why is it that no matter what exercise you play and how much you practice, some things on snare drum never ever seem to improve?
it’s absolutely maddening.
back in the day i used to get so angry at my 4-stroke ruffs that i’d throw my sticks against the wall. i’d be embarrassed going into lessons because my soft even was uneven and shaky.
i thought i’d never play a smooth roll like the professionals.
my problem was that i was always looking for the 'magic exercise' that could solve certain problems.
“maybe if i play this line of stick control for 4 minutes every day, i’ll be able to play the soft parts of delécluse."
*cue shaky hands that ruin my next audition*
“dang. that obviously didn’t work. what if i play this page of flam rudiments at ppp for an hour every day?”
*cue crashing and burning in front of my teacher at my next lesson*
i thought that my snare drum technique would never improve and i’d never get a job. it made me seriously want to quit percussion. if i could go back in time, i’d shake myself back to reality. THERE’S NO MAGIC EXERCISE. there’s no shortcut.
the solution lies in how you practice.
i’m talking about how to how to build each practice session from beginning to end, and that includes choosing the right series of exercises, what to think about as you’re playing them, and how to adjust it from day to day based on what repertoire you’re playing and what’s going on in your technique.
it’s a shame. if i could go back in time, this would have saved me a ridiculous amount of frustration.
it took forever but i eventually developed a daily practice system that was effective. it helped me play things that used to be impossible. it gave me confidence that my hands would play the way the music sounded in my head.
it put me on the right track towards eventually getting into juilliard and winning an audition with the metropolitan opera orchestra.
if i could just copy my completed, effective practice routine and paste it onto my former high-school self, i would have gotten soooo much better so much faster. it would have saved me years of intense frustration and hopelessness.
it would have given me direction in the practice room.
introducing how to set up your daily snare drum practice routine 101
it’s a 3-part course, and i’m going to take you through the basics of how to become a great snare drummer through deliberate practice.
it starts on monday, february 19th.
here's what you'll get:
video #1: 3 practice room mistakes that are holding you back
drops on monday, february 19.
the temptation is that if you practice the rudiments and stick control, you’ll somehow magically develop all the abilities you need as a snare drum. don’t be fooled. in this video i’ll show you three things that you’re probably doing in the practice room that are why you’re not seeing improvement and are holding you back from building virtuoso technique. i’ll show you how to fix these things to put you back on track.
video #2: 3 parts of an effective practice session
drops on thursday, february 22.
to become a virtuoso snare drummer, of course you have to practice every single day. therefore, the most important thing you can do for your long term improvement is to tweak that daily practice session so it becomes more effective and efficient. in this video i’ll show you how to structure every step of your daily practice session to build technique, learn rep, and overcome the most difficult snare drum obstacles.
video #3: the formula for rapid improvement
drops on monday, february 26
practicing the snare drum can be the most discouraging, maddening work you’ll ever do. you’ll feel like you may never get better and, if you’re like me, it might make you want to quit. today’s final video is about a simple formula you can turn to when you truly feel hopeless. it’s the final piece of the puzzle that helped me stay persistent and never give up.
i promise that if you go through this whole video course, beginning to end, that you’ll have a completely understanding of how to practice snare drum, and you’ll have a solid structure in place so you can dive in and get started yourself.
see you in the course.
it's episode #8 of the auditionhacker podcast, and i'll go over my best methods for getting better feedback.