Why is it that some people get really good at certain things, and others don’t? I remember being in 8th grade and wanting so badly to get good at basketball, but I just never could. What were the other guys doing differently from me? They were all in better shape, more buff, and just seemed to understand the sport better. Even though I tried hard and even worked on my technique and my free throws, I just never became any good at it.

Then I got serious about drums in high school and quickly got way better at music than sports. Why did that happen? Why is it there are certain things we get good at quickly…and other things that just take forever?

Maybe you’re in that boat where you feel like learning drums is taking too long. You feel like you should have reached a more solid level of mastery by now, but time keeps ticking and you’re not sure you’ve grown as fast as you should have.

Well, in my personal opinion, there are 4 things that must...

Imagine you’re practicing a song on the drumset. It’s not a crazy technical song (assuming you’re not in a Rush or Tool tribute band), and it’s a song you’ve heard a lot and know pretty well from a musical standpoint (think “Enter Sandman” or “Back in Black” - that type of song).

What typical technical struggles might you encounter when practicing this song? Is it hard to play with perfect time, locking in with the recording? Is it hard to play the fills smoothly and finish them on time? Do you ever feel stiff and not able to relax while you’re playing? Do you feel like your sticks don’t move smoothly from one drum to the next?

These are some pretty common frustrations I hear a lot, and every one of us has been there. So what’s a productive, efficient method for eliminating these issues? Especially how do you solve this if maybe your kit practice time is limited and...