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Virtual Drumming is an interactive drums method, with
free online drum lessons, a
drum charts collection,
partitures for drums in pdf format, and
virtual drums that you can play in real time.
The method will be periodically updated with new drum lessons and drum charts.
Drum lessons > Rudiments & fundamentals > Stick control |
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Introduction The first part of this method for drums and percussion instruments deals with the right
posture, which is the basic condition to develop speed, endurance and precision with your playing.
The style and the role of drumming have evolved with time, but the basic drums and percussion instruments technique hasn't changed much, and all the great drummers
still build their own style from the same basis of musical theory.
Method It's very important, in all the exercises, to keep a relaxed approach
with the drum set and the sticks, to control the breathing and to avoid muscles' tension.
You should approach every exercise by playing it slowly at first, then gradually speed up mantaining a relaxed posture,
without changing your breathing or stiffening your body. You don't have to hurry, the study of musical instruments demands a lot of practice,
and also the study of drums, as any other discipline, demands a long and constant exercise.
Improvisational skills are essential to any drummer to improve his expressive possibilities; that's why it's so important to experiment personal
variations playing the exercises, following his own style and natural inclination. |
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The control of the drumsticks, matched grip and traditional grip
Just as in a lever, the grip of the sticks is the fulcrum, the main point of contact with your fingers,
and it stays at about one third of the stick's lenght. There are two kinds of grip: traditional or matched.
Matched: both hands control the sticks in the same way; the fulcrum is at forefinger's first joint with underside of thumb on top of stick;
the other fingers are around the sticks, butt toward center of palm, and they open and close as in a pincer.
Traditional: it differs from the matched grip only for the left hand: the fulcrum is in the area between the base of thumb and the base of forefinger,
and the drumstick slides between the middle finger and the ring finger. The thumb is straight, the fore and middle fingers' fingertips push the upper part
of the drumstick, ring and pinky finger, slightly arched, both support the stick's butt.
This grip is often preferred by jazz drummers, but the choice to adopt one grip or the other, or both, is strictly personal.
free download download the drum chart of this lesson
 drum lessons stick control pdf
In the Flash version the virtual drums play the drum lessons charts in real time!
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Topics in the basic drum lessons and in the online drum lessons' published drum charts are: rudiments & fundamentals,
coordinated independence, drums basic beats, snare drum studies, drums grooves and songs' drum partitures,
with transcriptions of songs and grooves by John Bonham, Phil Collins, Stewart Copeland, Steve Gadd, Ian Paice, Jeff Porcaro.
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