Excellent advice, I started playing drums 6 yrs ago. And think for me the biggest improvement came from proper grip and relaxing behind the kit, I most work on singles, doubles, flams, paradidles, and rebound control with dynamics , I've since landed a drum position with a Blues/classic rock band at 75 yrs of age, I love this!! Thanks Stephan

I bought a practice pad at age 55 during summer 2020 and started learning rudiments just to see if this was something I could really do. They helped me understand my limitations pretty quickly but also let me had a little fun which made me want more. A few months later I got a used Tama set. Your videos really help me focus on the right thing as opposed to others that pretty much make me feel slow and inadequate. Keep up the fantastic work.

He answers the question in the title at 7:43 - singles. Practice singles.

I'm trying to fast track my drumming. Been going hard for a couple months. This channel is a go to for my practise. Don't know how this channel isn't even more popular. It's helping soooo much

The rudiments essentially consists of combinations of the same strokes; singles, doubles and the flam. I work on those. Lol.

I was always amazed reading interviews with great drummers who said they never learned the rudiments.

This is great, glad I found it - playing for 10 years since age 50, know plenty of songs, played with bands but never really felt "competent". Now I have gone back to basics and learning proper technique, starting to get it. what I love about Stephen's videos, is he talk's around the lesson giving all the "why's", verbalizing all the frustrations, mistakes and how to overcome. I learn more listening to the whole videos rather than just practicing "wrong".

Steve, you always have that nice, relaxed delivery of valuable info. Me, at 69 years old, returning to playing drums after a hiatus of 50 Years, I play recreationally for personal pleasure and hobby. Retired due to physical disabilities from spinal issues including stenosis which affects my lower back and neck and my legs, I play to My Music........ CCR, PETTY, CLAPTON, MELLENCAMP, CARS, ANIMALS, BEATLES, STONES, HOLLIES, MELISSA E., KINKS, even lots of Linda Ronstandt ( play her music, she was really the first Diva), EAGLES, and more.....Steve's advice is so appreciated. I never did really play by reading music, played By Ear exclusively from 1966 after taking 6 to 8 lessons .

21:05 "Get your grip together first, Son. If all your friends were doing crazy paradiddles around the kit would you do it, too?" Idk if you have kids, but you have an awesome Dad tone and voice.

What I've been doing lately is basically this, but with my eyes closed and listening very closely to the intensity. I've noticed my left hand hits much more rigidly than my right, so I practice having even power in both to get a very consistent sound. The more I do this, the better overall control I'm starting to get with my left hand. I'm not a beginner or an expert, but I find this helps me a LOT

I'm just at the beginner stages, but we share the same mentality of making sure the foundation is solid before moving forward. I appreciate your content because you continually stress this. Great stuff!

I actually did this exact exercise on bass for about 3 years, just for 3-5 minutes at the start of every practice session (probably 5 days a week or so). Then I'd play anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours learning a song or dicking around, but I can definitively say that those 3-5 minutes did more to improving my rhythm and technique on bass than anything else. Now I'm trying to pick up drums and I'm very excited to apply this exercise!

Stephen...thank you for putting this drum channel together! I took drum lessons when I was 11, and I became fairly good. Gave it up, but played on a set or two at folks houses here and there. 15 years ago I bought a set, used it on and off for 3 years then sold it. Fast forward to now. I just picked up a used Yamaha Rydeen drum set, and I plan on getting back to the basics and eventually buying better cymbals and heads. My point? I wanted a new hobby and I'm excited to jump back in. I'll watch your videos and I've subscribed for your updates. You do a great job teaching. The Franchise King®, Joel Libava

Thank you very much for your guides and pdf files. Much appreciated that those are free!

Thanks so much for this and all your technique videos. I recently started playing drums but have a decades long history with other instruments and I just find I always grow faster if I work on technique and fundamentals first. So many drumming vids on YT are like “master this crazy lick!” but these vids are so much more helpful for me as a beginner. Thanks!

Your tangent about the social skills portion, is 110 percent spot on. Be a good person first, a good drummer second.

