Whats the best way you think to practice? And how do you?

[The MP]

Ok guys bored here and thought id throw this down. What is practice...what is your practice routine and how do you do it? Me my myself I play up to 2 hours with tracks and songs and just grooving and then 10-30 min of excercises from rudiments and double bass and so on, warm up, play, make up fills and grooves, just have fun basically. But to repeat myself how do you guys do it? and what in your mind is the best way to practice

 

[Daza73]

i just chuck on the ipod and play for a fair while workin my way up in difficulty in the song
eg. ill start off with some saosin and go up to as i lay dying than parkway drive and so on
and than ill chuck on some different style of music like hillsong and practice the songs we play in church etc, and after that i just chill and make up some beats and play without music for say half an hour to an hour

 

[Gaddabout]

The best kind of practice is a warm-up that helps reinforce what you know, and a specific routine that isolates your weaknesses.

 

[break the prism]

i normally start with a rock groove, then lay some double bass on to it, then take away the double and put some funk on it, then i strip it down and swing it, all working with the same basic rhythm. i do a different beat every day for about a half hour. afterwards i practice rudiments, usually with linear beats and alternating time signatures on the hi-hat and snare. i do this for another half hour. then for two hours i play along to albums, usually a different genre every day.

 

[Brother_Bong]

I warm up with some free jamming, then play to some cds. After that I sometimes try and remember a song from one of my old bands. Then work on new bands' songs, and works in progress.

 

[break the prism]

my percussion practice includes playing tabla along to indian classical music (usually ravi or anoushka shankar, studying and trying to play along to Aloke Dutta's tabla works, then practicing both eastern and western patterns on the djembe and bongos.

 

[pnwelliott1]

I usually do some 8's on my marching snare, then I hit the kit with a click track. People who practice with click tracks get way better, way faster.

Oh ya, and I practice my rudiments a lot. Its essential.

 

[phil-drummer]

i rarely sit down and practice one thing , i usually have a quick warm up with a couple of stretches ( you dont HAVE to , but i do ) and a bit of a jam playin what feels fun and easy to begin ( jus sum funk shit or sumthin ) then just add more n more of your kit into the groove, wen your bored, change genre, switch your kit around, use less kit, use more, play different tempos , time sigs,

EVEN BETTTER, get a band . bands are good for teachin dynamics, from how to get your un-mic'd kit to cut thru an amp and how to apply your kit , e.g wen to actually use a splash insted of beatin it to death in a tornado of death metal using the heaviest sticks around.

i also enjoy playing along to cd's. sumtimes this can get frustrating so i dont do it so often , its gud fun tho.

rudiments help too.

try and start/play a groove in a way u havent before, e.g ride on all the toms for a change.

meh try it out , works for me

 

[kevin owns at life]

I practice rudiments on my practice pads most of the day, basically, when i'm not doing something i need my arms for. even while on the computer a lot of the time actually. and when i play my kit, i incorporate the rudiments into grooves and fills. but i usually warm up, with just quarters with each hand, then eighths with each, then rudiments, slowly building speed, it helps to loosen up your muscles and i find it keeps you from tensing up, which i hate. i usually stretch before practice, depending on how long i plan to play, but that i think helps the most. i usually start with sometime simple, then turn it into every style of music i can, keeping tempo, a click track helps. and after that warm up, i will go through all of my bands songs which takes about an hour. then i mess around for a little while, working on new fills, speed on fills, double bass grooves. stuff of that sort. then after that if i have time, i'll play along to music, i try to keep it different. or i'll play along with a dub track, considering i'm in a ska band and it helps a lot. after that i'll go through some sheet music to keep sight reeding up to par.

that's usually what my practice consists of. sometimes more, sometimes less.

 

[Judith]

I warm up by jamming freestyle, then I do rudiments with my hands and feet with a metronome. Then I try out rhythms that I've heard from other drummers recently to keep me "outside the box".

 

[drummer4thefreaks]

Unfortunatly, due to neighbours and a rather unforgiving (or lets just say, completely shit) council, i have a noise abatement order on my house. (those that dont know what it is, let's just say if i do play drums, I get fined anything up to £5000) So thats home practice out the window.

