Is Everything You've Heard About Hand Technique a Lie?

I'm used to thinking...

Chris Dave, with his index fingers extended along the sticks...

...J-Rod Sullivan, with his "perfect" thumb and forefinger fulcrum...

...Nate Wood, with his more middle-of-the-hand grip...

...and Tony Williams - well, don't get me started.

So...is there a right or a wrong way to hold the sticks?

But I had a place to start: what if I held them intentionally wrong, then worked backward from there.

In this video, you'll learn:

• All the seemingly contradictory ways I learned

• How not to hold the sticks, and what we can learn from that

• The new first-principles, and why I ultimately think Jacob's right

• and more

enjoy!

Struggle To Play Loud on Drums? Try These 2 Things

Playing louder isn't as simple as just playing harder. Try it sometime. Put on a pair of tarmac ear muffs, and try to play as hard as you can.

Today's guest teacher, my coaching partner Jacob Evans, struggled with lower back injury because he played with bad mechanics. So he developed a system to play at full volume for longer, without injury.

So - how do we do it? Jacob says by emulating the pros: drummers who've played big venues into middle age. And if you watch drummers like these, you'll start to notice a few key mechanics in common. And it's these mechanics Jacob attempts to teach me in today's lesson.

Enjoy!

Low Cymbal Drummer Vs High Cymbal Drummer

Today I bring you a video about a simmering rivalry nobody's talking about:

 It's low-cymbal drummers vs high-cymbal drummers. 

Assuming you've got enough character and integrity to choose a side, I'd recommend either REALLY low, or just APPALLINGLY HIGH. 

 There are merits to both approaches. 

Low cymballers are often classic, stylish characters, and first principles thinkers. On the kit, low cymbals keeps things close together, and allows small movements. 

 High cymballers, though there's a long tradition, tend to be iconoclastic instagrammers, bent on world domination. But they won't balk if you wear PJs all day, or eat Chipotle for every meal. They seem like my kinda folks. 

 In practice, high cymbal kits make you feel ensconced within cymbals, and the larger distances between and among surfaces make playing a high cymbal kit more of a physical enterprise. 

 This debate would almost be settled, were it not for the unwelcome presence of a third contingent. The stackers...

P.S. If you're interested in a live, high-touch online coaching program to take your drumming to the next level in 2022, check out what coach Jacob Evans and I are launching this month. Anybody who enrolls in the next few days will get access to the exclusive, jointly-coached cohort, where you'll get a live seminar with me every week.

I Got Rejected - And Why That's Okay

Today I bring you a video about rejection.

Truth-be-told, I wanted an excuse to complain about a drum clinic that didn't happen, and in the course of writing the video, I talked myself out of being mad.

It sucks to be rejected.

To give something your best shot, then place your destiny in the hands of another, then be found wanting. It's so painful that we make a ton of excuses to avoid ever taking a shot.

But what I've come to realize is that it's necessary, and all you have to think about to understand why is what would happen if we tried to eliminate it.

In this video I'll talk about:

• My rejection story

• Why I've come to loathe gatekeepers

• What would happen if we tried to eliminate them

• Why I've come to realize we need them

Enjoy!