This ebook, An Alexander Technique Approach to Drum Set (Drums) Technique, is published on this website in a PDF format. It is very detailed and practical, and it will give you the physical tools you need to take the limits off of your ability to create the accurate drums technique you want without sacrificing your body.
This ebook is also for sale on all AMAZON websites in a KINDLE format.
Located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.A. (MOVEMENT THERAPY)
Why is playing the drum set consistently very softly through a passage difficult for many drums players? Is playing the drum set pianissimo INHERENTLY difficult, and there is nothing you can do about it?
First, I’m going to describe what drum set players do that makes playing the drums very softly for sustained periods hard. Second, I’m going to describe the remedy, so that playing the drum set pianissimo for long passages can be effortless. It should be effortless, shouldn’t it?
A prevalent belief among drum set players is that to play very softly, they need to KEEP themselves from playing too loudly. So, by definition, it is easier to play at a moderately loud volume than it is to play very softly. IT TAKES LESS MUSCULAR INVOLVEMENT TO PLAY THE DRUMS SOFTLY, THAN IT DOES TO PLAY THE DRUM SET LOUDLY.
Many drum set players are used to playing moderately loud. So, why is playing pianissimo harder than playing mezzo forte? Because, many drums players believe playing very softly is about pulling back on the reins with effort. They believe they have to muscle the hands and arms to play pianissimo.
Think about it. If you believe you have to KEEP your hands and arms from playing the drum set too loud, then you are using muscle to keep yourself from using too much muscle. This is crazy. Is there a better solution? YES!
Why not use the least amount of muscle to play softer. You gain conscious control over the musculature of your hands and arms by using less muscle when you play mezzo forte. You do this by lovingly ordering your body to do less work to play pianissimo, by not FORCING the shoulders, hands and arms musculature to tense to support the sticks to play lightly on the drum set to play pianissimo.
The main reason that playing the drum set very softly can be experienced as hard work, is when it is your intention to play a passage consistently pianissimo, then invariably many drums players tense the shoulders, arms, and hands to control the pianissimo. This tensing is doing two contradictory things at the same time – immobilizing the arms and hands and moving the arms and hands to play softly. This is very hard on the arms and hands.
The solution is to experience your arms floating on your shoulders, and to trust your intention to play the passage effortlessly soft, using the least amount of arms and shoulders musculature. What I mean by trusting your intention is this: If you hear the performance you want in your head and trust your body to produce it using the least amount of muscle, then your body will give you what you want with minimal work, when your faith in your intentions and your body demonstrates that getting what you want out of the drum set is about trust, not tension.
One last point: What determines how softly you can play? Is it your technique or the drum set? It is the drums. If you use the least amount of muscle, then it is the drum set that will determine how softly you can play. Simply, at a certain point the drums will not produce a sound, with the sticks’ lighter and lighter contact on the drum set.
