DRUMMER CAFE - Community Drum & Percussion Forum

Is there any possible way I can continue playing the way I normally do while at the same time improving the speed of my left hand/foot to match my right hand/foot.

Do weights help?

I do just an eighth note exercise alternating between my two hands to warm them up and keep them alike, in terms of speed.

R = right

L = left

 / = next measure



1. RRRR LLLL/RRRR LLLL

2. RRRR RRRR/ LLLL LLLL

3. this one is in 6/8:   RRRLLL/RRRLLL/RRRLLL/RRRLLL

4. RRRR RRRR/ RRRR RRRR/ LLLL LLLL/ LLLL LLLL


I hope this helps.  :)

Ps: If you want to include your foot, alternate your eighth notes between the hands and feet, for example.

RfRf LfLf/ RfRf LfLf

Practicing, not weights, is the key.

Use your left hand/foot more and it will gain strength and control. Practice being able to do everything with your left that you can do with your right.

Read this ... http://community.drummercafe.com/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=7678 (http://community.drummercafe.com/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=7678)

good advice from both bart and monkey....the other thing that I do to help with my left hand and foot is play your hats with your left and it you play double bass practice useing your left foot only. Our weak limbs are this way because we always lead with the strong side.....for me I've led with my right hand for over 20 years thats alot of 8ths or 16ths on a set of hats versus 2 and 4 on the sd with my left hand. Years ago when I was going through "new breed" I started to lead with the left hand and it has paid huge dividends.

Yeah, I've been practicing open handed playing lately and it's definitely helping with my left hand speed.

its helps huge with left hand speed and will vastly improve your coordination.....nothing like killing two birds with one stone.

I have found that starting EVERYTHING I practice with my left hand has improved my left quite a lot.

i have found that doing a triplets then a quarter note like this,
LLL R LLL R and so on, then do just tripletts,  LLL LLL LLL LLL,
then do, LLR LLR LLR LLR, it will help alot then do it faster and u will get it

Turn the kit around and play left handed/Left Footed.  Give that a month of solid playing 1 hour a day and your left hand and foot will be 50% better in 4 weeks.

hehe, man...  I'm tempted to turn my kit around..


.... but also afraid.  =D

You can do that.  I just lead with my left.

I use a metronome and just work my left side until tired.  I also adjust my playing technique and dynamics.

Like Bart said- I think it boils down to knowing good technique then practicing.

Lael's last drum teacher had her use whatever limb was best at something to "teach" her weaker limbs.  So if her left hand was slow, low, sloppy, what ever, he had her practice using her hands in unison -- the right hand teaching the left hand.  It worked great for her left hand speed, double strokes, etc.  It has worked great for improving her bass drum speed too, with her hi-hat foot or right hand teaching her bass drum foot.  It sounds terrible!  That is the kind of practice I close the music room door on.  Poor lonley girl . . .

I can't imagine having to teach- it's not easy and I'm very poor at it.

I've had some teachers and have read in places where they recommend doing things you normally do with your right hand to try and get in the habit with your left hand.  For example, brushing your teeth.

But really as Bartman mentioned above it boils down to just nasty, horrible sounding practice.  Encouragement is key.  If one is consistent, I've found that within about a years time you can really get that left side closer to the right side in performance.

Practice should sound terrible.  Practice is about practicing something that you haven't mastered yet.  If it sounds good during practice it's called rehearsal.  Sounds like she's doing it right.

I mostly pratice what I "can't play".

When I stated to train my feet (ex millitary drummer) if I didn't know nothing about drumming and I heard myself I would think "How nice that the retarded are forming a band.

Yeah. Starting yesterday I have started to train my left hand. I play "Thunderstruck" and "TNT" by AC/DC with my left hand on the hi-hat and my right on the snare. I also lift an 8-pound weight until my arm falls off (not literally). I only lift it with my left hand, though, as I want my left arm to get closer to being as good as my right. Thanx for the advice everyone! :)

Something to consider is the idea of playing open handed for a time.

"Open handed" playing is the practice of using your weak hand as the leader, particularly in drumset patterns. Typically, an open handed player's setup places the Ride cymbal on the left hand side, keeping the hi hats lower than normal, and both are played with the left hand.

I'm left handed by nature, and when I was learning (early Elementary school, actually) I wasn't allowed to move the cymbals or drums around to accomodate for my left handed nature, so I learned to play open handed on the hat, and traditionally on the Ride - something that helped me tremendously down the line.

To this day, I use an open handed setup: toms are situated right-oriented, with my primary Ride on the left and my hats a bit lower.

For more information (and a demonstration) on open handed playing, look at Dom Famularo's cyber lessons here. (http://www.vicfirth.com/education/drumset/domfamularo.html) Personally, I don't keep my hats as low as he does, and I certainly don't cut my hi hat rod like that.

I say skip the weight.  I also think the LLLR LLLR LLLR LLLR advice is an excellent starting point.  While practicing either the AC/DC stuff or the simple exercises, focus on staying relaxed.  You'll get faster and more relaxed as you practice consistently.