So true Stephen! Back to basics so we can play with a relaxed smooth groove. Keep up the great work! 🥁❤

This was a great piece of advice to hear as a beginner drummer. I was starting to get so overwhelmed with all the little building blocks that i was so focused on, and i was telling myself i wasnt ready to just try and play some songs without putting in the work and grinding out hours of drills and stuff. Thank you for this!

this makes me feel good about my own practice. I'm new to drums but have been playing guitar for a long time. I thought it was weird how so few starter drum videos brushed over grip, but my hands kept hurting and I eventually figured it out (very likely was also one of your videos). so when I practice on a pad, I focus on my grip a lot and I came to a similar exercise as your thing with subdivisions, but you used more than I thought of. One other exercise I like a lot is basically the same thing, but you mentally but the metronome beats on the "and", it has really helped me to feel the 8th note subdivision

This is great! Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Super helpful.

Couldn't have been a better timed post. Got an Alesis Strike a few weeks ago after years without a kit. Used to commute into different places to rent rehearsal spaces. I have 20 years of experience, but no lessons and always just to play and have fun. Now I'm actually trying to actively learn and get better, and immediately was finding a bunch of stuff I had never thought about, and can't wait to see where I can take it. Thanks man.

Thank you! Thank you so much for clarifying this. Been wracking my head trying to do the paras (cause that's what everyone tells you) and getting only more and more frustrated. You're the first one to cover the basics, like hand sticking and single stroke. Not all of us aspire to become the next Neal Peart and even if we were, starting with the paradiddles sure isn't the way to get going. You are a wise man with common sense. I'm following your directions from now on. All the other videos I have bookmarked can wait (or be ignored). Sent an email in order to download the material you posted here, waiting eagerly for the reply from you. And to think it only took me close to 2 years to finally find someone that knows how to teach drums. Cheers.

Really helpful video! Constructive and Clear ! Thanks for putting this together

Great video! Really like your style of teaching and the content you teach. Off to download your PDF and get practicing 😁

Usually I don't like talk too much but this here is really such a good explaining

Great video so far! These are the things I never shut up about with my students.

You are very generous in your sharings. is not so common to see and hear people giving this kind of testimonial/advices so experiencial. thank you very much!

Thank you for sharing

oh wow, i just started and had no idea what to practice.. now i have a simple thing to do when i sit at the kit. thanks

Thanks Stephen. I recently started working on the rudiments and I wasn't feeling it for some of the reasons your mentioned. I've got your guide and I'm going to try it out for a few months.

Thanks for your thoughtful insight, i'll definitely do something with my mindset behind the drums from now

Great Video! Thank you!

As always, truly non-glamorous advice in the best possible sense. That Guiliana reference IS inspiring. Thank you Stephen!

Whew...never tried playing 5s or 7s before. Tricky...but this is a good exercise to do. And kinda mind blowing to reiterate focusing on the basics and grip on a practice pad. It really does pay off! Full disclosure, I took lessons with Stephen and he helped me fix a lot of bad habits I had which opened me up to much better playing. Listen to him for he is wise!

All of this information has definitely helped me for sure

Thanks for this advice!

thanks for this great lesson, Stephen 😊

Thanks a lot! Great advice, practical and real. Keep on drumming. God bless

The way you kept underscoring the point hit home. I appreciate it the point of view coming from someone with your cachet.

thanks a lot for your videos man, awesome content!

Thanks Steve!

Thanks! I'm taking these tips to the practice pad now.

Excellent video Stephen clearly the grip issue is key as you've pointed out this in my experience facilitates how we tackle any songs on the drums . Priceless advice cheers

Great advice

Great advice bro thankyou

Really cool! Thanks.

Been playing drums for almost 60yrs but l really enjoyed this and I learned a lot when my playing lmpruves it’s because I took this on board thanks a million

I have 3 "go to" channels for drum lessons; this one, the 80/20 drummer and Rob "Beatdown" Brown. All three emphasize the importance of developing clean playing, timing and sub divisions over trying to develop insane chops . Fantastic advice and certainly something that has helped my drumming take massive leaps forward

Very great video 👍🏽

You are probably as close to being a new breed as anyone! "You can do this" is a great opener. thanks Steve.

I've only just started out on the drums at 56. Great advice there Steve and superb teaching. I'm learning coordination between hands and feet at the moment. It's so easy to try and run before you can walk at this. Liked and subscribed 👍

Great advice and breakdown of the essential, most impactful components.

