30 Day Drum Workout

30 DAY DRUM

WORKOUT I T’ S T I ME TO GE T P HYSIC AL BEH I ND T HE K I T WI T H T H I S HARDCORE DRUM PROGRAMME DE SIGNED TO I MPROV E YOU R P LAY I NG I N JUST ON E MON T H WORDS: PETE RILEY & CHRIS BARNES PHOTOS: JOBY SESSIONS

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t’s a familiar scenario. You go for a fill or kick pattern and something gets in the way; the coordination isn’t quite there, something feels awkward, the fluidity is lacking and you stumble through, but not with the execution you’d hoped for. These moments are usually the result of coordination and independence problems, perhaps there are other skills that need attention. There comes a point when you must meet this head on to take your playing to the next level. The daily exercises presented here are intended to

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gradually address key areas and progressively build the level of difficulty until new levels of technical ability, coordination and independence are unlocked, allowing you to reach previously unattainable levels of playing with a new-found confidence. We’ve worked hard to create a well-rounded plan and provide you with everything you need to prepare for and complete the programme, from the video lessons on your disc and exercise notation to tips and advice from experts on key subjects like nutrition, hydration and sleep. Progress is going to require some dedicated daily

hard work. Thirty days is just a guide – it doesn’t matter if your 30 day workout takes 60 days – your development will remain significant. Ideally you really want to be able to play the previous day’s examples relatively effortlessly before moving on. An alternative approach is to tackle each new day’s examples as best you can, making a note of the ones you’d like to revisit at the end of the month. These lessons will boost your playing and you should soon start to feel improvements as your hard work unlocks your hidden potential. So, let the workout begin…

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COVER FEATURE 30 DAY DRUM WORKOUT

BEFORE YOU START Getting stuck into a whole month of drumming sounds like fun, right? Absolutely, but unless you iron out a few important creases before you start, 30 days of intensive drumming is going to be gruelling physically and mentally and you won’t get the best out of it. Taking the time to get your body and your gear in shape before you start means you can focus on pushing your playing and having fun as you tackle this drumming challenge.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED Ideally you’ll be using your full kit for this programme as many of the lessons will require you to work with your hands and feet. Use a well tuned acoustic kit, or select decent sounds on your electronic kit. Match your e-kit with a pair of comfortable, quality headphones for these extended periods of playing. If excessive noise is an issue with neighbours or family we’d recommend investing in drum mutes. These inexpensive pads sit on your acoustic heads and can reduce volume by up to 95 percent. If a kit is out of the question then a practice pad mounted on a stand is perfectly workable too. Pick up a bass drum pad too, if you can (head to p35 for more useful practice tools). Although you won’t be at a real kit, don’t forget the importance of good posture here, so set up your pads with ergonomics in mind.

1 Prep your gear If you’re taking on the 30-day programme on your acoustic kit, it’s advisable to top it with fresh, bedded-in heads, and make sure your drums are well tuned. A quick MOT to get rid of any unwanted problems like pedal squeak or broken snare wires is advisable too. The better they sound and feel to play, the more you’ll want to play them.

2 Perfect your posture Take the time to set up your kit properly, with your seat at the correct height and your drums, cymbals and pedals positioned so you don’t have to reach excessively. A comfortable, tension-free playing position means you can practise for longer.

WHAT LEVEL AM I? There are Beginner, Intermediate and Pro versions of each lesson in this workout. Here’s what those levels mean BEGINNER You’ve not been drumming for long, but have an understanding of the basics (if not, get started with our Drumming Essentials YouTube playlist: bit.ly/drummingessentials). In these lessons you will start slowly and ultimately should be looking to play each example, snag free, for 1-2 minutes at a time. Your focus should be on developing timing, accuracy and consistency of hits. INTERMEDIATE You already have a solid grasp of key drumming principles and kit experience. With commitment to this workout, your playing level should advance considerably. At this level you will build on your foundation of accuracy and consistency and perform examples at faster tempos. Aim to play each one for 2 minutes-plus at a time. PROFESSIONAL You really know your stuff, but feel you’re rough around the edges. Using these lessons will seriously boost your speed and endurance, with challenging tempos designed to really push your playing forward. With practice you should be able to play these examples for 2-3 minutes-plus at a time.

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3 Rest is best You’ll be taking on board a lot of information in the next month, both mentally and physically, so we’ll be recommending rest days too. These are an opportunity give your brain and body a break, and a chance to absorb what you have learned.

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5 Time to focus 4 Remember to breathe If you’re not breathing you’re not drumming. Ensure the room you’re playing in is well ventilated and cool, and take regular breaks outside in fresh air if you’re doing a particularly long session. A fan can be a drummer’s best friend in a stifling room.

Plan your diary so that you are able to commit serious time and focus to these lessons. Got a quiet month on the horizon? That’s the perfect time to plan it in. This workout is quite some undertaking so we’d recommend telling your family and friends your intentions so they can support you through and help you stick with it.

6 Plug ’em up If you’re going to be practising at your kit, hearing protection is essential. There’s no point spending all this time improving at the drums if you’re doing irreparable damage to your ears and won’t be able to fully enjoy the fruits of your graft.

7 Get a grip You’ll be playing a lot over the next month, and unless you’ve nailed a comfortable, loose grip before you start, you’ll get painful blisters fast, you won’t have any control of your hands and you’ll find it much harder to progress.

8 Play it straight An ergonomically set-up kit is nothing if your posture is off. Good posture means a nice straight back, relaxed shoulders and arms, and your torso at a 90° angle to your hips, with thighs at just under 90° to the floor.