I get three hours a week with my band, and the occasional hour at my local store in a practice room because they're nice, but i dont have much money so i can't always pay. So the only thing i can do is practice rudiments on my one practice pad i have. 2-4 hours a day rudiment practice. It helps a lot! :O

 

[DrummerWithNoJive]

Yeah i practice on my pad first. I go to metronomeonline.com and do eighth note patterns adding diddles and accents on different beats after every few phrases. I do that for a good 10 minutes then i go and play my favorite songs on the stereo, and after that i just jam and practice sincapated patterns and solo ideas.

If you guys want to practice a nice little latin "hand coordination" challenge try this:

- = 16th note

right hand |x-x-xx-x-x-xx-x-|x-x-xx-x-x-xx-x-| (basic cowbell or clave pattern)

left hand |x--xx--xx--xx--x|x--xx--xx--xx--x| (simple bossa bass pattern)

* it is better to transcribe it to written notation, visually on a staff it is easier to comprehend

 

[ADIKeeper]

I don't see why people make it a big deal to practice rudiments and whatnot exclusively instead of using them in their regular playing. It doesn't make sense to me. When are you going to use rudiments any other time? (unless you're in the line.)

I just throw on my headphones and play. Simple. If I get new music and I hear a great lick, I'll hammer it out and get it down to the point where I can use it in any song I play. It's no huge concern of mine if I don't really use the EXACT perfect sticking. If it sounds the same played a different way, who cares?! Just play!

 

[DrummerWithNoJive]

every great drummer practiced rudiments, no matter what genre you are in neil pert, chris adler, chad smith, buddy rich anybody you idolize... practices rudiments constantly, you may think it wont help, but if you dont practice rudiments you will get to be good at a certain point, and not get any better. trust me.

 

[antzpantz1234]

i go to school so i leave all my practice till after school and at night
i get home from school and jump straight onto the kit were i warm up with just playing along to cd's for about half an hour
then i just sit doing double bass and and lead with my left hand to build muscle on my left.
i then go through some books that i have and home work from lessons. alot of independance such as jazz

the rest of the night im doing pad work. like rudiments and snare drum pieces from books.
i have like 10 or so set rudiments that i practice everyday and every week i practice other ones.
i go through a lot of books. there really help full

 

[drummergirl410]

I try to practice every day, but sometimes i just don't get it in. Most of the time, I get to practice about four or five days a week. Then there's the day I take lessons for an hour or so. I usually practice about an hour and a half. For the first 30 minutes, I do pad work. The first ten, I do an exercise where you play like you would a tympany - palms up - and use only the fingers to push the sticks, no wrist motion. This has helped me build my finger strength a lot! My doubles are better for it for sure. I play for one minute straight on each hand seperately, then eight counts alternating hands, then six, four, three, doubles, then singles. I usually stretch after this. Then I spend the next ten minutes or so doing snare solos I've learned and learning new ones when I get a handle on the older ones. The last of this time, I do rudiments. I usually do some singles, doubles, diddles, and ratamacues just about every day. I also spot-check the rest one or two a day.

For the hour, I go onto the kit, usually doing a couple of snare solos first, then I might add a rudiment or two into a groove. Right now I'm working from three different books; one on rock shuffles, one on rock fills, and the other is the Turn It Up and Lay It Down book. I spend about 15 minutes working out of each one. Then I play grooves I've worked on with the bass tracks in the Turn It Up book. If there's any time left, I just jam a bit, practice adding fills from the rock fill book to some grooves I already know. Sometimes I'll play along with a song or two. I also use a metronome, but not as much as I should at times. My drum instructor helps keep me accountable. He expects some progress when lesson time rolls around.

 

[Raze Drummer]

I pretty much do the same thing you do.

.just practice with songs that you want to learn and that are also a challenge.

.after that work on things you need to improve on like double bassing, or hand work, or poly rythm stuff.

.the best way in my opinion though is to play with your band if you have one, that way you also develop your own style.

 

[break the prism]

every great drummer practiced rudiments, no matter what genre you are in neil pert, chris adler, chad smith, buddy rich anybody you idolize... practices rudiments constantly, you may think it wont help, but if you dont practice rudiments you will get to be good at a certain point, and not get any better. trust me.

with one exception. buddy rich's practice came only from band rehearsals and gigs.

 

[Rob the Drummer]

Easy, just practice what you aren't good at.

 

[iplaydrums1]

myself, basically...i grab about an hour whenever i can, whether its once twice or three times a day...

it could consist of the following...
-rudiments
-grooves
-soloing
-track playing
-metronome


and of course...always always always with good clean fun