Monday Drum Day: Having Fun

Happy Monday! It may mean the start of a work week, but for me it means some drumming.

I did not play much last week as I was away, but I took my sticks for some practice.

I just completed the 30 day single stroke roll challenge on Drumeo. I started at a maximum of 90bpm and got up to around 130. I am doing four strokes per beat, so that is 520 hits per minute. I know other drummers can play much faster, but I feel I made progress. I was at my limit, so I need to learn the techniques to reach a higher level.

I also had my first student review on Drumeo last week. I submitted my performance of Psycho Killer and instructor Brandon Toews gave me some tips. I knew I had to work on my timing and he picked up on that. I will take his advice. You can only see those videos if you join the site. If anyone is serious about learning an instrument I have some codes for you to get a free trial.

For today I just played through what is ranked as one of the easier songs to play on the school site. Cyndi Lauper's Girls Just Want To Have Fun has the same beat all the way though. That is a good test of your endurance. I did miss a few beats and my timing wandered a little, so that needs more work. It may seem boring to be playing the same thing over and over, but it is a mental and physical challenge that could help improve my technique and playing along to a song is fun.

This is of course on my new Roland kit. I am still exploring what that can do. This song just uses a couple of the drums, so I will look at finding something with more variety for future videos. I just want to try and get into a routine with playing songs.

Have a rocking week!