9 Get stuck in If your sticks are too heavy, too long or too thick they won’t feel comfortable when you play. Different tip types and stick materials will also change how you sound. Now’s the time to experiment with the thousands of models available to find the right one for you. If in doubt, ask for help in your local shop.

10 Take notes Whether you use old fashioned pen and paper or notes on your phone or tablet, like any workout it’s important to keep track of progress, recording what you have done each day and identifying any weaknesses that need attention.

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COVER FEATURE 30 DAY DRUM WORKOUT WARM-UP ESSENTIALS Learn the right way to prepare your body before you play Playing the drums involves the whole body – hands, arms and shoulders, the legs and core all need to have good strength and mobility to ensure they don’t impede our creativity. All too often players reach a physical ceiling before they reach a creative one – this is where our focus on technique in practice steps in, and good range of motion and mobility in our muscles and joints is critical. Here James Hester, session drummer, Head of Drums at

BIMM Bristol and triathlete gives his advice on preparing physically for a practice session. “Warming up before we play raises the heart rate ready for work, focuses the mind and allows us to hit the ground running. Taking some time to warm up will prepare the muscles by bringing them up to temperature and increasing blood flow and nutrients to the muscles – this will help prevent injury and will also psychologically help you get ‘in

touch’ with your body. Which of these stretches you choose to do is dependant on the intensity of your planned session and what’s required of your body, but do them after spending some time using a snare and bass drum pad doing rudiments and simple co-ordination exercises to warm up. Start slow and with low velocity and build up tempo and volume. Once your heart rate is up and your mind focused, perform these stretches.”

SHOULDER BLADE SQUEEZE

FIST STRETCH

ROTATOR CUFF 1

Sit or stand with a straight back and pinch your shoulder blades together. Imagine you have a £50 note between your shoulder blades and don’t want to drop it. This is a great stretch for aligning the back and opening the chest area. This is one you can do a few times a day without needing to warm up.

Make a fist with your thumb over your fingers and grip fairly tightly – then open your hand out as far as it will go – do this four or five times with each hand. This not only works the hands but also the forearms too.

Put your arms out at 45° in front of you, palms down – then roll your shoulders so your palms are upwards – do this as many times as you like to increase the circulation. You can move your arms upwards so your hands are at the same height as your shoulders and also try beginning with your arms 45° to your side and do the same thing.

TRY YOGA… A more holistic approach may be to investigate the art of Yoga for strengthening your body, increase your suppleness and give you time to focus your mind. Radiohead/Portishead’s Clive Deamer tells us, “I started practising Ashtanga Yoga around 2005. If done regularly it provides many physical and deeper psychological and spiritual benefits. In the context of drumming, the most obvious being a strong back and a daily gradual increase in bodily strength awareness and flexibility. Yoga also develops your ability to relax. This feeds into good playing and practising technique, you notice the difference between excessive muscular tension compared to focused and engaged work.”

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ROTATOR CUFF 2

SEATED HIP FLEXOR

TOP TIP

Arms out to the side parallel to the floor and elbows bent at 45° – as if you’re holding something above your head. Rotate from the shoulder until your palms and forearms are horizontal, parallel to the floor. You can also start with your arms pointing downwards and rotate them upwards.

In a seated position, lift one leg up and place the outside of the ankle on the opposite knee and sit up straight. This will stretch your hip flexors but you can get a deeper stretch by gently pressing down on the knee of the raised leg. Do this on both sides.

It’s important to keep your mind strong too. The Headspace App talks you through the process of developing ‘mindfulness’ or meditation for 10 minutes a day – a recent US study showing that regular focus on this can improve concentration and memory and is an effective anti-depressant.

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COVER FEATURE 30 DAY DRUM WORKOUT DAYS 1-6

PERIOD 1

Gear and posture ship-shape? Ear plugs in? Fully warmed up and limber? Then it’s time to get cracking. For the next 30 days you’re going to be working hard, keeping the goal of better drumming in mind at all times. We’ve split this 30 day workout into five periods, each consisting of five days of drum exercises, further split into five key areas of drumming. These areas are hands and rudiments, shuffle grooves, four-way coordination, hand/foot linear

combinations and time playing. There’s a video on your CD for each lesson. Each period also accounts for a rest day so you can take a break and let everything you’ve learned that week sink in. In this first period things stay relatively simple, with a starting tempo for each playing level setting the appropriate challenge. Beginners should aim to play each example consistently for 1-2 minutes, intermediates 2 minutes-plus and pro’s 2-3 minutes-plus.

DAY 1 MASTER SINGLE STROKES, DOUBLE STROKES AND PARADIDDLES RECOMMENDED STARTING TEMPO (BPM)

BEGINNER INTERMEDIATE PROFESSIONAL

110 (quarter-note) 150 (quarter-note) 220 (quarter-note)

here; consistency is a factor so watch for stick heights as they’ll be a dead giveaway to any volume discrepancies. And when it comes to pushing the tempo it’s essential to remain relaxed. Try to gradually move the effort from arms to hands to fingers as the tempo progressively increases.

It could be argued that everything played on the kit is a combination of single and double strokes with the paradiddle the natural progression of the two. These building blocks of drumming really need to be strong if a solid foundation is to be built. And remember it’s not just speed we’re looking for A

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DAY 2 ESSENTIAL SHUFFLE GROOVES RECOMMENDED STARTING TEMPO (BPM)

BEGINNER INTERMEDIATE PROFESSIONAL

90 120 150

the downbeat while the upbeat or skip note is played much lighter, almost feeling as though it’s ‘for free’ as the hand raises to play the next accent. On the hi-hats you could play these on the edge and top respectively for some additional dynamics.

