Practise Diary
Practise Session 1: 4/10/15
Today I decided to work on paradiddles mainly on the hi-hat but nearer to the end I used the rudiment around the kit so that I felt more comfortable with it and felt as though I could execute this rudiment anywhere around the kit possible. At the start I started on a practise pad so that i felt confident with the paradiddle, I did this whilst watching a Drumeo video on youtube which is all about developing speed and control in your paradiddles, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1IQj83NCgI. When I managed to grasp this I went on my kit to test it out on the hi-hat. I decided that what would benefit me the most would be to start very slowly and play along with a metronome at 40 bpm. Once I felt comfortable with the tempo I increased the speed of the metronome by 10 bpm every time until I felt that I had covered most speeds that I would come across when drumming in church and in college.
Nearer to the end of my practice I briefly started to experiment with putting paradiddles into fills from straight, basic 4/4 grooves, however I really struggled with this, so after 20 minutes decided to stop and call it a day.
Practise Session 2: 18/10/15
Today I carried on working on paradiddles again, specifically in being able to play them in fills whilst playing straight forward 4/4 grooves. However I decided to, as I do most days, to do my normal warm up session before my practise, which is a practise in itself really. I firstly play single strokes with alternative hands, then doubles, then paradiddles, double paradiddles, then lastly triple paradiddles. Every 2 minutes of each exercise I up the bpm by 10, starting at 60 and working up to 120, depending on the exercise. This usually takes me 45 mins, I usually do this before going to sleep as well, just so that I can work on my weaker right hand in making it in unison with my left.
When I got into my practise I decided to watch the same video on Drumeo as I did in my last practise as it was very helpful. I also started on the hi-hat again, then worked around the kit on a number of different bpm's until I felt comfortable in trying to put paradiddle fills into my grooves at the relevant points. At first I struggled, however by determination and pulling the speed right down to 40 bpm I was able to start getting paradiddle fills in, not clean but there abouts. Getting it swift and clean would take a lot of time and determination. So I practised for a bit but the flushness only improved slightly.
Practise Session 3: 1/11/15
I had worked on my paradiddles a lot, so I felt that today I would play to a song, after my warm up, as I'm playing at church next week I thought that I would practise Christ Is Enough, I watched the original: Christ Is Enough and then watched a cover of it by Sal Arnita: Christ Is Enough Cover. I took a lot of inspiration from Sal Arnita, however decided to simplify it a bit so that I felt comfortable with it but still challenging. I managed to get to grips with the song well, and I really enjoyed playing the bridge as it was all focusing on the drums which brings pressure that I like.
Practise Session 4: 15/11/15
I decided today to just focus on my practise pad and try and learn some new rudiments. I focused on the 6 stroke roll and challenge myself in being able to perform it in both styles. My drum teacher Nico taught me how to play these and how to practise, so I took his advice and tried to make them as tight and to the beat as I could. At the start the start I found this very challenging and difficult but after a while of practising I managed to put a few measures together of both styles.
Practise Session 5: 29/11/15
From today onwards I think my focus will be on making my right hand strong on the ride, it's something I have struggled with ever since starting the drums as my left hand is so dominant. I find it very hard as my wrist muscles aren't as strong on my right as to my left. Also I want to develop my left hands ability to play off beat snare hits, or any hits around the kit with ease whilst leading with my right hand. I want to be able to do this as it will make playing around the kit much easier as both of my hands would be able to replicate the other, a.k.a. being able to play lead and also off beats. So I started working on this whilst playing to a few songs. This is a skill which will take a long time to strengthen as my hands have been used to playing how they have been for the past 6 years.
Practise Session 6: 6/12/15
December, it's close to Christmas!! Anyway today I was still mainly focusing on strengthening both hands, same as the last practise post. However near the end of my practise I decided to work on my building on bridges, as building a good and strong bridge makes the whole song seem much tighter and higher quality. I was trying to work out what I should do when, how basic it should be at the start, what to add in for every layer, the trick is to not over layer the bridge quickly as there will be nowhere to go to nearer the end of the bridge, but also to not leave it too simple and roomy. I decided to practise the song You Make Me Brave by Bethel Music, another Christian song, as the bridge in this song is very prominent and very strong and testing. You Make Me Brave. Also the groove in the verses and the drum intro is very fun to play!
