Drummer Cafe Community Forum

hi, ive been playing drums for about less than a year. probably around 3 months with a teacher and the rest without. my right hand plays lead (im right handed) and it sounds fine, but my left is considerably weaker. this pulls me back a lot because i cant play left handed triplets and my rolls are always uneven.

ive asked my teacher and other people on how to correct this, and i came upon a few suggestions:

1. hit the head of the drum with both hands at the same time and keep increasing in speed so they match in speed.

2. use a stress ball in the left hand to make the left hand stronger

3. play open handed

4. do a 3 to 1 ratio excercise left hand to right hand.

does anybody recommend any of these techniques? i really want my left hand to get stronger so i can even out my rolls  8) any other suggestions are always welcome, ill try anything. thanks in advance!

playing open handed will not only help in your development of the left hand but will also do wonders for your coordination...highly recommended. And doing the 3 to 1 ratio is a great idea....it does work give it a couple of months. You have to remember that we all use our lead hands way more than our weak hand....think of all the notes that your right plays on the hihat versus 2 and 4 with the left on the snare drum. I've been playing over 20 years and still work my weak hand way more in the practice room than I do my lead limb.

There is an exercise I use to strengthen my left hand, I'll try and find it and post it ;D

Here it is! ok, your left hand will be doing eighth notes between bass, hihat, snare, hi hat... just keep repeating that with only your left hand. you can add your right hand wherever it feels right, there is no way i could post all this :-D

Try to become more ambidextrous in all aspects <brushing your teeth, washing your hair, reaching for things, drinking, eating, etc. with your left hand>.  I've learned that not only does this seem to strengthen the hand, but it helps you to instinctively use it without thinking about it  <learning to think left handed, so to speak, so it doesn't seem so awkward to play left-handed and left handed drumming comes more naturally / fluidly>.  As I've said before, this is about learning to mentally approach drumming from the other side.

Also, I'd say play your hat left handed as much as possible, whether you play open or move your hat to the right like a leftie.

Also, do lots of rudiments with a metronome out of books such as Stick Control, etc.

Also, lead more with your hand more during fills <start the fill on the toms with left handed sticking> and crash with your left hand <a.k.a. "equal opportunity crashing", as Mr. A calls it ;)>

  Do 8 on a hand until the cows come home. And then do RLLL until a pig flies. And when you're bored of that do the Stone Killer until I personally walk into your practice room and tell you to stop.

   Oh yeah, and do 3:1 ratio & play open-handed until you're 95 and can find your drumset anymore.

can someone explain "open-handed"

It's playing left hand lead on a "right handed" drumset. But the ride cymbal is usually moved to the left side of the kit.

See Carter Beauford, Billy Cobham and Simon Phillips for examples of open handed masters.

practice shuffles, playing the rythm only with your left hand on snare.

Practice triplets on the snare. On the first beat of each 3, move whichever hand is leading to a tom of your choice, so you end up with:

T S S T S S T S S T S S  -> Drum
R L R L R L R L R L R L  -> Hand

Leading with alternate hands will even out your hand strengths, especially when you stress the first beat with a move to a different drum. You can also try it leading on the hats if you have two sets, which sounds very cool in 12/8 solos, even more so if you vary the dynamics a bit.