Shuffle and triplet time playing can be an underdeveloped area for some drummers, leaving a troublesome hole in their time playing capabilities. Here are some essential shuffle grooves to get things started. Ideally the shuffle rhythm in the right hand will consist of a louder note on q»ªº, ¡™º, A

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DAY 3 UNLOCK FOUR-WAY COORDINATION RECOMMENDED STARTING TEMPO (BPM)

BEGINNER INTERMEDIATE PROFESSIONAL

90 120 150

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snare and bass drum. And if that wasn’t difficult enough, the left foot should play on beats 2 and 4. Finally be sure not to accent the snare when playing the bass drum – sometimes not as easy as it sounds.

Four-way coordination is a cornerstone of any great player. This deceptively tricky exercise features single strokes throughout and requires not only negotiating the accents moving hand-to-hand but also top to bottom between the

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DAY 4 USEFUL HAND/FOOT LINEAR COMBINATIONS – 3’S AND 4’S RECOMMENDED STARTING TEMPO (BPM)

BEGINNER INTERMEDIATE PROFESSIONAL

75 95 120

require some careful practice to make the phrases flow as we’re no longer dealing with just single-strokes. The accents are merely suggested but do give the examples a little more shape and ideally they should all be played with the left foot stepping quarter-notes.

An important stepping stone to creating more interestingsounding phrasing and fills is introducing the bass drum into phrases normally played just with the hands. Incorporating the bass drum this way will break up the phrase with the bass drum acting as a third voice. However, they also A

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DON’T FORGET TO EAT! As you’ve probably experienced, practice sessions can stretch for hours and the need to eat sometimes gets overlooked by the passion for drumming development. Leave it too long and you’ll have trouble reversing the effects of fatigue, and the onset of headaches and irritability. Ensure you have eaten well before you head to the kit or pad. If you’re planning a long

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LAY OFF THE BOOZE evening or weekend of practice, remember to stock up the fridge and cupboards in advance and factor in at a least a 30-minute break where you do actually eat, and aim to still have meals at the time you would normally eat. The less pressure you put on your body and mind, the more you’ll have in the tank to focus on the important task of drumming.

Alcohol affects your hearing significantly, raising the threshold of perception for lower frequencies up to the higher midrange, so you’re unlikely to hear a true representation of your playing and dynamics. Coordination and judgement are compromised by a remarkably small amount of alcohol. Doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate a killer practice session later!

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COVER FEATURE 30 DAY DRUM WORKOUT A WORD ON NUTRITION Whilst we’re not suggesting you should completely overhaul your diet, even small changes and improvements in what you eat can have a dramatic effect on energy levels, stamina, mental concentration and a general feeling of wellness that will help you complete the 30 days. Martin Armand, Personal Trainer, musician and owner of MA Health & Fitness (www.facebook.com/ mahealthandfitness) shares some tips on what to eat to supercharge your playing. “Long practice sessions can be both physically and mentally demanding, not to mention additional playing such as gigs, rehearsals and sessions on top. You need to get the right nutrition to get maximum results, and ensure you have the mental focus to practise and the endurance to last through a session. Although getting this right is important at all times in life, the correct nutrition during this drum workout plan will really help. Eating a well-balanced and colourful diet is important to fuel your body and help with recovery and performance. “Protein is essential for your body’s structure: it aids and regulates the building and repair of tissues and muscles, and is also good for satiation, the feeling of being full. Eating 4-5 portions of protein throughout the day will keep you feeling

fuller and keep those energy levels up. One portion of protein is 85-100g of cooked meat or fish, two eggs, three tablespoons of nuts and seeds. Great sources of protein include: meats, fish, grains, legumes, dairy products, nuts and seeds. “Carbohydrates should count for between 40-55 percent of your diet. Carbohydrates are broken down by our body into glucose which can be used immediately for energy, or stored in the muscles and liver and used when required. Glucose is the main source of fuel for our brains. When blood glucose levels are low, the brain will not function as well as it could. This can impair judgement and decision making and lead to fatigue. Foods such as rolled oats, brown rice, sweet potato, wholewheat and vegetables will give you a sustained energy release throughout the day keeping you mentally strong for your workout. A third of your diet should come from veg and fruit, or five portions of fruit and vegetables a day – one portion is one apple or banana, a bowl of salad, three heaped tablespoons of vegetables. “Fats are vital for cell growth, hormone production and protection of the inner organs including the brain and spinal cord. They are a major energy source within the body, so it is important to get the right amount and kinds of fats

into your diet. It is recommended that you get 20-30 percent of your daily calorie intake from fats. Nuts such as walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts and peanuts, though high in calories, are a great source of energy for the body and brain. Omega 3 oils are essential for your physical and mental function too. Eating oily fish a couple of times a week or adding flax seeds to your breakfast are great ways to get them into your body and keep you more focused during your sessions. Supplements can help too. Fish oils are vital for joint health and brain function, so if you don’t eat fish you should consider taking supplements. Studies also show that Ginkgo Biloba helps increase memory function and short term memory.”

DAY 5 DEVELOP BASS DRUM INDEPENDENCE – SINGLE NOTES RECOMMENDED STARTING TEMPO (BPM)

BEGINNER INTERMEDIATE PROFESSIONAL

75 95 120

Having some independence with the bass drum whilst playing time is an essential skill as we need to be able to lock into endless possible bass lines and grooves. The following exercise develops this by playing all of the possible placements of a single 16th note on the bass drum whilst



playing eighth-note time. This takes six beats to resolve – hence the 6/4 time signature. If you want to push yourself with an extra challenge, try moving the right hand over to the ride cymbal and stepping quarter-notes with the left foot.



