I've been working on it for weeks with lousy results.   It amazes me how this roll can be done.  I keep thinking it's a matter of suddenly seeing the light and then you just "know."  Kind of like looking at a stereogram.  I guess my fingers are just retarded.  It's never been that comfortable to isolate them. I end up practicing the Moeller type stuff - it's much more fun, 'til I see the light. 

I wholeheartedly agree!

As far as the one-handed roll, I am nowhere near getting to that.  I'm still working on the first 10 minutes of the DVD!

I've been at it for almost a month now, and still have not got it into a one handed roll. For three weeks I consistently worked each hand 30 minutes a day and I've slacked off some this past week, but am still working it pretty hard. I have improved some in speed, but mostly it has been slower work getting to know the power of this technique. It is very good for playing 5 strokes and other one handed groupings. I'm working on little bursts of speed. The sound of the strokes is different from my standard way, it has a distinct two sidedness, a ying and a jang, like the alternating sound of two handed single strokes. I can feel it wanting to gallop off, it will just be a matter of time before it hits the throttle.

I have also been combining the hands in a single stroke using the technique. It is a good way to push it faster, and you save time working both hands at once. I can imagine the speed you could get if you could play both hands together as fast as Jo Jo plays one handed .... it would absolutely burn.

I have been doing most my work on a pad mounted on a snare stand, part with heavy aluminum sticks, part with light 7As, part with my standard 2S.

Anyway, bottom line, I'm almost a month into it and still can not play like Jo Jo.

I've been playing for 40 years and can't do it like Jo Jo....I knew guys in the Army band that worked on "one handed rolls" every day and couldn't get it down. I could do very fast "drags" or a "rough" with my left hand while playing on a set. I never cared if I had a one handed roll down. Even if I did I'd have to ask myself, "Where would I use it?" I knew guys that practiced on a pad two to four hours a day and couldn't do it. Some of these guys had went through the "Army School of Music". They could sight read a concert chart on a snare, but some of them couldn't play rock on a set. If it wasn't on a drum chart they couldn't do it. Jo Jo is a one of a kind drummer. Not someone you would find very often. The main thing is you're practicing and I'm sure getting better. If you get good enough to match Jo Jo, then youre ready to make your own video.    

Suppose this depends on where you're at. I'm learning a lot working on the one handed roll, there is a lot of nuance to the technique.

 

Good insight. I'm using this DVD with that intention.

Back in my trumpet playing days, I was using an instructional book that got me to Double High C.  I could hit it, but never used it (apologies, Maynard). 

It was the process, not the endstate that made me a better player.

Sounds like a good exercise. Do you use French grip too?

Hey,

Just a quick observation on the one handed roll and other things. When I sometimes watch all these masters play I get inspired and then realize that I probably will not acheive the level and consistancy that these players get to. Why? Basically I do not play drums for a living. These masters that we watch do nothing but play their instrument. There job is to play the drums period. None of these players are working at Home Depot or have careers in Real Estate or other time consuming jobs that they have to dedicte time to in order to become successful.


My point is that if my sole job during the day was to play drums for eight hours a day seven days a week, I would probably develop a better command of my instrument. I just think that people need to keep that in mind when trying to master something or get a grip on a new roll or faster double bass playing or whatever and remember that most of these guys have dedicated a lifetime to perfecting these methods. If they never had the chance to share them with the drumming community and reap some notification out of it, where would they be? Probably playing fantastic in some small club for 20 or 30 people and working at Home Depot to pay the bills. Don't know why I'm picking on HD today, Haha. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but life does have more to offer in the long run and the sacrafice to become one of the best can be a tough decision. What are you willing to give up or miss out on in life to become a better player? I could never make that 100% commitment, except when I was still in my teens and early 20's, but being older and wiser has taught me that there is life beyond the drums and it's OK to just be a good player who can handle 95% of the gigs that would ever come my way. I don't need Virgils speed or Marco's independence or Vinnie's creativity, allthough it would be nice! It's cool to just be JeffK.

Thanks,

JeffK

Couple of posts here doubt whether a drummer ‘needs’ a one handed roll. That’s ok, it is a personal choice.

It’s hard to know whether you ‘need’ something until you can do it. Drummers will say they don’t need paradiddles or double strokes or whatever, but when I hear them play I can tell they haven’t learned their fundamentals. Saying you don’t ‘need’ something can become an excuse for not learning.

The way I see it a one handed roll is worthwhile, and if used independently with imagination, is something that could gain a drummer notice. At the very least, mastering a one handed roll is a great display of chops.

Just the same I know we all must pick and choose what we spend time working on. That’s ok. I choose to work on a one handed roll, amongst other things.

Yeah, it's certainly not something I "need" to be able to do.  But it's fun to watch it and try it.  I always figured it's niche in life was to a) impress other drummers or b) audience members close enough to actually see the drummer's hands.

Another update on my progress:

I am continuing to work on the one handed roll, and though my speed is still slow, the technique is becoming more deeply ingrained. I have been practicing a lot combining the hands into a single stroke, and focus on slow to moderate pace for most of a 20 minute warm up, then push it at the end. It is a pretty motion the hands get with this technique, looks quite different from my old way.

I'm concentrating on visual smoothness in the strokes and conservation of motion, Jo Jo's 'minimal interference'. I spend part of the time with my eyes closed, 'seeing' with my ears, visualising the evenness of the strokes in my mind, then opening my eyes to compare the actuality. I feel each stroke of the push pull. I work on relaxing the arms, my shoulders, my whole body, and keep the back straight.

This is a new way to move the sticks for me. I will apply it in addition to my old ways, it will give another skill under the belt.

One thing: I over did using my heavy aluminum practice sticks and caused a pain in my right hand that has taken a couple weeks to work out. I've still been loosing it up daily, but not pushing it, and have been taking aspirin or Aleve. Today I hardly noticed it, I think it is finally healing .... it hasn't bothered me in my gigs, I use more wrist there.

I'm using the exercises to become more comfortable playing short combinations of 1/8 & 1/16 notes with my left hand. 

It allows me to play more phrases on the snare drum with my left hand alone, without abandoning the ride pattern that's being played by my right hand.

That's hardly a one-handed-roll, but it's progress for me.