Part of the rhythmic skill of a drummer is mental “time sense” and it is the most important natural ability a drummer has. Time sense is the drummer’s ability to perceive the even space between beats continuously and where the center of the beat is. Under the influence of drugs that ability is damaged. Natural steady time becomes uneven. Residual effects of drug use continue to effect the time sense.

If the student is currently using drugs or if there has been a history of frequent drug use, I have been able to observe the consequences after a few lessons. The first area it shows up in is the area of steady time.

I have taught children the basics of time and after three or four lessons they can keep steady time with a pattern on the drums. Mind you, it is not complicated or technical but it is steady.

On the other hand, I have taught the same concepts to teens and adults at the beginner level. It has literally taken these students months to be able to do what the children have done in a few weeks because of drug use while learning the instrument.

I have had to insist to these students they stop using drugs while studying and hoped that with practice, their natural time sense will take hold. Some have not taken my advice and I have had no choice other than to stop teaching these students because it became futile to continue.

When I have taught intermediate and advanced students who used drugs, some struggled to focus their concentration on exactly where the center of the beat was while using a metronome. With some of these students, self-doubt kicked in. This became amplified by drug use and they became discouraged. I am sorry to say that some of these talented students gave up drumming.

I have followed the careers of several great drummers who I knew to be habitual or former drug users. I would question how they were able to perform at their highest level of ability while under the direct or residual effects of drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, heron, LSD, etc. sometimes in combinations.

I knew of one drummer who could hardly stand up at a recording session because of the excess from the night before. Amazingly, right after the count off, he was able to focus himself mentally and sight-read the whole session. He turned in a phenomenal performance. That album went on to be one of the best albums of drumming ever recorded. No, I will not say who it was.

In my observations of others and within myself, I found a common denominator. All these drummers developed their natural time sense at a young age and had strengthened it with many hours of practice and playing before they started using drugs later in their life.

For some, their mental ability with time became so strong that they could override the mental and physical effects of the drugs. However, this did not last forever.

Over the years, I continued to observe these drummers. Their playing became less fluid and more solid. They began to state the time louder and harder as if they were having trouble feeling time because they were playing through a fog of drugs. They weren’t floating with the time as they had earlier in their careers. In addition, their technique was not as flawlessly executed or less technique was being used. Their reaction time also started to slow down and technical deterioration continued to progress.

They began looking unhealthy and many developed physical problems related to drug abuse. Some died prematurely as has been the case with some of our most talented artists. This list is long and the losses great.

At some point a drummer will be confronted with the choice of using or not using drugs and this usually occurs early in one’s life.

It seems easy enough to give the advice of “just say no”. In reality, if one can do that, it is the best choice. Unfortunately, not everyone is emotionally strong enough to choose wisely and peer pressure can be great.

The gift of music is a high no drug can match. The more in control you are of that gift, the more you touch others to embrace music. That brings joy to the listener and fulfillment to the artist.

In the long run, drug use only brings sadness and broken dreams to everyone.

© 2008 by Tom Mendola - All Rights Reserved.

For some, it is a feeling that cannot be expressed in words, only felt. I have thought about this for many years and I often wondered what it was.

I remember falling asleep during my early childhood years listening to the washing machine in the kitchen from my bedroom. Little did my mother know how much her doing laundry at my bedtime would later affect my life.

During this same time period I would also lie in bed and listen to my heartbeat and try to follow my heart rate as it varied in time. I would perceive the rate of the beats and put my hand on my chest to feel my heart rate. Sometimes I would cover my ears and hear my heart rate. For some reason, I found this interesting and would try to speed up and slow down my heart rate mentally.

One night I started hearing what I can now describe as some of the best drum solos I ever heard coming from that washing machine motor. I am not sure exactly how that happened but I remember starting to hear patterns in the motor as the wash, and especially the spin, cycle started going. As the spin cycle accelerated the show got even better.