Very useful lesson for beginners Well done

Thanks man

You are a really great teacher ❤

Thanks for this video! Got my first practice pad and was just going through videos about what to learn, then I got stuck on the thought that I should learn the rudiments before I could move on to learn other things or just play in general.

Tanks a lot for your videos 👍i'm a beginner from germany and i could used a lot of it all, please keep on! 🥁😉

Congratulations, Stephen! I'm not sure I could have managed 25 minutes saying grip is important. That folks, is all there is. By the way, you are pretty adept at those things you don't have to learn before you understand that holding the sticks correctly makes a difference.

This is excellent advice and makes so much sense!! Focusing on the simple basic skills is essential to playing well quickly, and as you point out, most songs we'll play require a simple and solid beat. After all, the drummer is the time keeper for the band, so keep it simple. The ability to be consistently solid with simple basic beats is what will lead to effective complex patterns and orchestration throughout the kit. Thank you very much for this video which helps beginners breath a huge sigh of relief 😁🥁❣️

This video is beneficial to me. I learned to play by ear growing up in the 70's. I spent a lot of money on drum lessons, but unfortunately, a lot of good drummers aren't good teachers and I've learned the hard way. This is what I've been looking for and i know that in 30 day's I'll hear a improvement in my playing. Thanks!

Hello Stephen, I'm fresh to your channel, about 2 weeks now and I actually got a lot out of this video. It reminded me of my beginning years in high school with the concert band, marching band, of course the jazz band as well as the pep band. True the beginning was all about how to hold the sticks and learning rudiments and reading music. I absolutely love the jazz band, all that power of the horn section nice tight rhythm section. It was in those years but I realized songs weren't always about the drums, in fact a lot of the times during class I didn't get to play much because they were working on sections. It was during that time that I realized how important it was to play in the background although keeping time was the important part. In jazz band we play a lot of swing the mambas the samba's etc and a whole lot of ballads. You know the Glenn Miller and Sammy nistico type teams that were great in the day ,don't forget Duke Ellington. A year after high school I joined the United States Marine corps and played in the band , which was a lot like high School except for a lot more professional. For me the rudiments were great to practice because we read music and it became second nature 5 stroke roll, seven stroke roll ,paradiddle, flam, paradiddle, ruff, ruff, ruff. Totally about marching music in a cadence. Later in life I got back together with the rhythm section from h.s.to former band (top 40). Of course that was a change but an easy transition. The first thing I noticed was that all the songs were pretty much the same tempo. Of course we'd throw a slow song in there every set for the dancers and that became my nemesis. Primarily just because mostly the same tempo songs and then slow it down , so I kept rushing the slow songs. Now this is where your lesson comes in because I had to change my practice habits I'd get the metronome out and play slow tempo so I can stay right on time and to me that's the hardest thing to do.

Your a fantastic teacher. There is an old saying, and I can't recall who said it, but it states, "Practice does not make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect". And I believe this is the main point you were trying to convey in this particular video.

Thanks for sharing this sir I constantly focus on Rudiments and those have helped a lot in learning and creating chops but to be very Frank it doesn't help as good Musician or in playing songs . It's better to keep as simple as possible . Thank you so much for sharing your Perspective on this ❤️❤️LOVE From INDIA

I have my students do same rhythmic pyramid exercise up & down but include 1/4s & sometimes 1/4 triplets (leaving out 5/7s depending on how advanced they are). I also do this with doubles & paradiddles. Also with grooves (four on floor/2 & 4 on snare). One more way with alternating hands & bass drum as singles & doubles. Great points here on fundamentals/etc...👌🏽🥁

Fabulous! I think the same for piano, practice what you are going to play

So True!!! I have a kit in my basement, but I spend most of my time practicing singles, doubles, and subdivision exercises on my pad! I love the pad. My teacher calls it yoga for the mind.

Awesome video, every drummer should watch this.

My man, I thank you a lot - all the way from South Africa... You are heaven sent man, you're not an angel with wings, but an angel with sticks. Salute!!

Relaxed grip is the foundation to the whole thing for me. You can only get so far without it. That's a pad exercise I do all the time. Singles cycling thru the subdivisions.

