You knew this one was coming right? There’s no way around it, the best way to get fast is practice, practice, practice.
Using a drum pad to practice your rudiments allows low volume training that you can do morning, noon and night.
So, you’ve got a practice pad and you’re running through your rudiments. The best tool for getting your speed up now is the metronome.
You can use Google or get an app on your smartphone (or go old school and get a physical metronome!) start using a metronome to build up muscle memory and get tight.
Practising with a metronome is a powerful tool to ensure you’re always in the pocket and keeping the band in time!
This is an important one, grab your metronome and start ridiculously slow.
A lot of players can rush and fumble their way through parts, but a truly great player can play a part very, very slowly. You’ll be surprised how hard this is sometimes!
Once you’ve got it down gradually speed up that metronome until you’ve mastered it.
You’re only as good as what’s hitting the drums. Take an opportunity to re-visit your sticking technique.
Look at how you’re holding the sticks. Do you find yourself losing sticks because of a super loose grip or having issues with involuntarily heavy-handed playing from gripping them too tight? Hold the sticks so they’re loose and relaxed but that you still have control over them.
Make sure you’re playing from the wrist and have good control of your dynamics.
There’s no shortcut to it, a huge part about learning an instrument and getting to an advanced skill level is by putting in the hours.
We suggest setting a routine where you practice certain rudiments each day or week for a set period of time.
But don’t be disheartened, with tons of available exercises, playing styles and techniques available in the drumming world you’ll never get bored!