Need some tips to play relaxed

TamaSabian

TamaSabian

Peruvian skin beater
Hi, I´m rehearsing with a new band and got a gig tomorrow. There´s one song on the list that is giving me some problems. I start playing it very smooth, but as far as it goes I start to feeling some tension in my left arm. Don´t know how to deal with it. This song is Special K from Placebo. The tempo is not the same as the original, is faster. Please give me some advice about how to deal with tension.

Thanks
TS
 
Oh god I love that song.. even faster?? ;)

Just focus on the beat, the 1 and the 3, and the rest will come pretty easily. You don´t have to play all the 16th/ 8th hihat-notes with the same strength. At least this works great for me when I have to play fast punkrock-kinda stuff.
Focus on the 2 or 4 most important beats and kind of ignore the rest, just the groove.
Make sure your snaredrum is high enough, after a corner of 90 degrees, the power of the stroke decreases and you´ll have to add muscle power, so that causes tension pretty fast.
Relax everything but your arms, and hit from your wrists.
That´s my way to deal with it anyway, can do a gig of nearly 2 hours of fast songs that way. Hope it works for ya, good luck.
 
Thanks for the advice F_cksia. It´s strange I start playing relaxed, but when the chorus come I began to feel tension in my left arm who´s playing the hi hat. Another important thing I´ve noticed is that my kick is doing the same bass figures. I think I should play just 1 & 3.

TS
 
Hello everybody. That was the worst registration process ever, luckily I made it and can now aid you with my incredible... knowledge and stuff.

If you are getting tensed there is something wrong with the motion. If it has to work tomorrow I would strongly suggest you simplify what you are playing. I play for 13 years and part of my every day workout is still to play quarter notes at 60bpm with one hand and just trying to make the motion as relaxed and fluid as possible. Another exercise that works for me is to play a simple pattern with two limbs and improvising with the others, starting a with 3 over 4 pattern, while trying to keep everything as relaxed as possible. (for example playing single stroke quater notes with the hands and and playing HH, BD, BD, HH, BD, BD... in quater notes with your feet simultaniously). The goal is not to let one limb affect the motion of another one.

Never push the speed, practice every groove very slow and try to get a steady motion happening. Try playing the groove for 15 minutes at tempo 40 and become aware of the motion of each individual limb. I feel much more comfortable with that aproach than if I try to make a groove work at a fast tempo.
 
What's your grip?

What's your grip? Are your legs parallel to the ground when your sitting on your throne? If you're a match grip dude, try holding your sticks to where they pivot between the tip of your thumb and the middle of your index fingers. This way you'll have more flexibility (play faster rolls etc) and your grip will be relaxed. Let the sticks FLOAT...
 
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Thanks guys.
Today at soundcheck I´ll do some changes into my playing in this particular song. Hope I feel comfortable with it.
 
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