I have come to realize what happened. Somewhere during that period I had increased my innate mental ability to perceive an even pulse and then was able to use that mental ability to put that pulse against the washing machine motor. Once I did that, patterns started to emerge because they were put against a pulse. I was imposing pulse (time) against those sounds and patterns emerged. What it was, was RHYTHM.

When I say rhythm or rhythmic, I mean the ability to mentally create a pattern and place it evenly in time. It manifests itself in motion and sound as well as other ways. First you must be able to feel a pulse.

This is an innate ability everyone is born with that pervades one’s existence in every area of life through the senses. Everyone has it. If you didn’t have rhythm, you wouldn’t be able to walk because you have to time your body motions mentally to place body parts in the right place at the right time.

During my childhood, my father would bring home stacks of used 45’s from the jukeboxes he rented out to nightclubs. My dad gave my sister and me a small record player and we spent hours listening. I was always able to feel the pulse and hear the patterns of the instruments. I could also feel the downbeat (the one) but I didn’t know why at the time.

The day I realized I could play the drums was when I watched Count Basie’s band on TV and could follow the patterns Rufus Jones was playing. I “understood” what he was doing even though I never played the drums before.

When I started playing to records with a pair of drumsticks on my pillow, I was able to quickly teach myself counting and started learning songs but I didn’t know where this ability came from. I was able to get a drum set and after 9 months of practice, I did my first professional job. Boy was I happy but clueless as to how this happened and I never questioned it.

This basic ability of mentally creating an even pulse and putting patterns and variations against it (while keeping it steady of course) is what every drummer must improve in order to succeed in the music business.

If you have never practiced with a metronome, you had better purchase one and experience what I am talking about. You will find weaknesses when trying to play repetitive patterns (grooves) at different tempos, especially slow ones.

I heard an old saying once, “when you play a ballad, you separate the men from the boys”. When you play slow, the weaknesses with your innate pulse (time) stands out.

Be brave, get a metronome and find out what it has to offer.

Have fun!

© 2007 by Tom Mendola - All Rights Reserved.

You can try this. Simply let your arm hang loose at your side. Keeping your shoulder relaxed, raise the forearm slowly. The motion will stop when the forearm touches the bicep. Hold the arm there and observe your hand. If it is relaxed, the hand will bend loosely over the wrist. Wave the hand up and down a few times (this is the natural motion of the wrist we use to play). Without resisting gravity, let the arm drop. It should be dangling at your side.

Do this over and over until the movement is completely relaxed.

This is the first step in learning the natural motions of the arm and wrist that will be used to play the drums.

Be aware that the physicality of playing the drums lends itself to pounding. The direction of energy is downward into the drum. The arm, wrist, fingers, and leg muscles tense to prepare for impact. We want to achieve exactly the opposite, full relaxation with technique.

When we make impact with the drum, we must relax and let the sticks bounce off the drum rather than go into the drum. If this cannot be accomplished, one will never develop good control and tension will rule the body while playing.

For this reason, we must train ourselves to use relaxation and gravity in all aspects of technique on the drums.

The first area to be addressed after observing the motion of the arm and wrist is the grip.

It has been my experience that most problems resulting from tension occur because the grip is too tight. This leads to tension in the arms, shoulders, and back.

The grip of the stick between the thumb and the forefinger must be firm enough to prevent the stick from falling out of the hand but not too tight to prevent it from a full bounce. The stick must move under it’s own momentum as much as possible without losing control of it (It is at this point, when the drummer feels loss of control, the grip tightens and the tension spreads).

After this has been handled, the muscles that are used to move the sticks (hand, wrist, finger, and arm) and pedals (ankle, thigh, and leg) must be developed separately and to their full natural motion. Each muscle area will then contribute equally to the motion of the technique involved.

I teach technique by first introducing the student to these natural and economical motions to how the hands and feet move in relation to their body structure.

It is surprising to a student trying these motions what their body will do. The body will tell them what they are doing wrong in different ways when confronted with a natural motion they are not comfortable with. Even though the motion is natural it may seem weak which leads to tension in the grip. Some of the physical manifestations of this exercise above include hands shaking, grip tensing, shoulders tensing, arms tensing, neck tensing, hips tensing, legs tensing, etc.

