6 Exercises For Improving Your Time on Drums
To a drummer, solid time is everything. It’s possibly the single most important role we have when playing behind the kit. But how can we develop our time BESIDES working with a metronome?
In this article, I’ll address six common problems that can cause drummers to play with bad time, and I’ll offer specific action steps that you can take in order to fix each of these problems.
PROBLEM #1 - ADRENALINE HAS GOTTEN THE BEST OF YOU.
During a performance, has it ever felt like all of the songs seem SUPER slow? It’s most likely because your adrenaline or nerves shift the way that you PERCEIVE tempo. This can cause all sorts of timing issues for drummers.
The good news is that you don’t have to just experience this phenomenon on the gig; it’s possible to practice playing with adrenaline away from the stage as well.
SOLUTION #1 - THE “DRUM AND RUN” EXERCISE
During your next practice session:
1) Play any groove you’d like, but play along with a metronome.
2) After 1-2 minutes, get up and run around your building 2-3 times. The idea is to increase your heartrate so that you’re almost out of breath.
3) Come back into the room and immediately play the same groove you played earlier, along with your metronome.
What do you notice in this moment? Does the groove feel slower now?
By practicing this way, you can prevent adrenaline from getting the best of you during the performance.
PROBLEM #2 - ONE OF YOUR LIMBS ARE INCONSISTENT.
Are your backbeats ALWAYS placed on the same part of the pulse, or are some backbeats slightly late? When you crash, does your bass drum foot line up exactly with your right hand or is it a little different each time?
It’s these types of subtle inconsistencies that can cause significant fluctuations in solid time-keeping.
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