On drums...

That'll work, thanks Greg.

Thanks Greg. I look through them when I get a few extra mins. No revelations so far. I always find it incredible that someone actually takes the time to do these things.

The Flam Accent is a great rudiment to use around the kit. You will hear it in Tony Williams and Gregg Bissonette's playing all the time (and Dennis Chambers too). It's basically a way to link flams together in a triplet lick. The flam is usually played with the grace note on a tom and the accent note on the snare, and the two linking notes on either (or cymbal too). Nobody could play flams around the kit like Tony!

I think any rudiment that (1) forces you to think about different stick heights/force of attack and (2) forces you to work on your left hand (OK... 95% of us need this) is worth checking out.

Just as an aside, I don't get a chance to work on my hands much anymore (single dad with 2 busy boys), but nothing helped my rethink my whole approach to how I hit a drum like JoJo Mayer's DVD did. That thing is just a work of common sense, kinetic, physical genius. Or whatever you would call "how to play the most complicated shit in a completely relaxed and effortless way"!

My first post -- glad to be here!

Welcome, David. Glad you're here.

Thanks for that short dissertation on the flam. I'm going to check out what you mean in those guys' playing.

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Gregory

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Cliff

River City Trio

What if we did all have the same opinions?

Funny...that's the one I have been working on.
When I first tried them and really tried to get them right, I realized how difficult it is and how "out of the box" it was for my hands. THAT interests me.
It took me a couple hours to get around the kit with them in time and that was dam near slow motion. It's just not the "attack" my hands are used to. Man what a workout.

Welcome here David.

Which JoJo cd is it?
I hear everyone raving about one of his discs but have learned they rave about EVERYTHING and usually ends in me scratching my head wondering what the fuss was about. This one sounds like a go.

Not CD... I meant JoJo's instructional DVD "Secret Weapons" which is almost entirely about working on your hands -- really cool stuff. This one:
http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Weapons-Modern-Drummer-DVD/dp/B000S6TNLI

I've gone from playing my snare drum slightly tilted toward me, to flat, to now slightly tilted away from me. And a lot of tension in my left hand is gone as well.

Don't have that DVD, but did the same snare-angle shift when I started using finger strokes. Everything works better with that old fashion lean. I guess they didn't do that because their stands sucked.

_________________
Gregory

_________________
Cliff

River City Trio

What if we did all have the same opinions?