How to Play

Start with your dominant hand; for me it's my right hand. With stick in hand, play a stroke on the drum and catch it when it rebounds. Do it again. And again. And again for several minutes. Next, drop the stick and allow it to bounce twice before you catch the stick; you hear two notes. Do it again. And again for several minutes. Now play three notes by allowing the stick to bounce three times. I think you get the point. Work your way up to as many bounces as you can get with your dominant hand. Now switch hands and do the same thing.


Goal of the Game

Be able to control the stick(s) in such a way that you determine how many bounces take place ... but ONLY use ONE downstroke with your stick. Work your way up to at least 8 or 9 bounces per stroke, per hand. The more bounces you get, the closer and softer they become ... so you'll have to count fast!


Rules of the Game

• No Finger Tapping! By this I mean that you should not use your fingers to assist in the bounces by tapping against the stick. It's a valid technique, but it's not a part of this Game.
  
• Catch the Stick means that you will use your fingers to close around the stick so that it no longer pivots off your fulcrum. You can just lift you hand up to stop the bounces, but you're not learning to control the bounces that way ... which is what the Game is all about.
  
• Stay Relaxed; probably the most important rule in all of this. Breath through the strokes and don't allow any part of your body become tense or contorted. No grimacing, slouching, or sticking out the tongue. Just think about throwing the stick.
  
• Make sure that you can really hear the bounces; don't try to press or buzz the stick.

Game Secrets

The more you relax your fulcrum (just enough so that you don't lose the stick), the more bounces you'll be able to play. Think of it like bouncing a ball. The more you allow it to move (up & down only), the more bounces it will get. Restricting the height of which the ball (or stick) can bounce will only reduce the number of bounces.

By applying slight pressure in the fulcrum and allowing the hand to slowly move down with each sequential bounce, the stick can be controlled for eveness. Remember the wrist should only make one main stroke; everything else is bounce.


Game Variations

• Alternate between hands, allowing stick to perform 4 strokes before moving on to the other stick. Continue with this as you progress through the bounce sequence. In other words, the right stick would play 2, 2, 2, 2 bounces, then the left stick would play 2, 2, 2, 2 bounces. Then the right stick would play 3, 3, 3, 3; left stick plays 3, 3, 3, 3. Right plays 4, 4, 4, 4 ... and so on.
  
• Find a drum buddy and see who can go the furthest in the sequence. You can take turns counting for each other, making sure that the bounces are audible and clean before moving on to the next level. Or each of you could play the right hand sequence, one after the other, before moving to the left hand ... and so on.
  
• Try the entire sequence of 2's, 3's, 4's ... all the way up to 9's ... but use Flat Flams (French Flams). A Flat Flam is when both sticks strike the same drum at the very same time. On a keyboard instrument these are known as Double Stops. Make sure that the sticks bounce together; clean and open.
  
• Once you can play the Game in it's original format, start using your fingers to assist in controlling the bounces. This really comes in handy when you don't want the velocity of the stick to die down, thus causing the bounces to become cluttered or too quiet. Great performance technique!
  
• Play on a variety of surfaces: Snare Drum, Practice Pad, Wood Block, Ride Cymbal and Floor Tom. If you can play the Game on all these surfaces, you will have developed some killer technique.
  
• The list is endless ... come up with some of your own!
  
  

Remember, cheating at this Game only cheats yourself ... so don't even think about doing it!

I highly recommend that you play the Game every day for the rest of your life ... well, at least for a number of months, until you really see your improvement.

Have fun and enjoy!

Bart Elliott is a degreed professional musician and founder of the Drummer Cafe. His 25+ years in the music industry, over 100 albums to his credit, as well as his understanding of contemporary and classical music, makes him a complete and skilled master musician. A highly sought after drummer and percussionist, Bart is widely known as a top music educator and gifted teacher, appearing as a guest artist and clinician throughout the USA. He currently offers private instruction and custom video correspondence lessons on both drums and percussion at his studio in Nashville, TN.