Drum Lessons

Almost every drummer has heard of a Practice Pad. It was basically developed to be a silent, portable surface that feels like a drum. There are many different styles of practice pads; some people even build an entire kit using different practice pads. This training tool has revolutionized drumming and it makes it easy for someone to practice a new technique while watching TV or just for the sake of not waking up the neighbors. There are many arguments for and against practice pads. This purpose of this article is to explain how good of a tool it is, and it was also written to give warning about a couple problems with using practice pads.

Advantages

The first major advantage to using a practice pad is that it is much quieter than a regular drum. This makes it extremely easy to use late at night, in an apartment or dorm room, or you can set it up next to your computer if you are constantly waiting for large files to load. When you are working on a new rudiment or technique, having a quiet surface to practice on makes it easier to hear the metronome when you are practicing.

Another advantage is that it is much easier to focus when you are using a practice pad. When you are developing a new technique and get frustrated it is way to easy to get sidetracked by jumping into your favorite beat or fill. The practice pad, however, leaves you with one option: To keep working on your pattern or rudiment until you get it perfect!

Practicing with a practice pad makes it easier to hear your mistakes. The quiet surface of the practice pad brings out your weaknesses and doesn’t let you hide behind the overtones of your snare drum or toms. Also when everything is quiet, your ears get a lot more attentive to detail.

Disadvantages

The practice pad is very useful but just like everything else there are disadvantages as well. The first major disadvantage is that you cant use a practice pad when you are with friends. You can never jam with different instruments using your practice pad unless of course it is just you and an acoustic guitarist.

Another major disadvantage is that your drum kit has many different types of surfaces. If you wanted to have a practice pad that simulates your toms, snare, and cymbals you would end up with three different practice pads, which defeats the purpose of having a practice pad in the first place, because you buy your practice pad for the simplicity.

Your practice pad will never feel exactly the same as any one element of your kit. Many drummers get addicted to the practice pad and when they go back to their drum set they often lose the finesse that they once had when it comes to putting it all together. If you spend too much time working with only one voice it wont keep you sharp on things like tom beats, or hi-hat/ride patterns.

Summary

Practice pads are generally a great too to learn new things, or to practice in environments where you have to stay quiet. Having the option to track how well you are doing, and giving you a good environment to learn without distractions will help you learn much faster. Practice pads are great for working on your drum rudiments As a general rule of thumb you don’t want to spend more than 50% of your practice time behind a practice pad. If you are a corps drummer it’s a whole different story, but for kit drummers it’s a good idea to keep the time equal if you aren’t able to practice more on your kit.

Rudiments are one of the most fundamental characteristics of drumming. A percussionist should know all of the key drum rudiments and be able to perform them without hesitation. If a drummer doesn’t know the basic rudiments, their skill and coordination will not be up to a level good enough to compete with rest of the drumming community.

Where Did They Come From?

There have been many different groups of people trying to put together different lists of the most essential rudiments. There is one list that seems to be the most popular, the 40 International Drum Rudiments. The National Association of Rudimental Drummers (NARD) established the original 13 most essential drum rudiments, later they added 13 more to make the total 26. Later on the Percussive Arts Society (PAS) took this list of 26 rudiments and added another 14 to complete the list of “40 International Drum Rudiments”. This list can be broken down into six different sections: Single Stroke Roll Rudiments, Double Stroke Roll Rudiments, Diddle Rudiments, Flam Rudiments, Drag Rudiments, and Multiple Bounce Rudiments.

How Do I Use Them?

Rudiments are essential drumming blueprints for constructing beats, fills, and solos. They are relatively simple patterns, but if used correctly, and with creative combinations you can construct some mind blowing beats and fills that will catch your listeners attention. Practicing your rudiments is a lot like anything else in life, if you don’t practice them, you wont be good at them. Some people will have a natural skill for practicing their rudiments, but ultimately the best drummers will be the ones who work hard at them day after day.

Where Do I Start?

The Single Stroke Roll, and Double Stroke Roll are great places to start. These are the two rudiments that all the other rudiments are based off of. If you learn these then it will give you a solid footing for learning the rest of your drum rudiments and patterns.

Many drummers start playing rudiments even before they purchase a drum kit. When I get approached by a new drummer asking what kind of kit to get, I tell him to instead start with a practice pad and a pair of medium weight drumsticks. I tell my students this because if they don’t have a kit, with shiny cymbals, and loud drums, they are less likely to get distracted. This is the same reason that even advanced drummers will go back to the practice pad when they are learning new techniques or rudiments. The practice pad just offers fewer distractions.

Making rudiments a key part of your practice is critical to your drumming success, make sure you put somewhere between 25-50% of your practice time into developing and cleaning up your rudiment technique on a practice pad. It is important to spend this much time working on new techniques.