Most drummers would agree it’s important to have a solid foundation in good drumming technique. But what is that foundation, and how do you get it?

the concept of rebound, applied to everything

the concept of how space between notes createss groove

for me, that is all
 
I’ve always liked drummers who had solid single strokes. I think it’s super important. But so are a few other things depending on the music you play. And of course, keeping pain free is paramount. But everything starts on drums with the single stroke, so yeah, hard to argue with that.
 
the concept of rebound, applied to everything

the concept of how space between notes createss groove

for me, that is all
I totally agree about the space between the notes. I don’t agree with the rebound concept, because not all surfaces rebound—and we still need to hit them with skill in order to produce a good tone
 
And I should clarify something: My definition of “stroke” is the movement of the stick with the wrist and arm. Alternately, “grip” is the movement of the stick between the hand and the fingers. The implication here is that a single stroke can be performed without any grip motion at all!
Has anyone ever thought about this?
 
I mostly agree with OP, a solid foundation (for hand technique, playing a drum) would require well developed single stroke. IMO, the first brick.

Yes also, stroke is arm/wrist movement and the grip determines which muscles are used, and how much the fingers are involved, in the stroke.

I also think rebound is more than just whether a surface has much bounce. Rebound control is important whether surface is very bouncy or completely dead. Fingers should act like responsible adults.

I think there's more intangible stuff in building a solid foundation as a musician (whether drums or other instrument), the stuff at the top of the list for me would be sense of time/tempo and the ability to listen to and really hear everything.
 
Thanks for your response. In regards to rebound, my contention here is you can’t learn how to control a stick by letting go of it. So for example, if a new drummer starts out by learning how to let a stick rebound, they aren’t really learning single strokes at all, and hence they are skipping the foundational movement of all drumming technique.
As far as a sense of time/tempo, if you can play exactly even single strokes in time, the space between the notes are exactly in time, and the actual physical act of striking a drum allows you to create perfect time. So the learning of the single stroke technique actually creates the sense of time, it is not some kind of metaphysical concept that is “out there” that we must somehow grasp. Ed Soph said “Strokes in time produce notes in time”. I live by that
 
Well, hmm. I have to say I slightly disagree about a couple things there. IMO, the concept of "rebound" is an integral part of the single stroke itself. In fact I'd go as far as to say the best way to learn to control the stick is to learn to let go of it. You have to let go of it first, and then pick it back up, and then you've completed a single stroke.

To me the concept of rebound control has nothing to do with surfaces per se. It's everything to do with the hand muscles understanding the motions the stick has to make to complete a stroke and be prepared for whatever is to happen next.

Also, I disagree about time and the single stroke, not that the single stroke doesn't help with feeling space and repetition, it absolutely does, but I don't believe single stroke alone can create or fix a sense of time that is weak to begin with. And yes, I believe that time feel is absolutely "out there", some have natural sense of time and many many people do not, and for some of those people, no matter how many single strokes they do, they will never develop great sense of time. I think some context is key, either from a metronome or some steady music to play along with can help the time/tempo challenged to a degree, and with a lot of work even someone with poor time feel can improve drastically.
 
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Well, hmm. I have to say I slightly disagree about a couple things there. IMO, the concept of "rebound" is an integral part of the single stroke itself. In fact I'd go as far as to say the best way to learn to control the stick is to learn to let go of it. You have to let go of it first, and then pick it back up, and then you've completed a single stroke.

To me the concept of rebound control has nothing to do with surfaces per se. It's everything to do with the hand muscles understanding the motions the stick has to make to complete a stroke and be prepared for whatever is to happen next.

