The right will never be exactly as capable as the left either. If you're reasonably advanced, try playing some left hand parts with the right hand and see what happens.
Even if you strive to be totally ambidextrous there will always be differences.
Left hand woes
- Thread starter Ajaycee
- Start date
The right will never be exactly as capable as the left either. If you're reasonably advanced, try playing some left hand parts with the right hand and see what happens.
Even if you strive to be totally ambidextrous there will always be differences.
ottog1979
Senior Member
Agreed. Maybe instead of "catch up" the better description would be having the left hand improve or widen capability significantly. Both hands have a lot that they can "teach" the other.
Tamboreter
Gold Member
@Jonathan Curtis just posted a helpful video about technique just yesterday. I highly recommend it.
One of the important statements Jonathan made in his video: "Technique struggles are a symptomatic of a weak fulcrum."
https://www.drummerworld.com/forums...-develop-technique-video.191630/#post-2141691
Over50drumguy
Silver Member
Same issues as you years back and now again as I took a long break from playing .
I can’t add much else to all the great advice already given. Except maybe this . ……
You say you don’t see much improvement over time . DO NOT give up .
Sometimes with some aspects of drumming and in other things , you slog along and nothing changes until one day ,… BOOM, your left hand is doing things it never could before usually while playing to music with left hand parts you couldn’t really get before . It’s like a light switch went on ! It’s a cumulative effect sometimes. So don’t just hit the pad and work to books but work ( play) to music as well . A combination of both is what worked for me in the past and currently again after years of off time .
And mix up your doubles singles and triplets etc , etc slow and steady on the pad .
Keep working ! It’ll come . Good luck !
I can’t add much else to all the great advice already given. Except maybe this . ……
You say you don’t see much improvement over time . DO NOT give up .
Sometimes with some aspects of drumming and in other things , you slog along and nothing changes until one day ,… BOOM, your left hand is doing things it never could before usually while playing to music with left hand parts you couldn’t really get before . It’s like a light switch went on ! It’s a cumulative effect sometimes. So don’t just hit the pad and work to books but work ( play) to music as well . A combination of both is what worked for me in the past and currently again after years of off time .
And mix up your doubles singles and triplets etc , etc slow and steady on the pad .
Keep working ! It’ll come . Good luck !
Duck Tape
Platinum Member
I don’t slice straight down either, that’s one thing that I need to look hard at, but unlike what you’re describing I think my stick follows a consistent trajectory. Are you releasing your fulcrum a bit much?
Two things that I think made a big difference for me - playing open handed - it gave my left hand a chance to catch up, and perhaps part and parcel with this was learning French grip on my left hand, nothing advanced, just being able to free stroke or play moderate single strokes
Two things that I think made a big difference for me - playing open handed - it gave my left hand a chance to catch up, and perhaps part and parcel with this was learning French grip on my left hand, nothing advanced, just being able to free stroke or play moderate single strokes
Square
El Conquistador
I’ve recently begun work on this in a very focused way. I found that my left hand just couldn’t keep up and that was hindering my playing overall.
My line of attack?
Everything slow and perfect.
30-40 bpm 16ths all to a met.
Unison singles with only wrists.
Unison push pull
Left hand only push pull
I’ve recently added alternating singles using push pull.
Watch stick height
Wrist/hand position/geometry
Times are as long as I make zero mistakes (after the first 30 seconds).
Gains in control have come quickly, but I have miles to go before I sleep.
My line of attack?
Everything slow and perfect.
30-40 bpm 16ths all to a met.
Unison singles with only wrists.
Unison push pull
Left hand only push pull
I’ve recently added alternating singles using push pull.
Watch stick height
Wrist/hand position/geometry
Times are as long as I make zero mistakes (after the first 30 seconds).
Gains in control have come quickly, but I have miles to go before I sleep.
@Ajaycee
For me, the game changer was to start doing the jazz swing with my weak hand. Not the jazz swing itself, but the things I started becoming aware of while practicing it.
This is something I started doing just a few weeks ago; not just on the ride cymbal, I've actually done very little of that; but mostly just sitting with a drum stick in my weak hand while in front of the tv. Doing the jazz swing into thin air, or singles/doubles/Moeller against my thigh or a pillow. And also on the practice pad.
I think the real hinder to overcome for me was about the strength in my fingers. Thumb, as well middle- and ring finger. Particularly the latter. I needed to 'program' my weak hand to do the same as my strong hand, as well as strengthening the fingers. And I've done that though very deliberate and slow movements, going back to basic, like it was day 1 of learning. Programming the brain and strengthening the fingers through repetitions.
It's far from the first time I've taken measures to get my weak hand up to speed. But this is the first time I've done something that has paid off big time, and quickly. And it's probably the first time I've taken the right steps, focusing on the correct things. Instead of just trying to mirror the hands while practicing on a pad, which is what I've done before and hasn't really worked for me, I now went deeper into the mechanics, focusing more on the weak hand in isolation.
I struggled with the same as you, that the area of the drum/pad I'd hit with my weak hand would fluctuate seemingly randomly. And it's probably because my fingers were too weak to control the stick properly. I see a marked improvement now, and have so much more control over my weak hand fulcrum, as well as the power I generate.
Btw I play matched grip. Not the French version, just dribbling the basketball with both hands.
For me, the game changer was to start doing the jazz swing with my weak hand. Not the jazz swing itself, but the things I started becoming aware of while practicing it.
This is something I started doing just a few weeks ago; not just on the ride cymbal, I've actually done very little of that; but mostly just sitting with a drum stick in my weak hand while in front of the tv. Doing the jazz swing into thin air, or singles/doubles/Moeller against my thigh or a pillow. And also on the practice pad.
I think the real hinder to overcome for me was about the strength in my fingers. Thumb, as well middle- and ring finger. Particularly the latter. I needed to 'program' my weak hand to do the same as my strong hand, as well as strengthening the fingers. And I've done that though very deliberate and slow movements, going back to basic, like it was day 1 of learning. Programming the brain and strengthening the fingers through repetitions.
It's far from the first time I've taken measures to get my weak hand up to speed. But this is the first time I've done something that has paid off big time, and quickly. And it's probably the first time I've taken the right steps, focusing on the correct things. Instead of just trying to mirror the hands while practicing on a pad, which is what I've done before and hasn't really worked for me, I now went deeper into the mechanics, focusing more on the weak hand in isolation.
I struggled with the same as you, that the area of the drum/pad I'd hit with my weak hand would fluctuate seemingly randomly. And it's probably because my fingers were too weak to control the stick properly. I see a marked improvement now, and have so much more control over my weak hand fulcrum, as well as the power I generate.
Btw I play matched grip. Not the French version, just dribbling the basketball with both hands.