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...

We’re gearing up for Christmas here at the Clark household, and we're super excited for our 5-month-old daughter's first Christmas! :)

If you’re blessed this Christmas with cash gifts you’d like to use on quality gear investments, I’ll give you some good ideas today.

Whether you’re new to the drums or a few decades into the instrument, make sure you own these 7 important tools for success. Of course, this is isn’t an exhaustive list because I could just as easily send you another email next week with 7 more things. But these are the most essential, most important physical items that will contribute most directly to your personal growth on the drums. Here we go!

[1] Metronome

Seems pretty obvious. However, plenty of players fail to regularly practice with a metronome either because they’re lazy (I’ve been guilty too!) - or they feel it might damage their “natural, organic feel” on the drums. The latter is false, by the way,...

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,...