These phenomena can easily be observed in the wrist motion.
For the purpose of the demonstration below, only matched grip will be addressed.

Using a practice pad, place your thumb flat on the stick and put it against the center knuckle on the forefinger. Let the fingers fold over the sticks evenly. Place the bead (tip) of the stick in the center of the pad. Using the waving motion described above, raise the stick very slowly up until the wrist stops it. While observing carefully, lower it very slowly, in as straight a line as possible, to the center of the pad again.

If you have never done this before, you may observe the stick moving off the course of the straight line down to the center of the pad and back up to starting position with the hand pulled back. Any motion the stick makes other than a smooth slow waving motion, and the straight line up from and down to the pad, is telling you what you are doing wrong.

These variations of the natural motions must be unlearned.

How the variations of natural motions develop is as follows:

The body learns motion unconsciously. The mechanics of walking, talking, gripping, etc., are learned quickly in early childhood and these mechanics are forgotten and taken over by “muscle memory”. Your muscles move without you having to think about how to move them.

The mind forms a circuit to trigger the muscles to do this when commanded. If a lot of tension is involved in learning the motion, it is memorized in the circuit.

The student develops non-optimal muscle circuits in the mind to help him compensate for weakness in his technique. These circuits involve abbreviating or altering natural motions to get sound out. Almost always you will find that the left and right side will not move the same. Usually, the weaker side of the body will have more unnatural motion, and the student will not be aware of it.

Using these circuits over time can be harmful for two reasons:

1) They promote the habit of tension.

2) The student will not improve technically. No matter how hard he tries he will eventually hit a wall with his technique.

This will lessen his ability to embellish the music because of limited control. It then becomes my job to use all my skills of observation to find these circuits and help the student consciously re-learn how to play with better technique.

Common Technical Problems

Listed here are some of the common technical problems I find:

1) The grip on the stick is not formed properly to allow the stick to bounce freely without losing control.

2) There is too much tension in the grip or the grip is too loose when bouncing the stick.

3) The natural motion of the wrist is abbreviated, altered, or not being used at all, and the muscles that control wrist motion are not developed.

4) Arms, shoulders, and neck are tensed when they do not need to be since they do not contribute to the wrist stroke. (This occurs because the body tries to compensate for weakness in the grip.)

5) The fingers are not being used to help relieve tension during the wrist bounce.

6) The fingers are not developed individually at all.

7) Fingers are developed but not coordinated with the grip and wrist bounce.

8) The arms are not developed to create a fluid motion with the grip, wrist and fingers to help bounce the stick and move around the drum set.

9) The natural motion of the foot is not used, and the muscles that control the foot on the pedal are not developed.

10) The full range of motion of the leg, thigh, and ankle are not developed for added power, speed, and control of the pedals.

How I teach technique to:

Children

Teaching children proper technique must be done lightly. The child wants to play the drum set NOW! Technique is the last aspect of musical instruction they will want to confront.

Generally, it is best to put the sticks in their hands and let them loose on the set. While they are learning where the sounds are on the set, I remind them occasionally how they should hold the sticks by demonstration. I do the basic motions of the hands and feet during “drum games” I play with them.

It is important to mention here that children learn very quickly. In fact, the younger they are, the quicker they learn. Conversely, they lose interest just as quickly and become distracted if you linger too long on what you are showing them. This is because they’ve already got it. They may not be able to execute technically what you are showing them physically yet because of their body size. But, they have recorded it mentally and know it. It will come out eventually.

It is unfortunate that children today are labeled with conditions such as ADD and ADHD and given mind-altering drugs. It is my personal and professional opinion that there is no truth that these conditions actually exist.

Most children are full of energy, easily bored, and excitable. It is the normal state of childhood. The drum set is attractive to them because it is a good outlet for that energy.

