"Drumming is a commitment to learning and a commitment to studying. You have to have that desire to excel… It never stops. You should never stop learning."

   -- Elvin Jones

In order to play a musical instrument with any degree of proficiency, we must have sufficient technique. Technique is a tool, a means through which we express our musical ideas. It is not an end in itself. Great chops are a dangerous thing in the hands of someone with nothing to say. That said, it’s incumbent upon us to develop our skills to such a degree that we can set technical concerns aside and focus instead on making music.

To get the most out of your practice sessions, choose a spot where you won’t be interrupted. Ideally, it should be an area where no one else can hear you. Many musicians become self- conscious if they know someone is listening. Remember, practicing is not a performance. You should never hold yourself to that standard. You want a relaxed space, free from expectations, where you can work comfortably at your own pace.

With a stick in each hand, take a seat at your drum set or practice pad. Sit up straight and keep your feet flat on the floor. Drop your arms and let them hang loosely at your sides. Take a deep breath and exhale. Keep your shoulders down. Now, initiating from the elbows, slowly raise both forearms until your sticks are an inch above and parallel to the playing surface. Take another deep breath and exhale. Are you gripping anywhere unnecessarily? Are your shoulders raised or pinched? Are your elbows shoved into your sides? Is your jaw clenched? Do you feel tension in your neck? In your tummy? If so, you’ll need to work on eliminating it. Smooth, efficient playing begins with muscular relaxation.

Another important element is balance. In order to play with maximum efficiency, you’ll need to consider how you’re distributing your weight while sitting at the drums. Do you sit unnaturally high or low? Do you unconsciously lean forward or back? Do you favor one side over the other or grip in one part of your body to compensate for another part? Good balance will spread the workload over the entire body and allow your limbs to operate freely and independently, greatly increasing stamina and efficiency while reducing fatigue.

Practice with a purpose

Be specific about what you want to accomplish. Thirty minutes of focused practicing will yield better results than hours of meandering. Set both short-term and long-term goals and practice with a sense of purpose. When you’re at the drums, listen to yourself as you play. Pay attention to what you’re doing and write down interesting ideas or phrases so you can develop them further at your convenience.

And don’t forget, in addition to your time spent at the drum set, disciplined practice on the snare drum or practice pad is essential to developing a solid technique, so keep that in mind when apportioning your practice time.

I was recently reading “The Great Drummers of R&B, Funk, and Soul” by Jim Payne and found some great advice on practicing from drummer Andy Newmark. In addition to his work with John Lennon and David Bowie, Andy played on Sly and the Family Stone’s 1973 recording Fresh, which includes the track “In Time,” hands down one of the funkiest tunes ever. He plays on every track on the record and absolutely kills that one. Andy’s ideas on refining and maintaining his technique through slow practice are about as close to my own philosophy as anything I’ve ever read. This concept was invaluable to me when I began my studies with Murray Spivack and Richard Wilson and I’ve been passing it along to my students ever since. He writes:

“It’s not about playing fast, but about having control over every note you play. Playing slowly, quietly, and having real control over every bounce. That’s the kind of valuable chops I always work on and strive towards. It’s not just speed, but having control over every grace note. This involves having the metronome down at 50 or 60 and playing very slowly and evenly, hearing all the air in between the beats, really feeling that air and giving every note its full value. In the end that’s what really makes drummers swing.”

Exactly! I couldn’t have said it better myself. As performance psychologist Dr. Noa Kageyama notes on his website The Bulletproof Musician, “Since the whole point is to be able to think, monitor, and analyze our technique as we are playing, practicing at a moderate (read: brisk) tempo defeats the purpose. It’s too fast for us to observe, fully process, and tweak all the little details. The idea is to utilize super slow practice so that we can pay attention to all the subtle nuances of our mechanics, increase our awareness of what is actually happening, and find ways to make things better.”

Yes, indeed!

So take a big chill pill, set your metronome to quarter note = 48, and play some 16th note rebound doubles for a while (a wrist turn followed by a bounce, i.e. one motion, two notes). Feel the weight of the stick resting in the first joint of the middle finger (the fulcrum). Hold the sticks loosely but securely. DO NOT squeeze tightly with the thumb and first finger. As you gradually move the metronome up one or two clicks, pay attention to the pressure changes in the fulcrum necessary to control the bounce at each new tempo.

Now move over to the drums. Play a groove, or just improvise for a while. I’ll bet your phrases feel more relaxed, the spaces between the notes are a little wider, and everything slots in a whole lot better.