How to Increase Drumming Speed

They say,

"Don't practice until you get it right, practice until you can't get it wrong."  

Only practice and practice can get you where you want to reach. Many people new to drumming often find it difficult to keep up with a particular backing track or song. Likewise many more advanced drummers think that drumming is all about speed and how many beats you can hit in a second. However control is the element professional drummers talk about. When you combine speed and control with practice, you have a vast array of options when using your kit to its fullest.

To be faster with your kit, you need to concentrate on the following things.

Understand the Movements and Grip

One of the best ways to understand speed and drumming technique is to start off slowly, using a single hand and begin to understandall of the movements and the muscle groups that your arm uses in making a single stroke. Watching how your arms move and learning to control your movements better will help you to be not only more accurate, but also faster in your playing ability.

Use Hand Exercises and Control Techniques

There are many different guides, books and tutorials around that point you in the direction of hand exercises to increase your speed. But while it is true that with exercises and other hand and arm techniques you can increase your speed, you may find that accuracy is lacking somewhat.

The best way to go about increasing speed is by increasing accuracy and control. Learning how to hit each drum in a controlled way, and in a way that allows you to access the full range of strength of stroke on the drum will allow you to increase your speed and not lose out on accuracy.

Control and Accuracy is Everything

Speed it great for some kinds of music, but if you are flailing away at your kit and missing drums and cymbals all the time, then the speed is actually harming your technique. It is understandable that a drummer, by their default personal character trait, is a sucker for speed and strength. But first you have to know how to control your tools. 

As with any other musical instrument, getting clean, controlled hits of each note or drum is the best way to improve your overall style and ability. Speed will come at a later date when you are confident of each beat you make and each stroke you go for.

Improve Your Endurance for Speed Playing

Another forgotten factor in the world of speed drumming that is essential to learning is endurance. It may be all well and good to be able to drum at the speed of light, but if you are tired after a single song, then the rest of the show is going to be a big downer.

This is where regular practice, control and good posture come into the fore as part of increasing your overall skill level.

Regular practice is key to improving your endurance, as well as your ability to control your drumming. Many drummers set themselves goals for how long to practice, but a better method is to choose a list of backing tracks to drum to, that allow you to warm up, speed up, cruise, endure and warm down again.

 

Control, Strength, Endurance and Accuracy Is Part of Speed Playing

This method is great for building endurance, and ensures that you get a range of playing styles and speeds to keep your abilities in check.

With a range of exercises that help you improve control, strength and endurance, you are well on your way to improving your speed. Take regular drumming practice and choose a song set to play that accentuates different speeds and techniques which allow you to learn your drum kit better, improve endurance and also improve your speed which was your original goal.



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