Expert Drummer Technique Question

[ironsickel]

Hey everybody.

When I picked up rock band in November, I had never really touched a drumkit before. So I'm new to the whole thing. I went from literally wanting to throw the drums away while playing In Bloom on easy the first night, to regularly playing Expert.

While I'm still constantly challenged on Expert, I can play a good portion of the songs, just not terribly well.

I've noticed a few things in songs that really seems to throw me off and I'm not quite sure how to overcome.

What throws me off is songs that feature either extremely fast eighth notes or sixteenth notes on the same pad. I can play these, somewhat, if I play LRLRLR but I simply can't make my hands move fast enough to play these sequences on one hand.

Is there a technique that might help me? An exercise?

Portions of songs i'm referring to are: the middle section of Green Grass And High Tides (on expert) with the blue pad.

The yellow pad on just about the entire song of Reptilia.

I've seen vids of people like IBitePrettyHard playing these fast sections with one hand with no problem. HOW?

Oddly enough, the foot pedal isn't giving me too much problem unless i'm trying to do a long roll while hitting the pedal. Then my foot just gets confused, but at least that seems like a practice thing that I can overcome. The general speed thing...not so much.

HELP!

[Jimmik]

When I was a younger drummer, I remember playing Reptilia on a real kit, it was so tough to keep up with the notes on the hi-hat. Now Reptilia is one of the easiest songs I know how to play. I think the main thing is (wait for it...) just to keep practicing. Really! I know it's annoying to hear and it's hard to even notice your improvements without outside feedback, but really it's the best thing to do.

[skullpit]

When I first started playing drums I would take a pair of drum sticks with me everywhere I went and I would play on anything. Eventually, this helped build up my hand speed.

[Abaddon]

I remember the first time I played Teenage Lobotomy (not quite as fast as GG&HT but much faster than Reptilia), right around when it came out, my right arm seized up about half way through. Now I can play it through twice in a row without breaking a sweat. Keep playing and it will get easier.

Also, a set of gum rubber pads to give you a little rebound doesn't hurt :D

[ironsickel]

I remember the first time I played Teenage Lobotomy (not quite as fast as GG&HT but much faster than Reptilia), right around when it came out, my right arm seized up about half way through. Now I can play it through twice in a row without breaking a sweat. Keep playing and it will get easier.

Also, a set of gum rubber pads to give you a little rebound doesn't hurt :D

I got both rubber pads and an omega pedal. Still struggling with the fast songs. Particularly songs with fast beats or rolls while hitting the kick pedal.

Yeah yeah yeah, practice practice. But would be nice to have a little more specific advice rather than just the generic "practice makes perfect."

[Rorschach1976]

I remember the first time I played Teenage Lobotomy (not quite as fast as GG&HT but much faster than Reptilia), right around when it came out, my right arm seized up about half way through.

LOL... this is so funny because I just bought the (Arguably) Punk pack today and the exact same thing happened to me. Got through the first half of the song 100% no problem... then all of a sudden.. "GAH!!.... Can't.... move.... arm.."

Cost me my 5th star :(

[bisq]

I am in the same boat when it comes to that part on GG&HT...I can do fast runs whenever it is convenient to use RLRL but when I have to use one stick really fast I just can't keep it up.

[LesPaul5391]

I don't suppose there's a trick to that ridiculous fill in Dead on Arrival, is there? (you know the one I'm talking about) I can 5-star that song on expert, but that fill gets me every time.

[Rorschach1976]

I don't suppose there's a trick to that ridiculous fill in Dead on Arrival, is there? (you know the one I'm talking about) I can 5-star that song on expert, but that fill gets me every time.

I'm currently going insane trying to get 5 stars on that song (got within a sliver of it once or twice) so I can't offer you an advice... however check out IBitePrettyHard's sick video... might provide some insight.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=RyZ0hgsI19c

He seems to do a lot of the quick fills with his left hand only (wtf?!?)

[LesPaul5391]

I have no idea how he pulled that off

edit: oh, and the key to 5 starring that song is maintaining your combo. You can miss the all of the fills as long as you are flawless on the repeated parts, so make sure you can full combo the intro and and choruses.

[Rorschach1976]

LOL.. yeah it's pretty disgusting. I would have assumed it was a bot if he hadn't filmed himself doing it :eek:

[slipmag]

For me, I used Something About You from the Boston pack to get a lot better at kicking during rolls. That song has a ton of them and they have a relatively slow tempo compared to other songs with similar drum patterns. Hitch A Ride has slightly more complicated roll kicking also.

[WangMajor]

In terms of increasing your speed on one-handed repetitive notes, the best advice I can give you is the same advice the game gives you during one of the loading screens, and that is:

Keep your stick low to the pad.

When you start losing control of a beat, the tendency is to hit the pad harder, and to swing the stick a little higher off the pad on your backswing. But if you lift your stick very little off the pad, it'll have less distance to travel before you can bring it down for the next hit in the sequence.

Also, hit the pad lighter. That will prevent your arm from tensing. If you find your hand is tensing anyway then try to hit the pad from a different angle, ie. shift your elbow a bit off to the side. You'll flex different muscles in your arm, and that can increase your endurance if you are only able to maintain a certain speed for a short period of time.

If you keep your stick low and hit the pad as lightly as you can (as if you were trying to play as quietly as possible), you'll amaze yourself at how quickly you can hit the pad repeatedly.

Hope that helps some.

[Cranioclash]

Practice practice practice practice.

Also, if you're going to be playing a part like that with one hand, you're going to be using your fingers mostly, and your wrist to a lesser extent. Allegedly you won't even be putting your arm into it that much, but I guess I'm not at that point.

Focus on quick fingers to pull the stick back into the palm of your hand and a quick wrist to snap it back down again. It's all in the wrist and fingers.

Listen to Slayer (Angel of Death, for example) for some realistic fast single stroke work. Stay away from Cryptopsy, it will only lead you to depression.

Wrists!

Practice!

[upfromtheashes]

Ok, here's an honest to goodness tip that hasn't been mentioned yet in this thread and will actually help you.

Choke up on the stick.

Hold the stick a bit closer to the middle instead of way back on the end. This effectively lets you play with a shorter stick, which is easier to play long strings of fast notes with.

[davidshek]

I don't suppose there's a trick to that ridiculous fill in Dead on Arrival, is there? (you know the one I'm talking about) I can 5-star that song on expert, but that fill gets me every time.

Here ya go.


In case anyone would still like to know the sticking for the long fill:

RLRR LL RLRR LRLL RL RLRL R

(Each grouping of notes is on its own drum.)

This is essentially a paradiddle-diddle...two single paradiddles...and 7 singles.

[theViper79]

If you wanna practice your single stroke (LRLRLR....) you can practice with drumsticks on a pillow, thats what I did when I first started learning drums like 8 years ago.

It works because the sticks sink into the pillow causing you to use more muscle with each stroke, in turn building up those muscles faster!

[v1g1lance1]

Dave,

Thanks (thanks to Bite for figuring it out).

I'm going to practice the **** out of that sticking now.

Ian