I still want to lift the weight. But in the past couple of days, I've noticed a very slight improvement in my speed. Imagine how it'll get in a week or so.

Sore?

You know what they say...no pain, no gain! ;D

Except in drumming!  ;)

To quote Jim Chapin." If they say no pain no gain,shoot em"

very true, drumming isn't one of those no pain no gain times, you want to avoid pain as much as possible

learning to ride with your left hand more often or atleast incorporating it into your practice routine will work wonders, think about it, you use your right hand 4 times more then your left (assuming you ride 8ths more often then not)

How about getting a "stress ball" and squeezing that with your left hand, instead of lifting weights?  I find the stress ball is good for warming up, as well.

Most of today's great players, and all of the historical Giants did not lead with the left hand with the exception of Billy Cobham (to my knowledge- please feel free to correct me if I am wrong).
They all had happening left hands. This leads me to believe a great "weak" hand can be accomplished. Try the Stick Control book! Make sure your doubles are even. Play RLL in triplets, loop it over and over again... on a pillow. Accent the last double stroke for extra fun.
I'd agree with our two resident experts (felix and bart: *bows*) in the sense that it probably boils down to having good technique.

lots of great advice!

but surprised the most obvious hasnt been mentioned: using a metronome!  simple, yet MOST effective.  

my left hand is ... well.. slower than my right.  so with a metronome, my left hand is forced to keep up with my quicker right.

already after a few weeks, i feel my left hand getting much more agile and responsive.

I guess it has already been mentioned, but it's worth repeating - remember to do all exercises both starting with stronger and starting with weaker hand. Find what's the greatest speed for your single stroke roll for example (using a metronome of course), and then try to repeat starting with your weaker hand, and you'll see great difference.

This is a terrible idea.  It will not make your left hand any faster, and will probably lead to an injury.  If you had a teacher or followed the advice of the other experienced people here, you would know that arm strength has nothing to do with speed or control in drumming.  Try something simple, like researching the Cafe on speed and strength conditioning exercises, Bart has some great one's that only take 15 serious minutes a day.  If you continue down this path, you'll only hurt your drumming in the long run

What's really annoying, is the mechanics of my left hand.  I'll try to excercise my left hand, especially fingers, and they won't get tired!  Which means they're not going to get stronger.  They when I do it with my right hand (good hand), it does get tired.  I don't get it!  What am I doing wrong!??

I did,cut that boy just low enough to where I can still put a cowbell or Hat Trick on it.I guess Dom`s wearing off on me. Weights are not the answer. Try this exercise for a few minutes everyday. Take a stick ,turn it around so it hits your forearm,do duples and triples against your forearm. Also like in Barts lesson,flat flams.
To build the drumming muscles take you fore finger and thumb,put them together lightly,like the ok sign.Bring the remaining three fingers into your palm,then extend all the way,open,close,open,close. Remember to bring them all the way in and extend all the way.  I am pretty sure your left will get tired in under two minutes.

awesome video lesson i found on Vic Firth's website:

http://www.vicfirth.com/education/technique/04doublestrokes.html

i like the "to-DAY" example.

heck, all of Mark Wessels' Rudimental Technique (http://www.vicfirth.com/education/technique/wessels.html) is pretty darn good to learn.

I live by what Wessel teaches. He has one of the best instructional segments on the www

You mean like the Endurance Method? I have been trying that, and doing it the way it says, but it doesn't seem to be helping. Do I have to do it on a drum, or can I do it on anything? Or am I not seeing improvement yet because I have only done it for about 10 days?

How much should it improve my speed AND my form in one month? I want more speed, but I also want better form. My tempo is fine (as long as I can hear and am paying attention to, the music), but my speed and form are bad enough to make a person puke. I'm sick of feeling like I'm stuck in one place.  >:( :'( >:(

You could try playing singles, doubles and paradiddles on a pillow or other non bouncy surface.
Get help from a professional drummer/teacher... they can give you better advice than any of us can! Maybe even check out The Bart for a video lesson- i've heard nothing but good things.

Try this it works great. This will not only improve your left hand and left foot speed. It will also improve your right hand/foot speed and your over-all coordination

R=Right Hand
L=Left Hand
r=Right Foot
l=Left Foot

1.  RRRR
2.  LLLL
3.  rrrr
4.  llll
5.  RRLL
6.  rrll
7.  LLRR
8.  rrll
9.  RLRR
10. LRLL
11. rlrr
12. lrll
13. RrRr
14. LlLl
15. RLrl
16. LRlr
17. RrLl
18. LlRr
 
Repeat each one over and over again. At first go slow so you can make sure you are doing them right. After that just practice doing them as fast as you can.

This Next Drill will help you with your hands

19. RRRR LLLL RRLL RRLL RLRR LRLL RLRL LRLR RLRR LLRR LRLR

Try It Reversed:

20. LLLL RRRR LLRR LLRR LRLL RLRR LRLR LRLR LRLL RRLL RLRL

For Feet:

21. rrrr llll rrll rrll rlrr lrll lrlr lrlr lrll llrr llrr

Reversed

22. llll rrrr llrr llrr lrll rlrr rlrl rlrl rlrr rrll rrll