercises with the clave on the right hand and a steady ostinato on the feet, think Dafnis Prieto. Also an inverted paradiddle sticking and orchestration method from Casey Scheuerell's book. This is an excellent book filled with tons of challenging material, any drummer stuck in a rut or looking for something new to practice should get this book ASAP.

3) Soloing - Working on Brian Blade's I Mean You solo and Antonio Sanchez Dr. Joe solo, both included in the wonderful book The Magnificent 7, another book drummers should be checking out, especially those interested in jazz.

4) Styles - Afrocuban latin drumming, including playing along to records, various independence exercises and different grooves played in this style.

Couple of thoughts on practicing:

- I think it's important to know why you're practicing what you're practicing. Why am I going through this snare piece or this jazz exercise or this funk groove? What's the end goal, how will it make me a better drummer, how will this be applied in a musical setting, ect. These questions should be present on all things you practice.

- It doesn't have to be all about playing, practice time can be a great time to meditate, to sit down and REALLY listen to a recording, to check out what makes a drummer tick. I honestly think most drummers (maybe musicians in general) just don't listen enough.

- A notebook or a journal can help a lot.
 
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