Also, I disagree about time and the single stroke, not that the single stroke doesn't help with feeling space and repetition, it absolutely does, but I don't believe single stroke alone can create or fix a sense of time that is weak to begin with. And yes, I believe that time feel is absolutely "out there", some have natural sense of time and many many people do not, and for some of those people, no matter how many single strokes they do, they will never develop great sense of time. I think some context is key, either from a metronome or some steady music to play along with can help the time/tempo challenged to a degree, and with a lot of work even someone with poor time feel can improve drastically.
OK. I agree. A "good sense of timing" is most important to a "solid foundation of drumming".
The real question then is.........can a "good sense of timing" be taught?
My answer is gonna be a big....NO! sorry not sorry.
I've played with a few bass players who knew their theory like the back of their hands, but couldn't play in time to save their lives.
I think this applies to the convo. 🤨
 
I think many have answered this by getting to the most basic, root core of drumming - which while interesting - might not be what the OP is looking for?

I would consider a solid foundation in drumming technique to be the set of skills that a player can use to figure out and accomplish all of the rest of playing - regardless of the direction they choose to go in.

This to me means learning...

1. basic stroke - hand technique
2. hand to hand coordination
3. an understanding of rhythm - which generally means learning reading as a means to accomplishing that
4. using the above to learn not just rudiments, but how to play (and preferably read) rudimental etudes. It is imperative to learn to use the basic rudiments to a musical way - not just as a slow to fast exercise. The musical techniques required to play traditional snare drum etudes are literally essential to most every style and genre of drumming and percussion playing. Accomplishing #4 represents the bulk of a basic foundation to learn any or all styles of drumming.
5. But as drum set players - we should also start working on drum set independence. IMO single surface, hand to hand player is the core, but drum set indolence can quickly to worked on in parallel. So the last component in my idea of a solid foundation would be getting a start with drum set independence.

Then with basic hands chops, reasonable rhythmic understanding and reading skills and a start on drum set coordination - I believe the bulk of the rest can be figured out be the player - or at least the player is capable of pursuing whatever they want, including knowing when help or assistance would be a good idea.

I believe this - because that's the path i used in my drumming life. Barely a few years of lessons to start with - set me up to start digesting and playing along with records, I has the skills to not only play in whatever school had to offer, but actual excel at those opportunities. Because at the start, most required little more than the basic skills I already had. And as I moved into high school, those skills allowed my self-study to more than keep up with what was needed there as well. As I got to college - it became obvious that my "classical technique" needed work (and probably still does), but drum set focused self-study had kept up enough that I was able to hold top chairs on drum set even as a freshman. My college pursuits were cut short as professional work started taking over my life.

But through all of that - up till today - I'm keenly aware of how instrumental that basic skill set was, and is, in me being able to progress and learn whatever I chose to set my mind to.

Anyway - my 2 cents..
 
OK. I agree. A "good sense of timing" is most important to a "solid foundation of drumming".

I feel like I distracted a bit.. sorry about this. With my statements about "sense of time", I just meant that it would be a fundamental building block for being a musician at all, regardless of instrument.

It was a distinction to acknowledge that hand (or foot) technique is only a part of one's overall drumming ability.

But as far as the title of the thread, I agreed with the OP about single stroke being the most fundamental (as in basic, start here first and revisit often) building block for solid hand technique / facility. In addition to singles, I also think the double stroke and flam are integral to developing a solid foundation on which to build toward a high level of facility. But single stroke first.


The real question then is.........can a "good sense of timing" be taught?

Sense of time absolutely can improve, but individual results will depend on variables: raw potential, capacity for learning, time spent, and work ethic/drive to improve.
But even if some folks might not ever have a rock solid grid, I think everyone can improve their sense of time, to some degree, if they work at it.



I think many have answered this by getting to the most basic, root core of drumming - which while interesting - might not be what the OP is looking for?

Since "foundation" was twice in the title, I was primed to think of basics, and then I read the OP which simply suggested "single stroke", which further convinced me that we would be discussing the fundamentals.

