If You Were Only Allowed to Practice ONE Thing on Your Practice Pad...
What if all you had to practice on was a practice pad? Imagine you have no drumset and no music to listen to, and all you have in your possession is a pair of sticks and a pad.
This may actually be your reality, and you’re shouting at the screen, “Stephen, this isn’t funny! I’ve been practicing on a pad for years now and I still haven’t been able to get a real kit.” If that’s you, this email is aimed to help direct your pad practice so that you’ll grow in your skills without a kit in your possession. And if you do have a kit, you’re probably limited as to which hours you can play and make noise anyway. Pad practice should be an important element of your regular practice as well. Today we’re finding the most effective thing to practice on a pad that has the most impact on your drumset playing.
A few years ago I was in the limited-practice-because-I-lived-in-an-apartment situation, so I’ll share with you some frustrations that developed as a result.
- I was playing at least 2-5 times per week at gigs / rehearsals, and for a stretch of time I wasn’t practicing at all at home. I found myself getting out of shape and getting tired on the 3-hour weekend gigs.
- Whenever I’d sit down at a real kit I’d feel a little bit awkward, and my sticks wouldn’t quite do what I wanted them to do. Maybe they would get just a little bit clumsy.
- Things that needed to be super consistent on the kit weren’t. Snare backbeats, smooth hihat 16ths, you name it. These things didn’t feel dynamically consistent or accurate time-wise.
Now I am certainly nit picking here. My playing generally sounded alright, but it didn’t feel great to me. I’d usually be able to start playing and feel pretty at ease after a few minutes. By the end of the gig I felt great. But that’s not what we want, is it? We want for every note to sound and feel great right out of the gate.
So I started upping my pad practice routine. Here’s my thought process that led to improvement...
The question you have to ask yourself is “What do I play the most when I play on my kit?” Or, “What kinds of parts, grooves, timekeeping, etc. do I use the most in regular playing and gigging?” Whatever that is, see if you can translate it to your practice pad.
DONE.
It really is that simple. But because that probably sounds a little bit vague and confusing, I’ll give you some examples. :)
Every bit of the rock / pop / any-straight-feel-anything that I play is very 8th note based. My right hand is usually playing 8ths or quarters depending on the tempo. So it was very logical for me to practice those 8th notes on my pad, working every day to make them better and better. I’d also practice 16ths, one hand at a time. I’d practice them with accents so that I was playing them on the pad the same way I’d play them on the hats. Often I’d even play those 8ths or 16ths with my right hand while hitting a 2&4 “backbeat” with my left hand on the pad. I’d actually try to “rimshot” it by hitting the pad with the shoulder of the stick. This provided a very similar “mental practice” to playing a groove on the kit.
Take this approach and apply it to whatever style you play the most. If you’re working on Latin grooves/patterns, practice those patterns right there on the pad. If you’re working on swinging, practice the ride swing pattern on your pad. You can even practice comping with your left hand alongside it. It may not be as much fun to only hear tapping, but at least you’re working your brain AND the muscles that execute the movements. This is big.
No, this method doesn’t work out your feet. You do have to have a pedal and something for that pedal to strike to really work on foot technique. But foot coordination and foot skill (from a mental standpoint) all starts with the hands. If your hands aren’t tight, how will your feet be tight? Practicing basics on a pad WILL help your feet in an indirect way.
You can absolutely take this a step further and practice some rudiments on your pad. That’s great! But don’t make that the only thing you practice on your pad. Keep doing basic rudiments... alternating singles, doubles, paradiddles, etc. But focus extra amounts of time on playing your pad the way you play your kit. Then you’ll find your practice translating much more directly, and you’ll probably even make progress in your drumming...without a drumset.
God Bless,
Stephen
P.S. - There’s a drummer in New York whose advice on this topic really helped to guide me. He’s one of the top most creative and innovative young drummers around. Look up Mark Guiliana on YouTube if you’ve never seen him. His chops are insane, but he’s super musical. When I lived in an apartment, I realized Mark and I had ‘apartment life’ in common. Neither of us could really practice. And guess what he said he practiced?... 8th notes on his practice pad. :) You can find him on YouTube and in an old interview on the drummer podcast, “I’d Hit That.” This isn’t any official endorsement - just a recommendation since I learned something from him. I think you guys might find him inspiring as well.
