Drums: stiffening up when going for 'intense' fills

Question

I have had a consistent issue for my entire drumming 'career', which is that I tend to really tense up - my shoulders, arms, posture, everything - when I go for fast fills.

I am not a taught or even particularly practised musician, but now that I have a drum kit in my own home to play on (for the first time in my life!) I've been trying to practice as often as possible. However, this tensing issue still plagues me.

In particular, I am trying to practice the *Herta fill as used by Dave Grohl in the chorus to No One Knows by Queens Of The Stone Age, and in so doing I've been incrementally upping my speed. However, the faster I go, the more I tense up, which tends to destroy my form and I always end up fudging it.

Is there a particular method (other than 'try to relax') or another exercise I can try to help me with this?

Answer 1

This problem is a common one and is a good one to be asked, so well done. Carl is right in his comment, though I've heard the phrase "perfect practice makes perfect" instead; the meaning is still the same. If you are practicing for an hour, but practicing incorrectly or with poor technique, you're only wasting time.

If you want to play fast, you have to learn how to play slow.

Yes, this is zen, and thinking this way will enrich your practicing sessions. You become tense when you play fast because you lack the technical facility to perform the motion in a relaxed fashion. Thus, your body does the logical thing and uses your muscles / brute strength to compensate for underdeveloped technique. The result is unnecessary strain that not only tires you out but also causes health problems further down the road - and that's no good.

My first recommendation for you would be to begin taking lessons if possible / if you can afford it. If you can't, I strongly recommend purchasing a beginning percussion book and learning to read music (using the power of the internet!) if you aren't already familiar with percussion notation.

Next I would recommend that you begin learning rudiments - paradiddles, flams, single-stroke rolls, etc etc. I believe there are 32 standard rudiments, but don't quote me. A percussion method book will very likely have a list of the rudiments in the back of the book.

I would practice your rudiments *every single day beginning very, very, slowly and then very gradually speeding up (over the course of 2-3 minutes) to a point that is the fastest you can play without becoming tense (Note: this will not be the fastest you've ever played, remember that.) Practice with a metronome and use that as your guide. Write down your highest bpm for each rudiment every day. Do not try to push to a higher bpm - merely allow higher bpm's to be reached when they are ready.

Over time (several months) you should develop enough technique to be able to play most anything relatively comfortably - especially with diligent, thoughtful, and meaningfully honest practice sessions.

Granted, practicing is an art form in itself and I've glossed over a lot, but the suggestions above should be enough to get the ball rolling.

The key always - always is to be patient, take your time, and enjoy the process.

Answer 2

In the Martial Arts we have three ways to learn - first is very slow, to learn the structure or the format - second is medium pace, to get the flow or the feeling - third is fast pace, to bring what you have learned in the preceding steps into full manifestation and reality. 'If you can't do it slow - you'll never do it fast' The young master Bruce Lee was clear when a reporter stated that he was 'the fastest martial artist in the world' Bruce replied that there were indeed many people faster than him - he just learned to become deceptive. Relating to your question, as a young lad of 14 in an institution, I was taught by the then current Australian Champion Drummer (of a Scots Pipe Band). He stated that the only tension needed to play well AND fast was to learn - that the only tension required was that necessary to hold your body upright, and NOT drop the sticks. He then demonstrated his skill by playing on a matchbox top, turning the matchbox over on ALL sides as he played a VERY fast reel. He then played on a sixpence (a small coin about the size of a 1 cent piece) and stood it up on it's edge with his sticks and continued playing !!!! He used the old Premier 'E' sticks, not too thick - not too thin - START SLOW, AND HIGH - then get quicker and lower so that your parradiddles and rolls etc are too quick for the human eye to guage - and YOU, YES YOU, can continue talking to your mate, or indeed the young wench in the corner at the same time !!!!.