Your list is excellent, sensible and very straightforward, but to me #4 and #5 are what I think of as more advanced development. At least stuff I wouldn't I'd have a beginner think about yet. Rudiments early yes, but IMO that should be singles, doubles, flams.. then ruffs, drags and paradiddles, whereas working on independence and learning to read etudes, just seems beyond the basics.. I'm no pro teacher though, so I really do not know what I'm talking about! :oops:
 
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Bring forth the drum teachers😗😗😗😗!
The “solid foundation” of what kind of drumming? Make a difference?
Sure, you have to have a solid single stroke in both hands, coordinated, speedy too. Across the board.
 
You need to be able to hear and use your limbs is foundational. Just being able to hold and use the sticks properly= without a death grip or physically killing yourself when you can do it much easier is pretty fundamental. I think after that there is a core of snare, kick, and hats or ride. Singles, doubles, triple strokes, and flams can be constructed to cover all 40 rudiments. Understanding rhythm and melody is pretty fundamental to all music.
 
My foundation is posture and breathing and everything else stems from this (hand technique, foot technique, limb coordination, endurance, time, groove, listening, creativity, focus, attitude, etc.). I wish someone explained this to me much earlier as it covers alot of ground and something that can be practice away from the kit. It sounds vague but at least for physical technique, it setups a foundation for natural movements and developing flexibility for numerous conditions for technique to work in along with variations within different hands and grips, etc...this is what I believe at least.

I would add fundamentals in tuning is important...while is doesn't seem like technique, a common trend I've seen is that some may tension their drums favorable for technique rather than sound and then make up the rest by tape or muffling techniques (same with one dimensional cymbal sound choices). And we know that generally, open tunings and thinner cymbals have alot of overtones to control which require more advanced technique to negotiate it but have richer range of tone/dynamics to work with but requires flexibility from the drummer. It comes up in stick choices too, players may pick sticks that feel good in the in hand but not necessarily sound good for the expression. This is actually very difficult to get technique to this point or even have the attitude for it. But I believe this is where 'your sound' comes from where one can sit on any foreign kit and make music and not have your hand technique limited by different head tensions or placements...
 
I think it's the single stroke...what do you think?

I would say the single most important trait for a drummer is a good sense of time. Recently returned to drumming after 30 years and am having to relearn a lot of what I’ve forgotten. One constant is my time keeping right hand. Also it’s tricky turning off the right hand focus while still keeping time to do all the other functions of the drums. It’s almost “opposite” of what the body wants to do similar to backing a trailer. One has to steer the opposite way than originally learned when driving on 4 wheels
 
My foundation is posture and breathing and everything else stems from this (hand technique, foot technique, limb coordination, endurance, time, groove, listening, creativity, focus, attitude, etc.). I wish someone explained this to me much earlier as it covers alot of ground and something that can be practice away from the kit. It sounds vague but at least for physical technique, it setups a foundation for natural movements and developing flexibility for numerous conditions for technique to work in along with variations within different hands and grips, etc...this is what I believe at least.

I would add fundamentals in tuning is important...while is doesn't seem like technique, a common trend I've seen is that some may tension their drums favorable for technique rather than sound and then make up the rest by tape or muffling techniques (same with one dimensional cymbal sound choices). And we know that generally, open tunings and thinner cymbals have alot of overtones to control which require more advanced technique to negotiate it but have richer range of tone/dynamics to work with but requires flexibility from the drummer. It comes up in stick choices too, players may pick sticks that feel good in the in hand but not necessarily sound good for the expression. This is actually very difficult to get technique to this point or even have the attitude for it. But I believe this is where 'your sound' comes from where one can sit on any foreign kit and make music and not have your hand technique limited by different head tensions or placements...

Well written
 
You need to be able to hear and use your limbs is foundational. Just being able to hold and use the sticks properly= without a death grip or physically killing yourself when you can do it much easier is pretty fundamental. I think after that there is a core of snare, kick, and hats or ride. Singles, doubles, triple strokes, and flams can be constructed to cover all 40 rudiments. Understanding rhythm and melody is pretty fundamental to all music.

Well said. I learned proper hand technique here after so many years of doing otherwise. Cool community here
 
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