Jasperdrummer
Junior Member
I've been taking my playing seriously for a number of years now, but only this year have I actually started to read drum notation. I've never really taken any formal lessons before either.
A few months back, I found a book that I didn't know I had, and started going through it. So far, it's been great. But, there's something I want to run by you.
When I play exercises from the book, let's say for example when I'm playing eighth note triplet shuffle grooves. I start the metronome off at a slow but comfortable BPM, around 60. Sometimes, I'll even challenge myself and play the page a couple of times through at 30. Once I've played the page enough times to where I've gotten it down, I increase the speed by 5 each time. This example is random, but I may play the page 2-5 times all the way through without stopping, or until it hurts.
Now, for the problem. When I play at slower BPM's, I tend to get impatient and have trouble actually "feeling" the groove. Even though I'm in time, it always feels very stale at slower tempos. If I were to play it at 100, that's when things start taking more shape. So, by increasing the metronome a little bit each time, is that the way I should be doing things until I feel as if the groove is really happening at a particular BPM? Just spending as much time as you need to on a particular page? It can take me more than a week to get through one page. Not because I'm not comfortable with playing the sheet music, but because I want to get to the point where again, the groove is happening.
Another thing is, and this may come off as being inexperienced , but when I slug away at exercises I've played over and over I feel as if I'm just wasting time and it's not actually developing my craft as a player, because, I know how to play the page perfectly at a few different tempos.
What I mean is, the end goal in my mind is at the BPM where the groove starts really taking it's shape. Not to play "fast" necessarily. But, at the point of where it's actually sounding musical. It has a pulse. Is that wasting time when I may only be able to raise the metronome up to 10-15bpm each session, when I already know how to play the page as it is? As I said in the original post, It may take me an entire week or longer to get to a BPM where I feel as if it's sits right. Personal preference in another words. I'm not performing this stuff, so it's purely for practice. Keep in mind, I'm only on page 26 and have been reading the book for a little over 4 months.
Thanks.
A few months back, I found a book that I didn't know I had, and started going through it. So far, it's been great. But, there's something I want to run by you.
When I play exercises from the book, let's say for example when I'm playing eighth note triplet shuffle grooves. I start the metronome off at a slow but comfortable BPM, around 60. Sometimes, I'll even challenge myself and play the page a couple of times through at 30. Once I've played the page enough times to where I've gotten it down, I increase the speed by 5 each time. This example is random, but I may play the page 2-5 times all the way through without stopping, or until it hurts.
Now, for the problem. When I play at slower BPM's, I tend to get impatient and have trouble actually "feeling" the groove. Even though I'm in time, it always feels very stale at slower tempos. If I were to play it at 100, that's when things start taking more shape. So, by increasing the metronome a little bit each time, is that the way I should be doing things until I feel as if the groove is really happening at a particular BPM? Just spending as much time as you need to on a particular page? It can take me more than a week to get through one page. Not because I'm not comfortable with playing the sheet music, but because I want to get to the point where again, the groove is happening.
Another thing is, and this may come off as being inexperienced , but when I slug away at exercises I've played over and over I feel as if I'm just wasting time and it's not actually developing my craft as a player, because, I know how to play the page perfectly at a few different tempos.
What I mean is, the end goal in my mind is at the BPM where the groove starts really taking it's shape. Not to play "fast" necessarily. But, at the point of where it's actually sounding musical. It has a pulse. Is that wasting time when I may only be able to raise the metronome up to 10-15bpm each session, when I already know how to play the page as it is? As I said in the original post, It may take me an entire week or longer to get to a BPM where I feel as if it's sits right. Personal preference in another words. I'm not performing this stuff, so it's purely for practice. Keep in mind, I'm only on page 26 and have been reading the book for a little over 4 months.
Thanks.
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