One of the reasons they don’t seem to pay attention at times is that they learn so quickly and want to move on to the next thing or the approach to teaching is stifling to the student. If their energy is not channeled creatively with interesting learning activities, proper diet, and physical exercise, they will become wild and create pandemonium for something to do.

The old saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” applies here. I show it to the child directly, and continue to show it to him by example. In other words, I quickly show him how to execute the technique by explaining and demonstrating it. If necessary, I have him do it while I put my hands over his to guide his motion and have him do it with my help. Then, I let him play and I have him watch me play.

As I play with the child, he will watch me and absorb what I am doing, and how I am doing it, mentally. I adjust him quickly from time to time, without harping on him, and eventually he will get it. He must be respected at all times and not forced or else he will give up.

Beginners

Beginners are easy to teach because they have not reinforced circuits yet. I show them the natural motions and keep showing them. With proper instruction and practice, the motions will work their way into their playing over time.

Beginners should practice technique a considerable amount, but should actually spend more time playing their drums. Instruction at this level and all levels should emphasize development of a good sense of TIME and GROOVE as well as technique.

Intermediate

This is the level where I encounter the most problems. A drummer could be playing for quite some time and be at this level. He could even be a paid professional but not capable of executing more demanding music because of technical limitations and I would still classify him at this level.

Most are self-taught or have had minimal or poor instruction, and have been playing for several years. Circuits have rooted themselves and the student doesn’t know what’s holding him back technically.

At this level, the student must confront how his body is moving by observing his motions closely and slowly when practicing technique. It may take considerable time to undo the circuits; but it is well worth it. It is always gratifying for me to see someone execute something they could never do before after struggling for years without success.

Advanced and Professionals

I couple these two together because an advanced student should be a professional to a greater or lesser degree. If not, there is something wrong.

Any student who has not worked as a musician after studying for several years and has reached the advanced level should be sent out to play with other musicians for experience.

I have stopped teaching such students until they have worked a considerable amount. I do this because they need to get the experience of using what they learn. Without getting that experience, they will never appreciate what’s been taught to them because they can’t see how it is used in the real world of music.

At this level, the professional has usually had a considerable amount of training when they come to me, but still have something holding them back technically. It usually is a circuit that was never handled properly.

Retraining is usually quick. Slight adjustments go along way here. I don’t necessarily want to tear down the student technically. Rather, I build on what is already working. The same can apply for intermediate as well in some cases.

Procedure and Specialized Motions

As I explained earlier, I begin by teaching the natural motions of how the hands and feet move first. This is followed by muscle developing exercises that isolate these motions and build strength and form.

When the student builds some consistency of motion and strength, bouncing the sticks comes next. This is done with as much relaxation as possible with the grip of the stick and foot position on the pedal.

Adding isolated finger motions to stick bounces follows this.

Lastly, the arm motions are added for more power, speed, and endurance and to get around the drum set.

Finally, all the motions are combined and used together to achieve a solid technical foundation.

When each muscle motion is isolated and developed
separately to their fullest potential, no weakness is overlooked.

In addition to this, different grips are taught for technique with brushes, cymbal playing, and snare drum.

Various foot motions are taught for different applications on the set for several styles of music including double bass.

I hope this article has been enjoyable for you. No amount of words can replace one-on-one instruction. If you are experiencing problems with your hands and feet, I can help you break through your technical barriers.

Keep playing your drums and don’t stop learning.

Once you feel you don’t have anything else to learn, you are actually at the starting point again.

The journey never ends.

© 2007 by Tom Mendola - All Rights Reserved.

This was true all the way up to the early part of the 20th century until “trap sets” began to appear. Drummers began adding bass drums with pedals and that got the feet involved.

Cymbals, wood blocks, chimes, triangles, cowbells, tambourines, small tom-toms from India, and anything else drummers could find to hit, were added to expand the sound beyond the snare drum.

The set-ups became know as “trap sets” (shortened from the word “contraption”). This referred to how people reacted when they first saw these sets (”What is that contraption?”).

