Steve Gadd once gave a clinic back in the early 80’s. There was a nice Yamaha drum set on the stage. Steve comes on stage lookin all strung out…people clap. He proceeds to play straight, regular, set-your-watch notes on the snare drum only.
Bam, bam, bam, bam
No syncopation, no change in dynamics, just regular notes.
Bam, bam…
Every
Space
Between each
Note
Was exactly
The same…
This goes on for what seems like 10 minutes, I mean people are starting to squirm and mumble. He finally stops, gets up from his stool and says, “if you can’t do that, then you can’t do shit.” And he walks off the stage. That was the end of the clinic.
Best drum clinic ever! Seriously!
Some constructive advice:
Buy a metronome and set it to a very slow BPM like 50, so that it clicks on the quarter note and “beat box” to that, I mean just sing a drum part, don't play anything. In fact, if you hold your body still, it makes this more difficult. Then set it to click only on whole notes and do the same thing. After about 20 seconds you’ll see how difficult this is! After that play on your legs and do the same thing with the metronome.
Get a book called "Stick Control" by G. L. Stone. Read the text at the beginning of the book. On the next day practice the first page of exercises on a snare or pad only. Do this 5 times per week with a metronome. After you feel like you have this mastered do it for another few days. Then start moving your sticks around the drum set looking for cool little melodies and patterns that you can create. Try to play the same thing over and over (play each 2-bar exercise about 20 times). Do this for at least 4 sessions. Then move to page two and start over. DON’T GO FAST. Start at about 70 BPM but don’t go over 120.
This may seem counter intuitive: SLOWER IS MORE DIFFICULT and MORE REWARDING if you want to improve your time. Going fast before you internalize and master the time at a slower BPM will set you back. Developing an internal clock takes time. Most people could spend 3-12 months at 100 BPM or slower before they really get it.
You will start to notice improvements in your normal playing after about 2 weeks or so if you do these 5 times per week for about 20 minutes. After about one year of this, you will be getting calls for paying gigs. After 2 years you’ll be considered one of the best drummers in your town. After 3 years you’ll be giving clinics and making triple scale (about $225 per hour) as a session drummer.
OK maybe you won't be super rich and on the cover of Modern Drummer. But I can tell you with 100% certainty that if you have good time you will be a hot item. Good time is the most important thing a drummer can have BY FAR. Forget about chops, licks and speed for a good 2 years and focus on groove and time, then start to worry about speed and chops. Listen to drummer with good time and good groove: Phil Rudd, Steve Gadd, Jeff Porcaro, Josh Freeze, Bernard Purdie, Charlie Watts, and Clyde Stubblefield. Avoid Niel Peart, Jason Bittner, Lars Ulrich, and other flashy drummers with mediocre time.