I also make up my own rudiments. For example, if I am playing in 5 or 7, the regular rudiments will not do much good, so I practice different accent patterns with and without flams in all subdivisions, like quintuplets and septuplets. This is much more practical and makes moving fluidly around the kit and being creative so much easier.

Fantastic video Stephen, thank you. Could you please tell me the make of your practice pad on your snare and would you recommend it. Thanks again. 👍

All good points fore the most part about what makes a good drummer, but to deny that rudiments are not needed is like telling someone you can spell words and make sentences but don't worry about learning the alphabet. Rudiments are like a drummers alphabet, I don't think about rudiments that I am playing when I play with them, they are just so embedded in my framework and muscle memory they just come out anywhere anytime in my phrasing. I did come from short lived marching background and now I play in all genres, more than I can remember. I have a huge big band and Jazz background, and I also play metal and obviously all the standard classic rock songs that everyone and their mothers knows. With that being said, Marching and learning rudiments was probably the most invaluable journey I took in my career. Out of all the things do now, I have to say most of my speed, dynamics, timing and most importanly Control came from Rudiments. Ironically when you finally get to what to practice at 12 minutes your practice suggestions are basically what drumlines, and marching bands do forever with variations in warm ups and warm up cadences. Really the same principles to some degree.

I practice the same as bassman, subdivision of tempo, alternate even and odd, and i use with different musical feeling , rock, funk, house, folk etc.. inside me, as theater role a real true feeling as i ancher in memory of powerfull situation , in each technical base , finger, pick and slap.

I do Tommy Igoes routine every day . 10 mins though as I’m addicted . I work on other stuff- rebound strokes , accents , then I practice. The rudimentary routine you can do in 20 mins . Of course playing is the most important & rudiments are as relevant today as anyone wants to make them . Turning up etc that’s common sense.

There are no short cuts to being a phenomenal percussion artist. Practice and discipline with fundamentals will in the long run give great satisfaction and skill. Just sitting down on traps and trying to sound like others will quickly lead to a plateau. Discipline with rudiments will prevent that. Fine articulation with perfect timing is a beautiful thing. Of course a band rhythm section needs more than rudiments, but when the percussionist is disciplined (well practiced) in the fundamentals, their flexibility in adaptations of rhythm will be smooth and clear. You put in the time, it will pay off.

Good one! The basic ideas here I got from Robert Fripp sourced ideas when I was briefly part of a Guitar Craft circle in 2007. The First Primary exercise is part of my 20% on guitar, sometimes the whole thing. With drums you hit the skin on the head! What's the source of number? Nothingness, first you listen. Then 1, the single, the grip when it's sticks, hand to stick is the basic thing. If a guitar is made from shoddy individual components the final product will be crap, same with practice on any instrument including voice. I've been following your exercises for practice pad for just a few days and already I have results that are getting me past a plateau I've been on for years. Tai Ji balls are in my mix of tools so my fingers already have the strength, and the dexterity from guitar and flute. The key data points you provided clued me into finer details of perception that have broken my previous speed barriers and stick control and dynamics really fast since I already have the basic coordination down. Still my incorrect awareness of how I was holding the stick kept me from getting any better.

Great stuff, thanks, ^oo^

Great job instructing buddy. Love your sticking technique!! Actual on drum instructions begin around 11:40. Listen closely to entire video students. He speaks wisdom on being a musician as well as a great & dependable person. Drum on. D

The opposite was true for me. I always got hosed up when teachers/instructors would get on to me about my technique. I just wanted to play, and learning rudiments is what made me progress. I didn't learn Moeller, drop-catch, or any of that stuff until way later, but it came pretty easily, because I already knew what to do with my hands and feet. Also, I'm a church drummer, and I use rudiments in my playing constantly.

Great advice, Stephen. To learn anything well, one must master the basic fundamentals. The fastest way to play fast is to practice painfully slow and accurate. I say painfully slow cause playing slow is probably the hardest discipline, but the most rewarding. Thanks bro.

I've been playing/teaching for over 30 years. The truth is that playing super impressive chops usually only impresses other drummers (and yourself). I think it's more important to play in-time, with proper dynamics, and to match your drum sound to the songs/bands you're playing with. If you want to throw in a few tricks/fills along the way, that's great, but the core of what you play should be a solid groove, that allows the song/band to sound right to the listeners.

