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Coordination and Independence on the Drum Set

Tuesday, 24 February 2009, 22:04 | Category : technique
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One of the key skills each drummer must develop and master is the ability to independently play different things with each of his/her limbs at the same time. Ultimately that means playing complex polyrhythms easily and effortlessly. The usual approach when learning a new beat, is to understand what each hand and foot does, master each on its own, and then try and combine them together. This is the logical linear approach, and works well if you have enough independence.

Another approach that works for me is, instead of learning each line on its own, is to learn the beat count by count. This means that I divide the beat into the lowest common denominator of counts (could be quarters, eighths, or anything), and then think about what’s happening on each count. Which limbs are hitting at the same time, which are resting, and so forth.

I found this approach implemented in an interesting way in Jim Chapin’s famous book. As in the example score below, you can see a dotted line connecting the notes that occur at the exact moment. This helps a lot in understanding a written score and in how to play holistically, moment by moment, as opposed to hand + hand + foot + foot.

dotted drum score

Another clear approach is the drum tabs approach, this is even clearer. Not only does it show what is happening at each moment, it also shows how many counts each limb is waiting.

HH|X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-|X-x-X-x-X-x-X-X-|X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-|
S |----o-------o--d|----o-------og--|----o-------o---|
B |o-o----oo-o-----|o-o----oo-o-----|o-o----oo-o--o-o|
  |1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + |1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + |1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + |

I only find tabs a bit confusing visually and I think the perfect solution is to transcribe the notes on an Excel table, this is especially helpful when trying to understand polyrhythms and complicated beats, where you need to know exactly when the beat has to be executed. The problem with polyrhythms is that beats played together don’t necessarily divide each other, and it can be a bit tough. Here is an example of a 3:7 polyrhythm. The beat can be played against 21 counts of a metronome, and you can see exactly when each beat falls.

drum score

Of course there is much more to independence and coordination than this, but I think this way the drummer is engaged in every moment, and feels the harmony instead of automating each limb, forgetting about it, and focusing on others.

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