Hello,

I am having a serious problem with my left arm/hand, I am a right handed player, and I am trying to learn rudiments, and my left hand is seriously dragging, it is so weak compared to my right hand, what kind of exercises can I do to build up my strength in my left hand? So that I can continue learning to play rudiments.

You should start masturbating exclusively with your left hand. It will do wonders for your speed and dexterity.

scrubs wrote:

You should start masturbating exclusively with your left hand. It will do wonders for your speed and dexterity.

one more post like that and you're banned








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dim my eyes if they should compromise

loop wrote:

one more post like that and you're banned

Sorry. Didn't know joking was forbidden. In my defense, I did not use any foul language or directly insult/attack anyone. Anyway, won't happen again.

Peace.

I would appreciate real suggestions, thanks








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I proudly play PDP drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Remo Heads & Vic Firth Sticks.

scrubs wrote:

You should start masturbating exclusively with your left hand. It will do wonders for your speed and dexterity.

HAHAHAHAHAH
and the answe is practice duh








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safe sex is in the palm of your hand

I am just asking a pretty simple question, because I am struggling with my left hand, and all you people can give is a bunch of worthless crap.

So Seandude what kind of practice can I do to build my strength up in my left arm smart ass?

Sheesh, no need for name calling.

In all seriousness (not that my original suggestion wouldn't help, but I don't want to get banned), work on isolating your left hand. Don't use your right hand at all. Work with a metronome, set to a slow tempo (40-60bpm) and play 1/4 notes. Then, 1/8 notes, then 1/16 notes, etc. until you can't keep up with the metronome. Also, try just maxing out your speed - play a single stroke roll with the left hand only; start slow and gradually speed up to your max, then slow down. Repeat.

Practice all patterns/rudiments/fills/etc. starting with your left hand until you can do them as comfortably as with your right.

Try playing open-handed (playing the hat/ride with your left hand and playing the snare backbeat with your right). This is a tough one for me, but really helps.

Thank you scrubs, exactly what I was lookin for, I will take your advise, thanks again.








_________________
I proudly play PDP drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Remo Heads & Vic Firth Sticks.

Also in all seriousness, pick up the dvd creative control. It's by thomas lang. he will help u a lot. i was struggling really bad with my left hand speed. in about a week of watch this dvd, my left hand caught up with my right and both hands got faster. Try to get netflix and rent the dvd.

ddrumbum wrote:

I am just asking a pretty simple question, because I am struggling with my left hand, and all you people can give is a bunch of worthless crap.

So Seandude what kind of practice can I do to build my strength up in my left arm smart ass?

play witur left hand dumb shit








_________________
safe sex is in the palm of your hand

This actually an important question, because for most new drummers, they've never used their left hand for anything but leaning on it.

The idea of isolating the left-hand is the right idea, and it's even a better idea if you can practice some of the things you'll be playing in exchange with the right hand.

My first suggestion is an exercise called Jaws, but I'm going to simplify it here just to get you going. First, a quick explanation. Single-stroke rolls are usually notated as sextuplets (i.e. six notes per quarter note). That means your left hand is responsible for playing three notes per quarter note in a single-stroke roll. So let's try that first. Here's a simple tabbed part to practice with your left hand:

Xxx Xxx Xxx Xxx

Play that very slowly with the left hand. Notice the accent on the quarter note. Do that for a couple of days and see how much speed you can build up without losing control. (As always, practice to a metronome).

When you feel comfortable with that, try this triplet exercise:

Lll Lll Lll Lll | Lrlrlr Lrlrlr Lrlrlr Lrlrlr

So we've got one bar of "skeleton" triplets, followed by one bar of exchanged notes. (In case you cared, the notation in the second measure is called a single-stroke roll with left-hand lead). When you put this together, let's say you repeat the two bars four times before stopping and resting for four beats, you will discover your left hand is playing the EXACT same thing for both bars. Also, playing this way will go a bit to build up dexterity in this hand.

There are some great double-stroke exercises out there that isolate each hand that I'll pass on after you tried this one for awhile.

Thank you so much gaddabout, this is going to be my new exercise for awhile, thanks again.








_________________
I proudly play PDP drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Remo Heads & Vic Firth Sticks.

You know I might sound like an idiot (Like usual) but when I really want to work on my left hand I will apply the same principle (isolate your left hand to do the work) to every day life.

I'll open doors with it. Turn a screw driver with it. I'll get a basketball and just dribble it with my left hand.

To improve your left hand you need to train it and make it stronger. If playing with your left hand exclusively would help... then why wouldnt other every day excercises with your left hand also help?

I also do an excercise called 16 on a hand. Its an old corp excercise that builds strength and dexterity in both hands.

Its as easy as it sounds. 16 evenly spaced beats with one hand... then 16 evenly spaced beats with the other.

You start off slow, then you build it up as fast as you can until one hand lags... then start over. and its so easy you can sit around watching tv while doing it on a pillow and not even think about it.

The Heel wrote:

You know I might sound like an idiot (Like usual) but when I really want to work on my left hand I will apply the same principle (isolate your left hand to do the work) to every day life.

I'll open doors with it. Turn a screw driver with it. I'll get a basketball and just dribble it with my left hand.

To improve your left hand you need to train it and make it stronger. If playing with your left hand exclusively would help... then why wouldnt other every day excercises with your left hand also help?

I also do an excercise called 16 on a hand. Its an old corp excercise that builds strength and dexterity in both hands.

Its as easy as it sounds. 16 evenly spaced beats with one hand... then 16 evenly spaced beats with the other.

You start off slow, then you build it up as fast as you can until one hand lags... then start over. and its so easy you can sit around watching tv while doing it on a pillow and not even think about it.

TH, that's pretty sound logic, because when you're trying to strengthen your left hand, you're not just overcoming some weak muscles. You're also rewiring your brain so it understands you actually want to use the left side of your body. The more you use it, the more your brain will accomodate you.