hey guys I think everyone could get great use out of this. its a lot of info to learn, but i'm down to learn and i hope everyone else is.

http://www.tothestage.com/MediaDetail.PAGE?ActiveID=1142&MediaType=5&IType=2&MediaId=875

Mr.Tommy Igoe.


-EML.

I always do a similar warm up.
But I start at about half the speed and half the volume Igoe does. 

Not to be picky ...

What he calls a "metric modulation" isn't metric modulation. He says this early on when going from 6 strokes per hand to 5 strokes per hand. If you think of his strokes as eighth-notes, he went from 6/8 to 5/8. Eighth-notes remained constant ... so no metric modulation ... just a meter change.

For a definition of metric modulation, click HERE.

Since when is the Ruff, now called a Drag, played as single-strokes? Books are wrong? That means that the Percussive Arts Society is wrong and so is the Vic Firth website. He's playing three notes, but I wonder if he's confusing the Ruff/Drag with the Single Stroke Four ... which is a group of four single strokes. Or perhaps Ruff now means what he's saying, a group of three single strokes. If the new "Ruff" is in fact a group of three single strokes, it's news to me and not on any rudiment sheet, publication or website that I've ever seen ... well, except Tommy's video.

His warm-up reminds me of Alan Dawson's Rudiment Ritual.

I'm just pedantic when it comes to things like this. I want to learn and stay on top of things too ... which is why I wanted to open myself up for correction (I.e. if the Ruff now means single-strokes).

Teachers need to be under scrutiny. If I am teaching something that is completely wrong, I need to be corrected so that the erroneous information isn't passed along. If Tommy is wrong about the Ruff (and I believe he is), and no one corrects that, then the error will be spread over and over until the truth is blurred.

We've had this discussion before when it comes to labels. You can call something whatever you want, but if someone says that a Ruff ... which was one of the first 13 Standard Rudiments, now called a Drag ... is played using all single-strokes (rlR lrL) ... as opposed to the traditional sticking for the rudiment (rrL llR) ... and calls the traditional sticking "wrong" ... wow, that's huge to me.

I think it would cool to call this ... rrL a Single Drag ... and rlR a Ruff. Make them separate things as opposed to renaming the Ruff and calling it a Drag. That would be nice, but to my knowledge, this hasn't happened. So for Tommy to call it wrong ... well, he's wrong. 

Have a look at the PAS International Drum Rudiments. Where's the Ruff? If it were played as single-strokes, it should appear in the Single Stroke Roll Rudiments. It's not there. If you look on Page 2 you'll notice the fourth category is DRAG RUDIMENTS. The first rudiment in that category is the Drag ... formerly known to us old-timers as the Ruff. When PAS took the original 26 Standard Rudiments and added in some new established rudiments (e.g. Swiss Army Rudiments) giving us today's 40 Standard Rudiments, they also changed the name of the Ruff to the Drag. The reason? There were other rudiments using the term Drag, such as the Single Drag Tap, so they wanted to be consistent and use the term Drag to label the basic buidling block for all the other rudiments in this category. Makes sense to me. So that's why you don't see the term "Ruff" anywhere on the rudiment sheet.

Those familiar with the older 26 Standard Rudiments will tell you, like I'm telling you, that the Ruff was never played or referred to as a single-stroke rudiment. You can use whatever sticking you want to play the figure if you see it on a piece of music ... but if you are playing the rudiment known as the Ruff, Drag, or what some even refer to as the Drag Ruff,  the three notes are played with two strokes from one hand followed by one stroke from the other.

P.S. And I don't think nor would I ever imply in ANY way that Tommy is a control freak. I'm simply saying that with what knowledge and information that I have, what he is saying is incorrect.

Control freakery doesn't come into it.
It seems some of the terms Igoe uses are misleading in Bart's opinion.
That's worth noting.
I can honestly tell you, if I started my warm up routine at the pace he started his, my wrists would be cramping fairly early on, the exact thing you don't want to happen.
Igoe is a much more advanced technician than me, but presumably this is aimed at drummers with limited experience, and perhaps less advanced technique.
maybe the video producer thought slower strokes would be too boring for the viewer.
By the way, I picked this concept up from a book Kenny Arnonoff produced well over ten years ago.

Yep. It's like sprinting (instead of stretching) to get ready for a sporting event.

A pulse of 180 bpm is definitely brisk ... but it's all relative to what you are playing.

In terms of how Tommy is using this warm-up ... try it and see if it's fast to you. Set your metronome to 180 bpm and play eighth-notes with one hand. How does it feel to you? Speed up and find out what your peak speed is. What's the tempo marking for your fast speed, that you can maintain with control, while playing consecutive eighth-notes with one hand. If your peak speed is 200-220 bpm, I think 180 bpm is awfully fast to start at. I would say that 180 bpm is too fast to start out as your first and/or only warm-up.

Another factor is whether you are using all wrists, all fingers, or a combination of the two. Big difference in what peak speeds will be between fingers and wrists.

I would suggest that if you plan to use the Lifetime Warm-up, do some stretches and slow warm-ups before hand. If you don't, you may need to rename this to End-Your-Drumming-Career Warm Up. 


Not when they first get out of bed they don't. If you're 20 years old, maybe, but you won't be doing that for long. Stretch and warm-up first ... then work on getting your speed happening.

Look at an athlete; they always warm-up and stretch before they put any strain on the body.

Bart, I can do 8th notes fine with 1 hand. I can't do sixteenth notes though, thats way to hard. The fastest I can do 16 notes with 1 hand is 105(right hand, the left is still down in the 90 bpm range) bpm...is that conciderd really slow?


-EML.

I think you might be confused with the BPM (i.e. beats per minute) and the various note values.

As Chris pointed out, playing sixteenth-notes at 90 bpm sounds exactly the same as eighth-notes at 180 bpm.

Set your metronome to 180 bpm. The click you hear/see is the pulse of the exercise, and in this case is the quarter-note. To play eighth-notes with the metronome at 180 bpm, you will be striking the drum/pad twice as fast as the clicks coming from the metronome.

I don't consider 90 bpm slow, but rather a moderate tempo. The average pop tune on the radio is in the 90 bpm rage. Set goals for yourself to work up to faster tempos ... but first ... practice and warm-up slowly. Master the slow tempos first; stay relaxed and breathe.

No shame in that! Everybody has a weaker limb.

Here's an article I wrote that may help as well:
Building the Weaker Limb

We'll only be as good as the weakest player on our team ... so keep working on that left hand ... but don't get down about it. Be patient and work consistently to build your dexterity, flexibility and strength.