DAVID CARLISLE
  percussionist and drum set player

 

PLAYING GOOD TIME

Let's start with this important warm up exercise, which focuses on getting all of the limbs playing at exactly the same time with a very slow click.

Play this exercise slowly for a period of ten minutes without stopping (put a clock on your music stand) every day. Use a metronome.

Do this exercise every day for many months at very slow tempos. After a number of months of slow tempos, you could experiment by gradually notching up the tempo to learn what faster pulses feel like. Always start the day, however, at a slow tempos for at least 10 minutes.

Practicing this "simple" exercise gives you the opportunity to think about many things:

  • Most importantly, always notice how close are you playing with the click. Notice that all limbs must play exactly together and also with the click.

  • Dynamics: Practice the following stick motions for this quarter note exercise:

    1.

    This loud stroke prepares for another loud stroke.
    Start high and end high.

    		 2.

    This loud stroke prepares for a soft stroke.
    Start high and end low.
    3.

    This soft stroke prepares for another soft stroke.
    Start low and end low.

    		 4.

    This soft stroke prepares for a loud stroke.
    Start low and end high.

    Notice how these four different stick motions can dramatically affect your sense of time, especially at very slow tempos.

    Also play crescendos and diminuendos, and notice whether or not your time speeds up or slows down

  • Find the most comfortable placement of your drums, particularly the Snare, Bass, Hihat and Rides.

  • Sing the click by saying the word "click". Then sing the BD as "boom"; then sing the HH as "chick"; then sing the SD as "Bap"; then sing the ride as "Dah".

    Does singing these different limbs affect your time feel?
    Does the instrument you're singing sound good?

  • Relax and refine your technique (both hands and feet)
    Can you play very relaxed and still be with the click?

  • Feet: experiment with flat-footed technique vs. playing on the balls of your feet.

  • Move your hands around to different drums and cymbals and notice if your time feel changes.

  • Sing a 12-Bar blues or AABA tune while playing these quarter notes and notice whether your time speeds up or slows down.

  • At an advanced level:

    • Play on the back or front edge of the click without speeding up or slowing down.

    • Turn off the metronome and tape your self playing quarter notes without a metronome. Play the tape back with a metronome to see if your time changes.

    • Practice one (or two or three) limb(s) at ff while the others play at pp.

  • For multi-percussion pieces, marimba solos, or timp solos:
    Learn the notes then play the piece at 40 bpm thinking of all the points made above (dynamics - stick height, position of instruments, singing the click or melody, relaxing)

 

This exercise is a life pursuit that can always be improved on and mastered at deeper levels.