Practise Session 7: 20/12/15
It's basically Christmas!!!!! Today I was still focusing on my right and left hand and making them stronger. But I also worked on coming up with fills which weren't boring and so that I had a wider range of fills at my disposal instead of using the same fills over and over.
Practise Session 8: 3/01/16
Happy New Year, Christmas was good! :) Today I was still focusing on the previous practise post, however was starting to think of fun fills which only used the hi-hat and snare as well as the kick drum.
Practise Session 9: 17/01/16
Today I worked on the same as the previous practise post to solidify my new fills and trying to be innovative and think outside of the box to create some cool sounding fills of different lengths. Using ghost notes and accents really helped make the fills sound super cool and texturally interesting.
Practise Session 10: 31/01/16
Today I focused on using the bell on the ride, when's best to use it and how to use it correctly without it sounding weird or out of place. This is a skill which is sometimes missed by drummers, but can actually make a final chorus of normal verse sound that bit better. So I tried a few things out to see what the results were. Today was a bit of a have a go and see what happens practise.
Practise Session 11: 14/02/16
Today I went back to developing my rudiments on my practice pad, just going over paradiddles, double and triple paradiddles and the 6 stroke roll just to make them stronger and solidify my skills in these rudiments, so that I feel comfortable in using them around the kit on live performances.
Practise Session 12: 28/02/16
Today I decided to just go over everything, from rudiments, to grooves, to fills and finally to bridges so that I could put it all together in one practise and see what I need to focus on and what I am very competent at. Then after this, I played to a few songs just for fun, but tried to, instead of copying the drummer exactly, put my on stance on the song, without it sounding too over the top and I tried to use the skills and rudiments that I've been practising over these last few months to train my skills in songs and to use them spontaneously to see what I came up with.
Today I decided to work on paradiddles mainly on the hi-hat but nearer to the end I used the rudiment around the kit so that I felt more comfortable with it and felt as though I could execute this rudiment anywhere around the kit possible. At the start I started on a practise pad so that i felt confident with the paradiddle, I did this whilst watching a Drumeo video on youtube which is all about developing speed and control in your paradiddles, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1IQj83NCgI. When I managed to grasp this I went on my kit to test it out on the hi-hat. I decided that what would benefit me the most would be to start very slowly and play along with a metronome at 40 bpm. Once I felt comfortable with the tempo I increased the speed of the metronome by 10 bpm every time until I felt that I had covered most speeds that I would come across when drumming in church and in college.
Nearer to the end of my practice I briefly started to experiment with putting paradiddles into fills from straight, basic 4/4 grooves, however I really struggled with this, so after 20 minutes decided to stop and call it a day.
Practise Session 2: 18/10/15
Today I carried on working on paradiddles again, specifically in being able to play them in fills whilst playing straight forward 4/4 grooves. However I decided to, as I do most days, to do my normal warm up session before my practise, which is a practise in itself really. I firstly play single strokes with alternative hands, then doubles, then paradiddles, double paradiddles, then lastly triple paradiddles. Every 2 minutes of each exercise I up the bpm by 10, starting at 60 and working up to 120, depending on the exercise. This usually takes me 45 mins, I usually do this before going to sleep as well, just so that I can work on my weaker right hand in making it in unison with my left.
When I got into my practise I decided to watch the same video on Drumeo as I did in my last practise as it was very helpful. I also started on the hi-hat again, then worked around the kit on a number of different bpm's until I felt comfortable in trying to put paradiddle fills into my grooves at the relevant points. At first I struggled, however by determination and pulling the speed right down to 40 bpm I was able to start getting paradiddle fills in, not clean but there abouts. Getting it swift and clean would take a lot of time and determination. So I practised for a bit but the flushness only improved slightly.