DAY 6 REST DAY Whether you’re moving through this drumming workout, play sport regularly or simply live a busy lifestyle, getting an adequate amount of rest is vital to making you mentally and physically able to undertake the things you want. As such, we’ve worked rest days into each period of this workout. Of course, what you do on your day off is entirely up to you, but if you love drums as much as we do you’ll probably be doing drum stuff anyway! Today, inspire yourself for the next phase of your workout by checking out some awesome drumming. Immerse yourself in a classic album like The Who’s Live At Leeds, The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds or Queens Of The Stone Age’s Songs For The Deaf, or whatever music gets you fired up to play the drums. Instead, you could head to YouTube and search for any drummer that takes your fancy. We’ve spent endless hours watching videos of our favourite players and it always throws up undiscovered gems. Either way, we guarantee you’ll see or hear the drumming essentials you’ve learned this week being put into practice.

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Today, chill and listen to great music…

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DAYS 7-12

PERIOD 2

Time to get going again. In Period 2 we begin by looking at the main paradiddle combinations with single, double and triple paradiddles along with paradiddle-diddles. On Day 8 the shuffle grooves move their focus onto the half-time shuffle, while the four-way coordination exercise on Day 9 uses the same approach but becomes more syncopated. The hand/foot combinations on Day 10 move onto groups of five and six notes and the time-playing exercise on Day 11 changes the bass drum pattern to include groups of two notes. There’s a lot to work through, so let’s get cracking…

DAY 7 ADD PARADIDDLE STICKINGS TO YOUR ARSENAL RECOMMENDED STARTING TEMPO (BPM)

BEGINNER INTERMEDIATE PROFESSIONAL

120 180 270

stay in the hand that starts. Notice also that all of the examples are marked with dynamics which give them a little more shape and make them easier to apply to the kit, with the accents played on the toms or cymbals and the remaining unaccented notes played on the snare. The tempos to the left are a guide to get you started.

By adding two or four single strokes to a single paradiddle we can create the double and triple variants. These tend to be easier to learn when played with the accents marked as in the notation below. We’ve also added the right and left paradiddle-diddles to the list. Note that these stickings, unlike the paradiddles, won’t switch hands but A

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9 GREAT PRACTICE TOOLS When playing your kit at home isn’t an option, here are some useful tools to help keep your hand in without disturbing the neighbours 1 BILL SANDERS PRACTICE PAD/KIT From £23

2 STAGG EBT-10 ELECTRONIC BEAT TUTOR £43

Long-lasting and with an authentic real-feel surface, Bill’s pads and full practice kits have been around for over 30 years. They come all shapes and sizes and plenty of top drummers swear by them. www.practicedrumkits.com

A high-tech, high quality 7½" silicone pad that packs a metronome with programmable beats, tap tempo function, six training programmes and more. Decently priced too. www.staggmusic.com

3 MEINL KNEE PAD £13.50 This 4" pad may be small, but attach it to your knee with the adjustable strap and you have a perfectly portable pad so you can continue to practice on the go. The small target helps you improve accuracy too. www.meinlcymbals.com

4 AHEAD 3 ZONE WORKOUT PRACTICE PAD £59.93 This 14" pad feels great under the stick; the three different playing surfaces – soft gum rubber, hard black rubber and MoonGel pillow – offer different

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amounts of rebound, mimicking the feel of drums and cymbals. www.aheaddrumsticks.com

5 EVANS REALFEEL PRACTICE PAD From £18 Starting from 6" up to 12" sizes, plus a folding bass drum model, these natural gum rubber-topped pads are simply appointed, but feel sturdy and realistic. Some models are also stand-mountable. www.evansdrumheads.com

6 AQUARIAN SUPER-PADS £TBC Both a standalone pad for silent practice and a low-volume acoustic drum mute, the Super-Pad can be placed on anything: drums, tables, snare drum stands, beds or even your lap. Placed on an acoustic snare drum the pad activates the snare wires for a realistic, low-volume sound. www.aquariandrumheads.com

7 REMO SILENT STROKE HEADS From £10 Single-ply mesh heads in various sizes that replace your standard drum heads. Unless you have two kits it might be a pain to keep swapping skins, but the extended practice they’ll afford you is worth the trouble. www.remo.com

8 SOFTAPADS From £10 Simple but effective, these mutes sit on top of your regular drum heads, cymbals and kick, whilst still giving you decent stick response. Claim to reduce volume by up to 90 percent. www.jhs.co.uk 9 CYMBOMUTE From £7 Cymbomutes fit around the edge of your metals, are held in place by their own tension and let you play your cymbals at hugely reduced volume. www.cymbomute.com

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COVER FEATURE 30 DAY DRUM WORKOUT DAY 8 GROOVE WITH THE HALF-TIME SHUFFLE RECOMMENDED STARTING TEMPO (BPM)

BEGINNER INTERMEDIATE PROFESSIONAL

90 120 150

Example A is the classic Purdie shuffle named after groove pioneer Bernard Purdie and heard on Steely Dan’s ‘Home At Last’ and ‘Babylon Sisters’. The next example is aimed at developing the upbeat on the bass drum while example C is inspired by Jeff Porcaro’s ‘Rosanna’ groove. Don’t forget to watch the video to see it in action.

The half-time shuffle is so named because the backbeat now moves to beat 3 to create a half-time feel. The two most common challenges here are maintaining the dynamics in the right hand, covered in the shuffle example on Day 2, along with bass drum independence where the biggest challenge is playing upbeats.

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DAY 9 SYNCOPATED FOUR-WAY COORDINATION RECOMMENDED STARTING TEMPO (BPM)

BEGINNER INTERMEDIATE PROFESSIONAL

90 120 150

is expected to step ‘2’ and ‘4’ and make sure that only specified notes are accented, with all remaining notes played very quietly. The first two examples imply a three beat figure moving through the bar while the third example plays it over two bars.

