The Left Hand Skill Good Drummers Should Have in 2025

First things first - grab your free transcription here.

It was probably always going to end up here.

The Tony Williams ride pattern with both hands.

It sounds like a circus act. Or a party trick. You’re probably wondering how it came to this. So let’s back up.

My left hand always kinda sucked. First, I had some conflicting teachers. (Hindsight 2020, I should have listened to the first, who, despite I’m pretty sure joining a militia shortly after teaching me, had the right idea about hand technique.)

Next, I did the “trad” thing for about 15 years after college. Hard to explain, and it’s not necessary, but trad is kind of a kinesthetic way to get “into the minds” of the jazz greats. If I wanted it to feel to me as much as possible how it felt for Max Roach, there was no choice.

All of that left me in the early 20-teens with kind of a wimpy left hand. I’d “bear claw” stuff, or use back fulcrum, but it had nothing like the dexterity of my right.

Of course I’ve been dabbling with stuff to improve it, but the two things that were game-changing were Gordy Knudtson’s particular encapsulation of the push pull technique many greats have used over the years, and my going “full black pill” this spring on playing the ride cymbal with both hands.

As jazzers the right hand gets so much practice playing the ride, so that any average jazz drummer probably has right hand technique that would considered rather elite in non-jazz circles. (True, the prog guys still have us when it comes to high volume stuff.) “If I could just get my left hand to do what my right does, I’d cover a lot of ground,” I thought.

Roll on 6 months of “rage caving”, and we arrived at this point.

Abi-dexterous Tony. Not that I’m particularly great at it so far. But I can do it at moderate tempos.

So I wanted to make you a video.

And now that I kinda “see the matrix”, I think this is the way. Everybody who’s serious about their weak hand should do this.

Do you agree? Leave a comment below. In any event, hope you enjoy.

The Simple Lick You Didn't Know All The Pros were Using

First things first - grab your free transcription here.

I’m endlessly fascinated by the disparities between what we think is going on when great players play, vs what’s really going on.

Almost a decade ago, I would transcribe stuff from Justin Tyson or Thomas Pridgen, and eventually came up with a rule-of-thumb, kind of like Drum Occam’s Razor: “if you have to do something that feels super physically awkward to play this lick you think is happening, it’s probably something else.”

Not exclusively - certainly sometimes drummers have worked out unique ways of moving around the kit - but usually. If you hear hoofbeats, think horses instead of zebras, and if you hear thunderous Thomas licks, think paradiddle permutations with kicks and cymbals until you learn differently.

It’s just such a lesson that underscores the theme of this week’s youtube entertainment - a simple lick that’s a bit of a “missing link” in the playing of a lot of great “choppers”. The humble RLK.

At the beginning of the video, I show 2 prominent examples of great drummers who, when the lick seems to permutate and “warp”, if you slow it down, the root is this RLK. Simple, but not easy. Because in 16ths or 32nds, introducing a 3-note phrase is introducing chaos. A rotating dynamo that will drag you across barlines whether you’re ready or not. So not easy. But, in theory, simple.

The third musical example I offer in the opening minutes of the video is drummer whose focus is not necessarily RLK. But I show his playing to illustrate that I could drop this RLK in the middle of the street, and unless they had connectors, a conception of improvising, and fundamentals, very few would be able to “pick it up”.

So we use that as a jumping off point to discuss 3 points of the “how” of playing like “the greats”.

Also if you’ve made it to the end, you might be interested in going deeper with these concepts, and it just so happens I may have the thing: enrollment closes soon for one 1:1 coaching slot I came by “accidentally” this month. If you’ve been waiting on the fence to check out the Impossible to Fail program, now might be your chance. More Info here. Because this will go fast, I’ll delete this paragraph in 24 hours.

Do You HAVE To Play Rimshots on Drums?

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I love “hidden-in-plain-sight” controversies. A few weeks ago I was contemplating the necessity of teaching rimshots. So I decided to post about it on my Instagram. Little “black tile with white text” thing. Immediately got almost 80 comments and 10x the engagement of, say, me drumming.

“Ok,” I thought. “This is a topic”.

So - if you’re learning to play the drums, do you need to learn rimshots?

They’re prickly things. It’s almost like adding another whole dimension to the things we already worry about. Now it’s not just accents and subdivision and timing and ideas and orchestration, but also nailing this exact angle when you strike the snare, and damn it would nice if you could do it without any tension and with the same sound with both hands at multiple stick heights.

So yea - prickly.

So in this video we look at the use cases. Are 100% of drum beats rimshot beats? Not even close. From classic Ringo tracks of the ‘70s, to Steve Gadd beats of the ‘80s, to songs like John Mayer’s Vultures, to most jazz swing beats…

There’s a lot you can do without rimshots.

And don’t they kind of have a bad brand? We picture Chad Smith or Joey Jordison - the cannon-fire-against-the-temples of the type of music we’d probably scream at our neighbors to “turn it doooown”.

But in this video, I’ll make the case for the humble rimshot. Illustrating, hopefully, that they’re not just for speed metal. (“These aren’t your parents’ rimshots”.)

Drummers from Ziggy to Clyde Stubblefield to Brian Blade have used them tastily. And, with this handy guide, so can you!

At any rate, hope you enjoy this exploration of drums’ most undersold controversy.

Calvin Davidson - The Prog Metal Prankster Holds Forth

A few weeks ago I caught up with my new friend Calvin, from High Fade and his solo project Perry Dimension.

If the latter rings a bell, it’s because the instagram account associated with it had some viral memes. In a manner of speaking, Calvin represents exactly what social media has “done to drums”. That’s why I wanted to dig deeper.

Calvin and I first connected late last year when I saw him doing an exercises that reminded me of a tom flow thing I’d been practicing at the time. (A lesson that ended up earning me a rare reaction video.) I’d already seen the Instagram account loaded with drum comedy - covering Beatles songs with over-the-top drum fills with captions like “Ringo shoulda cooked here”.

If you’ve seen this meme, you can thank Calvin for its origin. It simultaneously participates in “everything that’s wrong with drums on social media” and critiques it. As do Calvin’s comically over-the-top out-of-context drum solos from live shows.

Anyway, after our initial conversation, I’d wanted to get Calvin back on, because behind the memes, he’s deeply dedicated to real, live music. (Unlike, I suppose, Yours Truly. I’m working on it, you guys;) As the drummer for High Fade, Calvin has tasted the tour life, and has thoughts on touring and record labels, and an ongoing inside joke about pink yachts. When I asked him to choose between “internet famous” with zero label interest and label interest but zero followers, he actually chose the latter. (The faster path to the pink yacht, to explain the yacht thing just a little more.)

And despite his theatrics and memes, if you peep Calvin’s solo project, Perry Dimension, it’s thoughtful and analog, and the songwriting and music video are clever.

Finally, as with all of my guests, I wanted to know how Calvin had become this good at drums by this point in his life. (22 years old as I write this.) His uncomplicated relationship with the drums reminds me a bit of Chris Turner’s. Calvin’s only known high standards for himself, so it wouldn’t even occur to him that there were people putting in less time on the instrument.

I hope you enjoy this light-hearted chat with Instagram’s funniest memer, who, under the surface, is so much more.