Let Me Give You A Hand With That

Let’s try a simple experiment. Take a stick in your lead hand and tap single strokes as fast as you can. Then do the same with the other hand . My guess is that your lead hand is somewhat faster. No surprise there. Now play alternating single strokes as fast as you can. You’ll likely find that you can play alternate strokes faster than either hand on its own. It’s a phenomenon called Limb Assistance. That’s when one limb is able to perform better when it’s partnered with another limb. So your single stroke roll should always be faster than your one-handed bounces.

It works the other way as well, something called Limb Inhibition. When practicing, I like to get all four voices involved, and that usually means hi-hat on 2 & 4. But I find that the hi-hat sometimes helps and sometimes hurts. So if it’s interfering with what I'm trying to do, I’ll leave it out. Or I might play it on all four beats ... whatever helps me make progress.

There are four basic options with the hi-hat, any one of which could help with an exercise:

• Play on 2 & 4: This is the ultimate goal and it’s a core skill for drummers.
• Play on 1 & 3: This can help nail down the timing of a difficult pattern.
• Play on all 4 beats: In addition to helping with timing, this gives the other limbs support as you're working toward full co-ordination.
• Omit completely: Sometimes it’s just not going to happen until the other limbs are sorted.

The same thing can apply to any pattern or combination. Say I want to add triple strokes on the bass drum to a rock pattern, but find that I’m struggling. I might add some matching cymbal strokes so the hand strokes mirror the bass drum. The addition of the extra cymbal strokes means the two limbs are now working as a team to better articulate the foot strokes. (I’ll also leave the hi-hat out for now.)

A perennial problem for drummers is when the limbs are supposed to strike together but are just a little bit off. This is where the limbs could be helping each other. Use one limb/voice to act as ‘troop leader’ and show the other limbs where to put it. I look for relationships between what the different limbs are doing in relation to each other. Sometimes the limbs hit together and that can help with co-ordination. Other times, one limb might function as a lead-in for the next stroke. For example, in a shuffle, I think of the ‘uh’ as causing or triggering the next beat: uh-1 uh-2 etc. This is especially helpful with complex patterns.

So, when in doubt, leave it out. Or put it in, if it helps.

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