When I first began teaching the drum set, I noticed that most drummers would struggle to demonstrate the same strength and agility in both hands. For example, one of my students could play a paradiddle with his left hand that was very strong and controlled. However, when asked to play the same pattern with his right hand, he would rush and play with poor control.
Some people believe this is due to a lack of balance in the body. They may believe that if you strengthen your weaker side, your playing will be more balanced and consistent. And while I agree that this is partly true, there are other factors that can cause imbalance on the drum set.
When I teach my students how to build strength, we work on three aspects of playing the drum set: speed/control, power/endurance and agility/coordination. These aspects are important for every drummer regardless of their level or genre of music played. If you do not have a solid foundation in all three aspects, then you will never fully develop your potential as a drummer.
In this blog post I am going to talk about three things every drummer needs to do in order to build flexible strength:
1) Speed/Control
2) Power/Endurance
3) Agility/Coord
I’m not a personal trainer, but I have been drumming for over 30 years and have studied strength training extensively. Most of the drummers I know look at strength training as an afterthought. They’ve probably read an article or taken a lesson with some recommendation to strengthen their wrists, shoulders or back. As a result, they will do a few wrist curls here and there to compensate for the fact that they tend to play with bent wrists. Or maybe they will do a few lateral raises to keep their shoulders healthy since they tend to play hunched over their set.
The issue is that there are far too many muscles involved in drumming effectively for someone to just go through a list of exercises and “hit them all.” It doesn’t work like that.
Every drummer needs to build strength differently because every drummer has different weaknesses and playing styles. I know this is stating the obvious, but it needs to be said since most people don’t actually stop and think about this before starting any sort of exercise routine.
We all know the importance of being flexible. As drummers, we are constantly moving our bodies in different ways for different strokes. If you have tight muscles, it can severely limit your range of motion and overall performance. We need to be able to move fluidly with every stroke we do.
The good news is that flexibility is something that can be trained and improved upon just like any other physical skill. That said, there are several things you need to address when building flexibility as a drummer. These include:
1) Know what kind of flexibility you need: There are two types of flexibility that are important for drummers – static and dynamic. Static flexibility is the amount of stretch you can achieve in a stationary position (think about touching your toes). Dynamic flexibility is the amount of range you have in movement (think about doing a roundhouse kick). As drummers, we need to be able to access both types at different times during our playing.
2) Target specific areas: It is not enough to simply stretch your body from head to toe and call it a day. There are many muscle groups that are important for drumming, but there are also several key areas that tend to get particularly tight for us as drummers. Make sure to target these key problem
First, get comfortable being uncomfortable.
Second, relax.
Third, mastery takes time.
You may have heard this adage before: “Strength is a skill.” This is true in many ways. The strength you develop in the gym can be transferred to life and to your drumming if you are disciplined about it and don’t just do random exercises at the gym because they look cool or because you think they’ll make you stronger.
In my experience as a trainer, coach, and drummer with over a decade of experience under my belt, I’ve found that there are three key things every drummer needs to know about building strength:
When we think of improving our drumming abilities, we tend to focus on practicing sticking and coordination exercises. We all know that playing gigs and rehearsing with a band will improve our drumming ability too. But what about strength?
The stronger you are as a drummer, the more stamina you’ll have for long gigs, intense rehearsals, and aggressive rollercoaster beats. Some people have the natural genetics to be strong. But for those of us who don’t, there’s plenty we can do to get the edge.
What I’m going to discuss in this blog is not just how to get stronger, but how to get stronger in ways that directly translate into your drumming ability.
Every drummer can benefit from strength training. Strength gives you the ability to play with speed and finesse while staying relaxed. It helps you avoid injuries and it makes you sound better.
If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone say “I don’t need to get strong, I’m a drummer”, well, I’d have a lot of dollars. But seriously, that’s a lame excuse for not getting in shape. It’s also not true – as much as any other musician, drummers can benefit from strength training.
But maybe you are skeptical of strength training. Maybe you think it will make you look bulky or slow down your hands. Or maybe you’re just used to playing the drums and think that’s enough exercise for your body.
Well read on, because this article will explain why these excuses are unfounded and show you how strength training is geared towards making drummers better at their instrument.
Welcome to the new blog! I’m excited to have a place to share my thoughts about what drummers need to be healthy, happy, and playing their best.
Many of you who have come here from the YouTube channel might be asking, “Who is this guy and why should I listen to him?” Fair question.
My name is Morf, and I’m a drummer. In addition, I am (and have been for over 15 years) a personal trainer, kettlebell instructor, mobility coach, and all around health and fitness geek.
These days I live in Vancouver, BC where I own and operate Morf’s Personal Training. The gym is located in the heart of Gastown where we specialize in helping people achieve their fitness goals by creating simple training programs that fit into real life. We take a holistic approach that includes not just exercise but also nutrition, lifestyle changes, and stress management.
Our methods are grounded in sound science and years of experience helping people of all ages become fitter, healthier versions of themselves.