The following examples now introduce syncopation to the previous swing exercise that we first encountered on Day 3. In other words we are now dealing with upbeats along with the shifting accents between the hands and the bass drum counter-rhythm. Once again the left foot

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DAY 10 TACKLE HAND/FOOT LINEAR COMBINATIONS – 5’S AND 6’S RECOMMENDED STARTING TEMPO (BPM)

BEGINNER INTERMEDIATE PROFESSIONAL

80 100 130

figures, presented in examples A and C, without any concern for subdivision or time signature. Examples B and D then show them played through one bar of 16th notes. If you get to a point where you’re feeling confident with the examples try stepping quarter-notes with the left foot throughout.

In this next lesson we expand upon the previous linear hand/foot combinations from Day 4 by looking at combinations of five and six notes created by placing one or two bass drum notes on the end of a group of four single strokes. Once again, begin by getting familiar with the basic A

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APP-Y DRUMMING Harness the power of your smartphone with the best apps to help boost your practice time POLYNOME: THE ULTIMATE METRONOME £3.99 The most powerful and featurepacked metronome app out there. Program everything from a simple click to a full groove with custom sounds, log your practice and more. iOs

NOTES £free Most smartphones will come with a standard notes-style app. Use it to keep track of progress each day, and to record areas that need extra work. It’s great to look back over a week of notes to identify how far you’ve come. iOs/Android CALENDAR £free Never miss practice or forget what’s on the agenda for each session by

populating your calendar app. Making excuses is easy – so why not set reminders with a particularly obnoxious tone so there’s no doubt when it’s time to work? iOs/Android

for longer periods with a kit that sounds great, and this high-tech app helps the tuning-impaired achieve even tension across the drum head quickly and accurately. iOs

CAMERA £free Filming yourself is one of the best ways to scrutinise your technique. Keep an eye on grip, fluidity of movement around the kit and any signs of stretching that could indicate your kit is not set up correctly. iOs/Android

RHYTHM From £2.99

WATER TRACKER £free We stress the importance of water intake to a healthy, focused lifestyle on page 43. Set yourself the challenge of drinking the recommended daily allowance with the help of this app that tracks your intake and reminds you to drink when you get behind! Also try Waterlogged for iOS. Android IDRUM TUNE £3.99 You’ll be far more inclined to practice

We know, we know… but this is our mag, so we’re going to tell you to read more of it! Once you’ve finished with this workout, there’s no better way to keep your chops up than with the monthly video lessons in the digital issue of Rhythm (iOs only), including lessons from tutor Pete Riley, who wrote this programme. iOs (Apple Newsstand)/Android (Google Play)

MYFITNESSPAL £free If this workout, and our nutrition advice on page 34, has inspired you to change your diet to boost your ability behind the kit, this is a great app for tracking your daily intake of food, and keeping an eye on how much goodness you’re getting each day. iOs/Android

DAY 11 NEXT LEVEL BASS DRUM INDEPENDENCE – DOUBLE NOTES RECOMMENDED STARTING TEMPO (BPM)

BEGINNER INTERMEDIATE PROFESSIONAL

75 95 120

The previous bass drum independence exercise from Day 5 now has a pick-up note added to each note to create what could be regarded as a shuffle rhythm played through 16th-notes and so covering all of the possible placements of two adjacent 16th-notes. Once again this takes six beats to resolve and, like the

first exercise, if you want to push yourself try moving the right hand to the ride cymbal and stepping quarter-notes with the left foot for an excellent four-way workout. For a full rundown of the examples watch the video on your Rhythm CD. As always with all of these lessons, take time to familiarise yourself with the stickings before going full pelt.

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DAY 12 REST DAY We all need something to aim for, so why not spec up your dream kit online? It’s still within drum-world, but you’re giving your hands, feet and brain a well-earned rest. Plenty of drum brands have kit builders on their websites so you can see your mega rig take shape before your eyes, but even without, you can design something tasty by trawling the pages of your favourite drum sites or heading to your local shop. The question is, will you opt for the workhorse, sonically stunning four-piece with matching cymbals, or a ridiculous, money-is-no-object set-up? Three bass drums? Gold hardware? Solid shells? Go large or go home, we say. Have fun!

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COVER FEATURE 30 DAY DRUM WORKOUT DAYS 13-18

PERIOD 3

This week we take some paradiddle rudiments to create rhythmic combinations that move hand-to-hand upon repeat, while the shuffle examples revert to the original shuffle feel from Day 2, the left hand filling in ghost notes. The four-way coordination exercise raises the bar by replacing all unaccented single-strokes with double-strokes and our hand-foot combination focuses on groups of four and five notes, the former now played through eighth-note triplets. Our time playing workout turns the attention to the right hand which now plays the dotted rhythm on the hi-hats. The ante has been upped…

DAY 13 TAKE COMMAND OF PARADIDDLE COMBINATIONS RECOMMENDED STARTING TEMPO (BPM)

BEGINNER INTERMEDIATE PROFESSIONAL

80 (half-note) 120 (half-note) 160 (half-note)

the examples to change hands on repeat. Once comfortable try playing the accents on the toms and cymbals whilst keeping the remaining unaccented notes on the snare. You could also step the hi-hat to push the independence to a whole new level.

