What DrumHeads Are Saying About TigerBill and TigerBill's DrumBeat Website...

Click for Another Quote


 

Best Products at the
Lowest Prices
Lowest prices on Tiger Tested drum products

Lowest Prices on Drum Sets, Cymbals and Percussion at Amazon.com

TigerBill's Unique
Drum Lessons
Play Better With Less Effort - Learn TigerBill's Tension Free Drumming Concepts

Advertise With Us
Contact Us
Link to Us
Newsletter
News & Press Room
Order Info
Permissions & Reprints
Privacy Policy
Products
Register for Free
Welcome


Auctions
Books for Fun
Books for Education
Business
Buying Drum Gear
Chops Challenge
Clinics & Events
Concerts & Tours
Contests
Discount Drum Shop 1
Discount Drum Shop 2
Drum TV Show
Drum n Bass
Drum Skills Evaluation
Fame & Fortune
Famous Drummers
Forums
Fun With Drums TV Show
Gear & Accessories
Gladstone Technique
Healthy Drumming
Hip-Hop / Rap
History & Culture
How To Guides
Interviews
Laugh It Up
Lessons for Free
Loops & Samples
Magazines
Member Links
Merchandise
MIDI Files
Moeller Technique
MP3
Newsgroups
Radio
Record Your Own
Reviews
Schools
Sit-in & Play
Software
Sponsors
Store
Tabs
Tension Free Drumming™
Ticket Sales
TigerBill and Friends
TigerBill's Bio
TigerBill's Gear Picks
TigerBill's Clinics & Events
TigerBill's Drum Shop
TigerBill's Lessons
TigerBill's Place
Tips and Tricks
Videos
Vintage Gear
WFD

Workin' the Weak Hand

Right-handed drummers often have trouble with their left hand, while left-handed drummers have trouble with their right. Your "weak" hand can keep you from reaching your full technical potential.

This week, I show you how the pros develop their weak hands on and off the drum set. Once you can play with equal power and ability from either hand, monster chops are just a step away.

Use It
The best way to develop your weak hand for drumming is to use it for everything! Open doors, carry books, drink from a glass (in the beginning, you'd better make that a paper cup), eat, and so on. Whatever you normally do with your "natural" hand, you should do with your weak one. This helps build muscle memory in your weaker hand, which helps in playing the drums.

For the next step, you'll need a metronome and a practice pad. A metronome accurately clicks on each beat of the particular tempo that you set. If you've never used a metronome before, now is the time to start. Practicing with a metronome not only helps develop your sense of tempo, but is the best way to judge your progress as you build up strength and speed in your "weak" hand.

Workin' the Eighths
The first exercise (see the Eighth Note Study below) develops your weak hand through the use of various sticking patterns. You'll notice that the first five exercises work the left hand and the second five work the right hand. This is so you can build up your weak hand, while keeping your strong one in good shape.

When you first practice each exercise, use the slowest suggested metronome setting. Then, when you feel comfortable, gradually increase the tempo.

Try to keep your fingers, hands, and arms relaxed when you play. Tensing the muscles slows you down, and you'll never be able to reach the fastest suggested metronome settings.

Here are five major points to watch while practicing the Eighth Note Study below:

  1. Stay loose and relaxed at all times
  2. Set your metronome to a tempo that you can comfortably play
  3. Don't increase the tempo until you can play the exercise with ease
  4. Play each exercise evenly
  5. Make sure you are playing at the exact same volume with each stick

Eighth Note Study

The next series of exercises concentrates on Triplets (see the Triplet Study below). Apply the above five major points to these exercises as well.

You'll notice that the first series of seven exercises work the left hand, while the remaining seven work the right. Again, this allows you to keep your strong hand in shape, while building up your weak one.

Triplet Study

Workin' the Sixteenths
The final series of exercises concentrates on sixteenth notes (see the Sixteenth Note Study below). Apply the following five steps to these exercises when practicing:

  1. Stay loose and relaxed at all times
  2. Set your metronome to a tempo that you can comfortably play
  3. Don't increase the tempo until you can play the exercise with ease
  4. Play each exercise evenly
  5. Make sure you are playing at the exact same volume with each stick

Sixteenth Note Study

No Weak Hand
I'm naturally right-handed, yet I'm as comfortable drumming with my left hand as with my right. By practicing the previous exercises properly, and favoring your "weak" hand when performing your non-drumming tasks as explained above, you should soon be able to develop the same ability. It's easy. All it takes is some regular practice.

Until next time: Stay loose.

Tiger Bill Meligari

Become a Free Member of the largest, most Comprehensive Drum Site on the Web

Learn TigerBill's Innovative Tension Free Drumming and take your chops to the next level

Get TigerBill's Free Info-Packed Newsletter, Monthly Chances to Win Valuable Drum Stuff

& Much More...

Click Here to Register as a Free Site Member

Copyright © 1998-2013 by TigerMix.com, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

Unauthorized reproduction without permission is prohibited except as noted.

< Back to Top >

Free Site Membership!
Click Here for FREE Site Registration and become a member of the largest drum and percussion family on the Web!

* S I D E B A R *

Links Related
to this Article

Related Links on Site

.
Drum Books and DVDs for Further Study
.
Info on Lessons, Clinics, & Master Classes with the Tiger
.
Building Monster Chops: Part 1
.
Building Monster Chops: Part 2
.
Building Monster Chops: Part 3

Related Links on Web

.
Concepts of Tension Free Drumming