Practice Tip: Learning Patterns

The first thing we learn as drummers is how to play patterns. We memorize a ton of them: Rudiments, grooves, fills, song forms. Today I am going to talk about patterns.

1) Rudiments are the words to the sentences of snare drumming and drum set. To learn any pattern, you need to start slowly. Get it correct. Repeat, repeat, repeat. It needs to be memorized to be useful. Use a metronome to keep time for you. See my “Guide to Learning Rudiments” for more on this (coming soon).

2) Groove Patterns are the linear or non-linear patterns you need which keep a beat. You don’t even need a drum set to learn most of them! See my video on beginning 4 way coordination HERE. You can use this “away from the kit” technique to learn while annoying your spouse, coworkers, friends and parents as you can do it anywhere (not while driving, so keep it safe, people)! It is a good way to get the pattern into your body. Go slowly. Align your patterns by adding a part one by one.

3) Say the sticking pattern as you play it. This helps your brain (smart and fast) to tell your body (dumber and slower) what to do! It will increase your accuracy, and help you catch and correct mistakes.

4) COUNT through your pattern. Counting organizes your brain so it can assign a limb to the number associated with it. Some people refuse to count. Those students take way longer to learn patterns than those who do count. Just saying…

4) Use a Metronome. When you first learn a pattern, you might need to go without a metronome to get your coordination together. But once you get it, turn on the metronome! Not sure how to use a metronome? See my video HERE, or my PDF HERE

OK, so now what?

How do you use this guide in practical terms? Here is an example.

Let’s say you are going to learn a new rudiment pattern. It’s RLRR LRLL. Start slowly. Say the stickings. Learn the pattern by saying and playing the pattern. Memorize the pattern. Got it? Great!

Now count through this pattern. I would suggest this is a 4 beat pattern in eighth (1/8) notes, where each note is counted: 1+2+3+4+ (counted 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &). Got it? Good!

Now turn on your metronome onto either 4/4 or 1/8th notes slowly enough that you can play through it without making mistakes, but it still pushes you to stay in time. Still got it? Awesome!

Memorizing patterns is an important chunk of a drummer’s work! I hope this guide has helped you to do it.

My Mantra: Discipline Before Motivation

My second mantra: Be kind to yourself