The next step with our paradiddle stickings is to combine them to create a rhythmic phrase based around their accents. These two Jim Chapin-inspired examples feature double paradiddles and paradiddle-diddles combined with one half of a paradiddle. The half-paradiddle causes

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It may not be immediately apparent, but sleep is as critical to a healthy lifestyle as diet and exercise. It is not a passive process – during good restorative sleep we grow, make sense of our days and detox. That is what sleep is for. Therefore, we recommend a healthy, consistent sleeping pattern as a companion to this drum workout. Lisa Artis of The Sleep Council reveals more: “With today’s busy lifestyles we’re all very eager to believe that sleeping one hour less will give us one more hour of productivity, but in reality it’s likely to have the opposite effect. We need sleep to function – both physically and mentally. Sleep regulates your mood, improves your memory but also maintains health, weight and energy levels. Getting just one bad night’s sleep can impact how we feel the following day. Immediate effects include poorer memory and reaction times and research shows that repeated changes to sleep patterns can also make you fatter and more likely to turn to cigarettes and caffeine. “It’s important that when partaking in an intense physical programme like the 30 Day Drum Workout that you factor in a good night’s sleep. Look at your sleeping patterns and habits in the run up to bed – regular hours are key to getting a good night’s sleep. “To ensure you experience good sleep it’s essential to follow good lifestyle habits and to eliminate the factors that are causing you disturbed sleep. For example making sure that your bedroom is the right environment (cool, dark and quiet), that your bed is up to scratch, look at the lighting in your home, and avoid foods and drinks that can hinder sleep. Our ‘Good-Night Guide’ sleep leaflet (download at bit.ly/drumzzzz) looks at how to deal with stress and worry, eating the right sort of sleep-inducing foods and tips on relaxation and breathing.” Q For more information visit www.sleepcouncil.org.uk

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© istockphoto.com/dima_sidelnikov

SHARPEN YOUR FOCUS WITH SLEEP

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COVER FEATURE 30 DAY DRUM WORKOUT DAY 14 ADD GHOST NOTES TO SHUFFLE GROOVES RECOMMENDED STARTING TEMPO (BPM)

BEGINNER INTERMEDIATE PROFESSIONAL

90 120 150

backbeat which really takes some control if it’s to be quiet enough. It’s worth practising these examples very slowly so that you’ve time to control all of the ghost notes and make sure they’re played as quietly as possible.

The next step in our shuffle grooves lessons is to play ghost notes with the left hand on all of the middle triplet partials to give us constant eighth-note triplets. The biggest challenge here is playing the unaccented note after the

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DAY 15 PUSH YOUR FOUR-WAY COORDINATION USING DOUBLE-STROKES RECOMMENDED STARTING TEMPO (BPM)

BEGINNER INTERMEDIATE PROFESSIONAL

90 110 130

(Day 3), only this time reversing the accents and bass drum notes. Again be sure to include the left foot stepping ‘2’ and ‘4’. This is a tough one to get your head around initially so be sure to refer to the video on your CD.

It’s time to take our four-way coordination exercises up a gear! Now all of the unaccented notes are to be played as double-strokes. In order to ease us into this rather tricky concept we’ve headed back to the first set of examples

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DAY 16 CHALLENGING HAND/FOOT LINEAR COMBINATIONS – 5’S AND 4’S RECOMMENDED STARTING TEMPO (BPM)

BEGINNER INTERMEDIATE PROFESSIONAL

70 90 130

A new hand/foot combination – a group of five made up of three with the hands and two on the kick, while the group of four is the old R-L-F-F combination played through eighth-note triplets. The five-note example (A) is shown played over five beats in order that it resolves. If using it as a fill in 4/4 you’d end it a beat earlier; this way it makes a great coordination

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exercise if stepping the left foot on quarter-notes. The groups of four through eighth-note triplets (B and C) are shown two different ways, both starting on the snare and kick. The latter is the easier option if played as a one-bar fill as it avoids the need to play three consecutive notes on the bass when attempting to crash the downbeat of the next bar.

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QUICK TIP!

QUICK TIP!

Sick of getting blisters? You may be holding your sticks too tight or have the wrong size sticks. Time to look at your grip and stick choice.

When working with a metronome, practise playing behind and ahead of the beat as well as on it, to create different motion and tension within the music.

DAY 17 MOVING ON TO TIME PLAYING – RIGHT HAND INDEPENDENCE RECOMMENDED STARTING TEMPO (BPM)

BEGINNER INTERMEDIATE PROFESSIONAL

75 95 120

Most approaches towards time playing involve playing a repeating part or ostinato in the right hand and perhaps ‘2’ and ‘4’ on the snare while the bass drum changes. Here we’re shifting the idea around to have the right hand play the dotted eighth-note figure seen in the previous bass drum independence exercises. A

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Once again this takes six beats to resolve and the first example shows it in its basic form. In example B the left hand fills in all of the ghost notes. Note that on beat 4 the right hand moves across to the snare for the backbeat in order to avoid having to play five consecutive notes in the left hand.

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DAY 18 REST DAY

© istockphoto.com/remains

Congratulations, you’re well over halfway through! How are you feeling? Anything you need to go back and brush up on to make sure you’re ready for the last 12 days? In any case, today is all about rest, and we’re pretty sure you’re all drummed out by now, so take the day off! Watch TV or a film, read a book, go for a walk, meet up with your mates, anything that you find relaxing and stress-free. While you’re away from the drums your brain will be backing up everything you’ve learned so far. When you get back to the kit tomorrow you’ll be surprised at how good it feels…

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COVER FEATURE 30 DAY DRUM WORKOUT DAYS 19-24

PERIOD 4

Now you’re cooking on gas! For period 4, flams become the focus of our hand exercises, looking at the classic hand-to-hand combinations, while our shuffle grooves continue to focus on adding the ghost notes, only this time in a half-time setting. The four-way coordination exercise continues the double-stroke replacement theme only now using the more syncopated rhythms seen on Day 9. The hand/foot combinations on Day 22 cover some slick sounding four- and six-note motifs and show how they can be combined to make longer phrases, while the time-playing exercise again adds the pick-up note to the basic dotted figure which remains on the hi-hats. Let’s go…

DAY 19 LEARN FLAM COMBINATIONS RECOMMENDED STARTING TEMPO (BPM)

BEGINNER INTERMEDIATE PROFESSIONAL

80 120 160

(B, C, D) are essentially Flam Taps and extensions of them. Finally we have the Flam Accent (E) and Flam Paradiddle (F) respectively. Remember to avoid lifting the hand playing the grace note in sympathy with the hand playing the accent, this is where most drummers stumble with the flam rudiments.

