Of all the musical instruments drumming has got to be the rawest physical response to music. There are so many different kinds of strikes, rolls, and fills that it’s impossible to name. Depending on the style of music you want to play there are undoubtedly dozens of techniques specifically meant for that sound. Investigating, exploring and practicing these techniques is to become a better, more well- rounded drummer. One of the techniques that can be incorporated into the slower moments of many styles is the brush stroke. It actually utilizes your fingers rather than sticks or a brush. Use your fingertips, or nails for a brighter tone, and gently hit the top of the pad. Don’t bend at the elbow, just lift your arm up and down. This will create a gentle, tender tone during the lulls in in a ballad, in a jazzy break or even in a slower rock tune.
There’s debate and varying opinions about the best form for using the bass drum. The pivoting question is whether or not to keep your heal up. It’s easy to do rolls and double strikes with your heal up and you get louder strikes. It helps you get volume and play for a long time too. Basically, with your foot raised in the air just drop it down into the pedal, leading with your toe. This is opposed to keeping your heal on the ground and dropping your toe towards the ground.
Getting your rolls down is an essential component of being a drummer, as almost all styles require it at one time or another. As a drummer, you have to be able to play quickly. The idea is to loosely be holding the sticks so that they bounce off the head and back down on the head, creating the effect of really, really fast strikes! At first it might seem shockingly fast, but you’ll get faster and faster sooner than you may think. One good tip is the closer the sticks are to the head, the less time they’ll take to bounce and hit them again.
There are many different ways to strike a cymbal and hi-hat. This kind of thing is done frequently in jazz and Latin music where the rhythm is mostly kept, opposed to rock which uses more tom toms. You can play hard at crashing moments after a lull in the beat or you can play softly to emphasize that a harder segment is finished. To be a well-rounded drummer you need to be able to play softly and with ferocity when the occasion calls, and with equal accuracy and tone in either case.
Ultimately, there are too many styles, tips and techniques to list in a segment this small, and a book would have to be several hundred pages before the wisdom from music’s oldest instrument could be passed along! Read up on drums, talk to friends and musicians you know, and listen carefully to your favourite musicians.
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