Practise Session 3: 1/11/15
I had worked on my paradiddles a lot, so I felt that today I would play to a song, after my warm up, as I'm playing at church next week I thought that I would practise Christ Is Enough, I watched the original: Christ Is Enough and then watched a cover of it by Sal Arnita: Christ Is Enough Cover. I took a lot of inspiration from Sal Arnita, however decided to simplify it a bit so that I felt comfortable with it but still challenging. I managed to get to grips with the song well, and I really enjoyed playing the bridge as it was all focusing on the drums which brings pressure that I like.
Practise Session 4: 15/11/15
I decided today to just focus on my practise pad and try and learn some new rudiments. I focused on the 6 stroke roll and challenge myself in being able to perform it in both styles. My drum teacher Nico taught me how to play these and how to practise, so I took his advice and tried to make them as tight and to the beat as I could. At the start the start I found this very challenging and difficult but after a while of practising I managed to put a few measures together of both styles.
Practise Session 5: 29/11/15
From today onwards I think my focus will be on making my right hand strong on the ride, it's something I have struggled with ever since starting the drums as my left hand is so dominant. I find it very hard as my wrist muscles aren't as strong on my right as to my left. Also I want to develop my left hands ability to play off beat snare hits, or any hits around the kit with ease whilst leading with my right hand. I want to be able to do this as it will make playing around the kit much easier as both of my hands would be able to replicate the other, a.k.a. being able to play lead and also off beats. So I started working on this whilst playing to a few songs. This is a skill which will take a long time to strengthen as my hands have been used to playing how they have been for the past 6 years.
Practise Session 6: 6/12/15
December, it's close to Christmas!! Anyway today I was still mainly focusing on strengthening both hands, same as the last practise post. However near the end of my practise I decided to work on my building on bridges, as building a good and strong bridge makes the whole song seem much tighter and higher quality. I was trying to work out what I should do when, how basic it should be at the start, what to add in for every layer, the trick is to not over layer the bridge quickly as there will be nowhere to go to nearer the end of the bridge, but also to not leave it too simple and roomy. I decided to practise the song You Make Me Brave by Bethel Music, another Christian song, as the bridge in this song is very prominent and very strong and testing. You Make Me Brave. Also the groove in the verses and the drum intro is very fun to play!
Practise Session 7: 20/12/15
It's basically Christmas!!!!! Today I was still focusing on my right and left hand and making them stronger. But I also worked on coming up with fills which weren't boring and so that I had a wider range of fills at my disposal instead of using the same fills over and over.
Practise Session 8: 3/01/16
Happy New Year, Christmas was good! :) Today I was still focusing on the previous practise post, however was starting to think of fun fills which only used the hi-hat and snare as well as the kick drum.
Practise Session 9: 17/01/16
Today I worked on the same as the previous practise post to solidify my new fills and trying to be innovative and think outside of the box to create some cool sounding fills of different lengths. Using ghost notes and accents really helped make the fills sound super cool and texturally interesting.
Practise Session 10: 31/01/16
Today I focused on using the bell on the ride, when's best to use it and how to use it correctly without it sounding weird or out of place. This is a skill which is sometimes missed by drummers, but can actually make a final chorus of normal verse sound that bit better. So I tried a few things out to see what the results were. Today was a bit of a have a go and see what happens practise.
Practise Session 11: 14/02/16
Today I went back to developing my rudiments on my practice pad, just going over paradiddles, double and triple paradiddles and the 6 stroke roll just to make them stronger and solidify my skills in these rudiments, so that I feel comfortable in using them around the kit on live performances.
Practise Session 12: 28/02/16
Today I decided to just go over everything, from rudiments, to grooves, to fills and finally to bridges so that I could put it all together in one practise and see what I need to focus on and what I am very competent at. Then after this, I played to a few songs just for fun, but tried to, instead of copying the drummer exactly, put my on stance on the song, without it sounding too over the top and I tried to use the skills and rudiments that I've been practising over these last few months to train my skills in songs and to use them spontaneously to see what I came up with.
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