Flams can be some of the most demanding of rudiments to play, requiring accuracy and control to execute at any kind of speed. Our first port of call is playing a flam either way (A) with accuracy, and the best way to view this is like Newton’s cradle where the hands are always at opposite points ie: one hand high, one hand low. The next examples

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DAY 20 ADD GHOST NOTES TO THE HALF-TIME SHUFFLE RECOMMENDED STARTING TEMPO (BPM)

BEGINNER INTERMEDIATE PROFESSIONAL

90 120 150

In the previous shuffle exercises we added ghost notes to shuffle grooves and here we’re attempting the same process but with the half-time shuffle. As well as the challenge of playing the ghosted note after the backbeat quietly, one other requirement is keeping the right hand

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delicate, fluid and light. It’s very easy for tension to creep into the right hand as the tempo increases, leaving the groove sounding choppy so try keeping the movement minimal whilst retaining our original ‘edge/top’ movement if played on the hi-hats.

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PLAY BETTER WITH H2O There’s a reason why we can survive for longer without food than we can without water. Water is massively important for so many functions of the body (on a basic level to avoid dehydration) but with drumming being such a physically demanding activity, it’s even more important to keep your fluid intake in check. For drummers, drinking plenty of water helps cushion joints, maintains strength and endurance, regulates body temperature, reduces sodium build up in the body, rids the body of toxins, helps convert food into energy, and is great for boosting concentration and the ability to absorb and retain information – all things that will help push and support the physicality of your playing and keep you feeling generally healthy.

Other drinks count towards your daily intake, but we’d suggest avoiding calorific sugary, fizzy drinks and too much tea or coffee. Alcohol doesn’t count here either. The amount of water you should be drinking each day, as suggested by The Institute of Medicine, is roughly 3 litres for men and 2.2 litres for women. This figure should increase if you’re undertaking serious physical exertion. Drinking regularly can be difficult to maintain, so we’d recommend having a water bottle with you at all times. The HydraCoach (www.hydracoach.co.uk) would be a wise investment if you’re serious about it. This high-tech bottle calculates your recommended daily intake based on your weight, and tracks your fluid consumption in real time.

DAY 21 FOUR-WAY COORDINATION WITH SYNCOPATION AND DOUBLE-STROKES RECOMMENDED STARTING TEMPO (BPM)

BEGINNER INTERMEDIATE PROFESSIONAL

90 110 130

For Day 21’s drum workout, we are going to re-visit the tricky four-way coordination exercise that we looked at all the way back on Day 15. It’s time to make things even harder now as we push the complexity further with the addition of double-strokes replacing the unaccented

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QUICK TIP!

QUICK TIP!

Get your pad practice done while watching an episode of your favourite TV show. It’s an easy way to get 30 minutes of practice under your belt.

When you sit at your kit for a practice session, before you play, acquaint yourself with your set-up and get your body into a comfortable position.

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>

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single-strokes but also using syncopation to make the phrases even more challenging. Pay particular attention to the notation here, noting that the bass drum will fall on the first note of any double-stroke.

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COVER FEATURE 30 DAY DRUM WORKOUT DAY 22 CONTEMPORARY HAND/FOOT LINEAR COMBINATIONS – 4’S AND 6’S RECOMMENDED STARTING TEMPO (BPM)

BEGINNER INTERMEDIATE PROFESSIONAL

80 100 130

The remaining two examples (D, E) then combine the figures to create phrases of 6/6/4. Try moving the accented notes around the toms for even more variation. This will help you prepare for the next lesson coming up on Day 28.

The following five examples show some popular and slick-sounding linear hand/foot combinations. The basic figures shown in the first three examples should be practised first and be sure to keep the unaccented notes as quiet as possible, even as the tempo increases. A

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DAY 23 TIME PLAYING – RIGHT HAND SHUFFLE THROUGH 16TH-NOTES RECOMMENDED STARTING TEMPO (BPM)

BEGINNER INTERMEDIATE PROFESSIONAL

70 90 110

Here we take the same pick-up note approach we applied to the bass drum on Day 11, only now playing the shuffle rhythm in the right hand whilst maintaining a basic groove. The first example shows this in its most basic form, which is important to master first, while the second then sees the

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left hand filling in the missing 16th-notes as ghost notes. The two most technically challenging parts to look out for in this pattern lie on beats 4 and 6 where the left hand has to play a ghosted note after and before the backbeats respectively.

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DAY 24 REST DAY You should be seeing some significant progress by now. If you’re confident you’re nailing the workout then why not research and buy a new bit of gear? Maybe a new bass drum pedal, that snare you’ve been after, or even just some sticks or a new snare head. It’s important to reward yourself for good work, and any new additions to your set-up will offer an incentive to complete period 5.

QUICK TIP! It’s often better to spend 30 minutes to one hour of practice in a specific area with full concentration and no distractions than hours of directionless drumming.

