Did you know that Stevie Wonder can play the drums? Although blind from birth, Stevland Hardaway Judkins aka Stevie Wonder learned to play many instruments throughout his life. He is most widely known for his piano and vocal abilities, but also plays the drums, harmonica, bongos, and congas. Check out this impressive video of a televised Stevie Wonder drum solo.

Expand your Music – Don’t be afraid to listen and play to other types of music. If you only listen to the same kind of music all the time, then you will start sound like it. It is best to expand your range of music styles. If you expose yourself to many different kinds of drum beats, you can create your own personal style using what your learn from other types of music.

Slow Down! – Just as babies learn to crawl before they walk, the key to drumming is to slow it down first and then increase speed. When learning a new groove, start out at a slow tempo and focus on consistent tones from each drum and hitting each drum at the correct time. After you are comfortable playing slow, the pattern will be in your head and you can then speed it up easily.

Practice Patterns without Sticks – You do not need your kit or even sticks with a practice pad to practice your groves. Tap out the patterns on your legs when listening to music on the bus or while watching TV. Doing so will strengthen your muscle memory and make it easier to reproduce those patterns on your kit.

Check out these entirely black cymbals made by Zildjian. They are called Pitch Black and came out in July 2008. Completely black with white logos, the cymbals range from medium to medium thin thickness and are intended for use in rock music.

The Pitch Black cymbals are sheet bronze cymbals that are then coated black. The bronze alloy is the same that is used by the Zildjian ZHT series, the highest quality of sheet bronze cymbals Zildjian offers. These awesome looking cymbals come in 8 varieties: 18″ China, 22″ ride, 20″ crash/ride, 15″ Mastersound hihats, 18″crash, 16″ crash, 13″ spash. Zildjian also offers a box set that includes the hihats, 18″ crash, and 22″ ride. If you are tired of the same old look of the cymbals on your kit, then you should definitely check out these stunning unique pieces.

Check out these Zildjian Pitch Black Cymbals on sale now!

Twirling a drum stick while playing is part of the showmanship skills that many drummers posses. Drumstick spinning is one way that a drummer can add some style to their playing during a show. Most other common instruments in a band are easily maneuverable. This lets other musicians such as guitarists and singers move around the stage or dance to the music. Because as a drummer you are stuck sitting down at your drum set, you are more limited in what movement is possible during a show. Spinning or twirling drumsticks while playing a groove is one way for a drummer to get more creative on their drum set and show off a little for the crowd. This video teaches you two different ways to spin your drumsticks.

One great training tool for any drummer is a practice pad. These are small wood or plastic pads with a rubber playing surface. The pads are portable, much quieter than a drum, and are excellent for increasing your strength and accuracy while playing. Some practice pads have two opposite playing surfaces, a hard rubber side for strength training and a softer side for quiet practice. Try practicing rudiments on a pad while watching TV. You could even bring a practice pad with you to a performance and use it to warm up offstage.

Check out these Drum Practice Pads for sale now!

Almost absolutely everyone has a dominant and a non-dominant hand. Research has shown that around 70% of people are right handed. This will translate into your drum playing and you will most likely be more skilled with one hand over the other. You may find yourself relying too much on your dominant hand. To become more limb independent on your drum kit, you will have to focus on practicing your non-dominant hand.

An easy way to train motor skills and hand eye coordination with your non-dominant hand away from the drums is to use your weaker hand in as many every day situations as possible. Try to use your off hand instead of your dominant hand for a couple of days for things like brushing your teeth, opening doors, or picking up objects throughout the day. Training your non-dominant side in every day usage will help you achieve better control with that hand on the drum set.

Danny Carey is another one of my favorite drummers. He plays in the band Tool and is known for his technical yet fluid drum groves and the frequent use of irregular patterns and time signatures. Below is a video of Danny Carey playing the last two minutes of the Tool song Lateralus. In the video, Carey plays one of his custom drum sets which was built by well known drum maker Jeff Ocheltree. The drum shells are cast bronze and are manufactured from recycled Paiste cymbals. Carey only uses this drum set when touring in the United States as the kit is quite heavy with the bass drums alone weighing over 100 pounds each.

One of my favorite ways to practice is to play along to music I like. Being able to listen to music and pick out the drum beat in your mind is a great skill. Even while in a car or bus and listening to music, I often pick out the drums and focus on exactly how to play the beat. You can take this even further and use headphones to play along to music on your kit. I like to use the in ear kind, or ones with some noise cancellation, but any kind will do.

By training yourself to play by ear, you strengthen the connection between your mind and your instrument. It will become easier to make up beats in your head and then immediately play them on the drums.

Playing along to music helps you focus on keeping time because you can use the song as a metronome. Playing entire songs from start to finish can also be good endurance training, especially if you pick long songs. You may also learn some new patterns or techniques from your favorite music, something that you can then incorporate into your own original grooves.

Below is a clip of one of my favorite drummers, Chad Smith from the Red Hot Chili Peppers.  Chad and Flea, the RHCP bassist, play a couple songs and jam together.  Chad explains what he is trying to accomplish as a drummer in an improvisational environment and the important connection between bass and drums.