The great Chick Webb was the first to usher in the sound and style of what a swinging modern drummer sounded like in the late 1920s! A long line of great drummers such as Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, Papa Jo Jones, Dave Tough, et al later emulated Chick.

By the late 1930s, modern drum sets began to appear regularly. The standard set became: snare, bass drum, high-hat, toms and cymbals. Still, the hands did most of the work, while the feet kept the time going. The bass drum played single beats (1, 2, 3, 4) while the high-hat played the backbeat (on 2 and 4). This style of playing Chick Webb started did not vary for a long time.

In 1938 at the age of 15, Louis Bellson began using two bass drums with his drum set up mainly for soloing. This required developing the weaker left foot that played the high hat.

Many drummers didn’t want to take the time or see the need to develop the weaker limb as well as cart an extra bass drum around. They were short sighted.

As Bellson’s career began to flourish in the 40’s, only a handful of drummers followed him over the next twenty years in this experimentation (Sam Woodyard and Rufus Jones being excellent examples). Double bass playing would not begin to take off on a broad scale until the late 1960s with Ginger Baker.

By the late 1940s, when a style of Jazz called “Be-Bop” appeared, drummers began using the bass drum and left hand more for accents rather than time keeping and the ride cymbal carried more of the time while the high hat still remained on 2 and 4. Independence of the limbs became more demanding and tempos of songs increased dramatically. The playing of Kenny Clark, Max Roach, Art Blakey, and Philly Joe Jones were examples of this.

In November of 1948, drummer/author Jim Chapin published “Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer”. This publication broke down the style of jazz/be-bop independence in a written format that was easy to understand. It was becoming increasingly clear that a new level of musicianship was being demanded of drummers in the area independence on the drum set.

By the 1960s, drummers such as Elvin Jones began to freely use the arms and legs equally in unusual poly-rhythmic combinations while playing time and soloing. This opened up a whole new area of possibilities for drummers to explore.

Drummers who could not understand and hear what drummers like Elvin (and those who followed him) were doing were stuck with the concept of the hands doing most of the expression on the set.

During this period of the 1960s other Jazz drummers, most notably Tony Williams, began exploring these poly-rhythmic independence patterns between the hands and feet.

Drummers began playing a style known as “Pulse”. This meant that the time was not as strictly played on the set as it had been. The drummer could color the music with rhythmic patterns using the whole set to its fullest potential. It also meant a whole new level of independence was required to play this style of music.

As mentioned above, Ginger Baker came on the scene in the late 1960s with a rock band called “Cream.” He used double bass not only when soloing, but also to create grooves that were recorded on hit songs. He had been listening to the innovations of the new jazz drummers of the 50’s and 60’s and played jazz prior to joining Cream.

Baker’s style of playing incorporated these jazz influences and inspired more advanced rock and jazz players to experiment with double bass and advanced limb patterns on the set.

Double bass drum sets began popping up all over the world. In the 1970s, double bass pedals started to be massed produced and that made it easier for more drummers to start experimenting with this style.

This style of drumming has sustained to the present in both rock and fusion music.

While African, Latin music from the Caribbean, and Brazilian music began influencing American Music as early as the late 1800s, no one could have predicted the impact these styles would have on drumming up to the present day.

It is clear that all the innovative drummers listed above were to a greater or lesser degree influenced by African, Afro/Cuban, and Brazilian music. One just needs to understand the style and listen for it in their playing. That is worth an article unto itself.

I mention this because the current level of drum set independence required to play these styles is extremely demanding. In some cases, it requires the drummer to play a different rhythm on each limb simultaneously in a repetitive pattern and make it groove.

Today a drummer needs to be able to control and use all four limbs beyond keeping time so as to color the music and enhance the sound of the drum kit.

The combinations involving independence on the drum set are endless.

One bit of advice I give my students is to start with only the snare, bass drum, high hat, and one ride cymbal and see how much sound can be gotten out of this drum set configuration before adding anything else.

And what ever you come up with independence wise, make it sound musical or else it is just an exercise.

© 2007 Tom Mendola - all rights reserved.