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DAYS 25-30

PERIOD 5

Our final period pushes the envelope to include flam and ruff combinations for the hands while the shuffle exercises get the left foot involved to break the shuffle rhythm between the right hand and left foot, Steve Gadd-style. Our final four-way coordination example is a fiendish four-bar incarnation of the syncopated and double-stroke ideas seen so far while the hand/foot combinations feature longer groups of eight and nine notes, great for slicksounding linear fills. Finally our time pattern continues the linear theme by breaking up the dotted rhythm between the hands and bass drum to create a rhythm that moves through this challenging linear-esque groove. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel, but not before one final push this week.

DAY 25 GET TO GRIPS WITH FLAMS AND DRAGS RECOMMENDED STARTING TEMPO (BPM)

BEGINNER INTERMEDIATE PROFESSIONAL

110 (eighth-note) 140 (eighth-note) 200 (eighth-note)

very close to the next note whilst at faster tempos they would become 32nd notes. Next are two flam combinations. Example C is a flamacue but played moving hand-to-hand while D is essentially flam taps only accenting the first of every three.

Our final hand exercises for this Drum Workout look at some classic rudiments that also introduce the drag rudiment. The first two examples are drag paradiddles 1 and 2 and at slower tempos try playing the drag, which could be regarded as a flam but with two grace notes,

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DAY 26 TRY THE STEVE GADD SHUFFLE RECOMMENDED STARTING TEMPO (BPM)

BEGINNER INTERMEDIATE PROFESSIONAL

90 110 130

We complete our look at the shuffle by working on an approach sometimes seen used by Steve Gadd which involves playing the skip note with the left foot, leaving the right hand to play just quarter-notes. Example A shows a basic shuffle played this way while B takes a more Texas/

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Chicago approach, shuffling the left hand and playing the jazz ride pattern in the right. The remaining examples then get progressively more demanding, adding ghost notes with the left hand and ultimately ending with the rock shuffle groove with all of the ghost notes filled in.

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COVER FEATURE 30 DAY DRUM WORKOUT DAY 27 A TAXING FOUR-WAY COORDINATION FOUR-BAR EXAMPLE RECOMMENDED STARTING TEMPO (BPM)

BEGINNER INTERMEDIATE PROFESSIONAL

90 110 130

stems, however it’s important to make sure things feel comfortable using single-strokes first. And don’t forget to step the left foot on ‘2’ and ‘4’. By this point you should notice a significant boost to your four-way co-ordination!

Our final four-way coordination example pushes the 3-4 idea further by changing the basic figure slightly and also playing it over four bars. This should ultimately be practised using double-strokes, denoted by the slashes through the

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DAY 28 RECOMMENDED STARTING TEMPO (BPM)

HAND/FOOT LINEAR COMBINATIONS USING INVERTED DOUBLE-STROKES

BEGINNER

We bring our linear combinations lessons to a close today with these longer groups of eight and nine notes respectively. Notice how both examples (A and C) move hand-to-hand, while replacing the last note with the bass drum allows the figure to remain in the same hand in examples B and D.

INTERMEDIATE PROFESSIONAL

40 (half-note and dotted quarter-note) 55 (half-note and dotted quarter-note) 70 (half-note and dotted quarter-note)

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Try combining these ideas with the previous figures to create longer more sophisticated phrases and be sure to move the accents around the kit, making sure that the unaccented notes remain as quiet as they possibly can be. Keep practicing all the linear phrases from this Workout and your creative repertoire will grow and grow!

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DAY 29 BROKEN TIME PLAYING – RIGHT, LEFT, FOOT THROUGH 16TH NOTES RECOMMENDED STARTING TEMPO (BPM)

BEGINNER INTERMEDIATE PROFESSIONAL

70 90 110

These final time-playing examples are very effective at creating broken time feels by combining some of the concepts used in the lessons so far to create what are essentially linear grooves with a dotted eighth-note rhythm and right, left, foot sequence running throughout

whilst still maintaining the backbeat. In example B we’re substituting every other bass drum note for a stepped hi-hat, a pattern that can also be reversed to put the hi-hat first. Take a close look at the video to see how this is done.

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DAY 30 REST DAY Congratulations, you’ve made it to end! It’s easy to forget why we all practise, but for most of us it’s to improve at our instrument and to allow us to play music. Use your rest day to get in touch with music; plan a band rehearsal, attend a jam night, or just play to some of your favourite tracks at

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home. These are fun and sociable ways of reminding yourself why you’ve been putting in the hours at home. What’s more, having made it to Day 30 of this Drum Workout, you should notice a new-found confidence and fluidity behind the kit.

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CONCLUSION If by this point you’ve managed to stay on track and complete this 30 Day Workout, give yourself a well-deserved pat on the back! Hopefully the feeling of improvement in your drumming is tangible and you can feel a new-found connection between your ideas and your playing. However if things haven’t quite gone to plan – perhaps work/life has been getting in the way – don’t despair, simply continue to chip away at the material at a pace that suits you and remember none of this is a race, enjoying your progress along the way is also an important part of the process. A lot of the time, the reason we tend not to progress as players is that we don’t have this kind of structured practice routine laid out for us, with the option of simply jamming along to music being a much easier option. However, hopefully this workout helps to illustrate just how effective this kind of routine can be, so perhaps if you want to take things further why not find yourself a teacher able to offer this kind of material? Mags like Rhythm, books, DVDs and masterclasses are also great ways of giving your playing a shot of inspiration, specific exercises to work on and making your much-valued practice time as constructive as possible. Right, we’re off for a lie down…

QUICK TIP!

QUICK TIP!

Try practising with bigger sticks. Everything will feel easier and lighter when you come back to playing with your regular sticks.

It’s easy to play to your strengths. Direct your focus to improving your weaknesses and you’ll be a better overall drummer.

WWW.MUSICRADAR.COM/RHYTHM

SEPTEMBER 2015 |

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