Old School Drum Exercises You Should Practice Everyday

“We become what we repeatedly do; excellence is not an act, but a habit” - Aristotle

To get good at drumming it is essential to focus on core exercises that will build your chops. This article will show you a series of exercises that you should do everyday. As you build the habit of playing them daily, with proper technique, you will get faster and stronger on the drums. So, let's get started.

Every drummer who has played in marching band has likely played eight on a hand. This is a variation of that exercise that has been doubled to better focus on key elements. The purpose of sixteen on a hand is to warm up, but more importantly it is the building block of fast and even single stroke rolls; plus, a good way to check your technique.

Let's Do It: Simply play 16 strokes on one hand then 16 on the other. Be sure check your technique. I suggest playing in front of a mirror, as this will allow you to check your technique. Start slow and steady. Once you have that down play it faster and faster.

Here is an another classic chops exercise with one purpose, to make your single strokes fast and powerful. The point of this drill is to put your hands together to give you control over your single strokes. Be sure they sound even as you play them.

Let's Do It: Start this exercise nice and slow and speed it up as you master each speed. Do this everyday and overtime, you will get faster. Here is a video on building your single strokes.

This is an old school double stroke exercise that is essential for building your double stroke roll. It is basically a variation on the shuffle pattern played on drum set, but with a paradiddle at the end to switch hands. The exercise comes from an old warm up from the Santa Clara Vanguard Drumline. Of course, it a great way to build up your diddles for any style.

Let's Do It: When playing this exercise keep the diddles open and use the fingers to support the diddles. You should be using one stroke with your wrist, but getting two strokes with the stick, which are supported with the fingers. Here is a video on building your double strokes.

Dugga, Dugga, Burr puts it all together. It takes the single stroke exercises and adds the diddles. The trick to this exercises is maintaining the technique used while playing the Vanguard Swing Exercise. Basically, you need keep big, open, and even double strokes.

Let's Do It: As you play this exercise keep the sixteenth pattern going (RLRL), but for the diddles (slashes) be sure to play two notes. It is essential that the wrist movement stays RLRL while the fingers support the double strokes.

The Most Important Thing!

To get better at these concepts do these exercises everyday. Basically. make it a habit. I like to put them at the beginning of my practice, then I can get into grooves, fills, and independence. Like getting better at doing a push up, simply doing it everyday and establishing a habit will make you stronger over time.

GET MORE

For more drum grooves, check out Tactical Drumming: Groove Survival Guide, which will show you a number of shuffle variations and other grooves. This can be found at https://tacticaldrumming.com or on Amazon at https://amzn.to/3Qr56pN

By John Owens, Ph.D (Author, Drummer Educator). For John's bio go to https://tacticaldrumming.com.