Actually… I believe that a good drummer actually gets the “feel” right, doesn’t rush… allows the space to be exactly what it is, and doesn’t lose the groove they are creating. If you’re a drummer that can’t get the feel right, or can’t keep the groove, you’ll ruin every single dance song by making it undanceable! If you make a dance song undanceable, you have officially failed as a drummer. That is the worst failure! Loved your dotted notes explanation. Too many drummer don’t understand the space between the notes, let alone respect it. Jumping the gun on any beat or being delayed…. Changes the beat, the feel, and the groove. A lot of drummers fail to have the discipline to actually learn that they…. Are the person that makes a song danceable or undanceable. If they don’t dance… work it… fix it… learn! Get it! Thanks for the videos!

You’re a good teacher. The way you observe people learn thing is very thoughtful. Even I’m not come here for learning drum set, but hand drum like bongo cajon, it is still very inspiriting to my drumming journey :D

You have good point according to grip

Background: I have been a drummer-only player since I was about 10 (and I am far beyond that now) and in all those years, I have only EVER used the trad grip. I have been away from drums and a drumset for almost 40 years and want to get back, not for any reason other than my own enjoyment. I am impressed by your video series and would like to know if you have one/any related to trad grip...I do not want to relearn how to hold my sticks at my advanced age!

Yes, knowing the proper grip technique is very important before attempting to learn the rudiment! Otherwise, one could end up developing bad technique which takes much longer time to unlearn-- not to mention physical injuries like blisters, and developing carpal tunnel syndrome that can be irreversible.

The rudments are essencial in drums likewise are keyacords for pianists. What we have to learn are: sigle stroke, double stroke, paradiddle, flam and drugs. Therefore, all 40 rudments are combinations of singles, doubles, paradidles, flams and drugs

Thanks for this lesson on the basics. I started playing drums the summer before Jr. High School (year 1959) It was the era of rock and roll. Everyone wanted to be a drummer. Our band instructor set a hard rule which eliminated lots of wanna BE's. You had to commit to 2 years of piano in order to start the program. I learned piano is the basis of all instruments. Along with piano lessons came the 13 rudiments of drumming to learn and pass off. After listening to your presentation, I was shocked to learn your concepts. I'm 72 years old and have played percussion for 60 years. I got my first kit when I was a sophomore. The rudiments didn't do me any good. I learned to play the kit by listening to my dad's records and copying the way the drummer played it. I recently gave my drum set to a Jr. High School bought a Alesis Nitro Mesh Special-Edition 8-Piece Electronic Drum Set and am psyched to go through all 23 of your videos. I learned the grip the old way. Now, I'm going to learn it the RIGHT way. Thanks Stephen!

I want to learn play solo actiontricks on the kit, and with that I mean all kind of rhythmes

Thank you for referencing how to practice with a metronome! That was one thing that keeps tripping me up and now I think I have it. Each beat at 65 is a quarter note...4 hits on the pad. 1/8th notes are 8 hits on the pad for 4 beeps of the metronome. Hope that's right lol

Thank you sir Common sense common knowledge

When i was younger,in the 1980's i started to practice rudiments without even knowing how to hold the sticks properly!I didn't know what fulcrum was!

Truthfully, I would be happy with being able to read drum notation. I get it but for some reason I'm having a hell of a time actually doing it.

Good stuff man. What pad are you using? Aquarian?

I’m a classical percussionist struggling and looking around to learn push pull technique

I learned playing by ear to my favorite drummers' music (Travis Barker, Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, etc), which definitely makes me feel very confident playing rock, punk, etc. What I'm awful at is playing fast and fancy while staying relaxed, which I think is holding me back big time. Even doing rudiments, I catch myself feeling so stiff, which I feel is holding me back a bit. My rudiments kinda fall apart the faster I go. Gotta git gud in 2024. And honestly, I think grip is probably my area of opportunity.

Your average concert goer doesn't notice the drummer unless they're really good or really bad. JS. Great video, thanks for the advice - good stuff.

TIME TO LEVEL UP!

OK, I am looking to download the referenced guide but can not find the link! Where is the link and how do I find it?

What pracitce pad are you using on top of your snare?