There are many things that you can do to impress your audience as a drummer. I am going to explain a bunch of different ways to make people notice you more, but I want you to take into consideration that modesty is also a major part of being a drummer. Depending on what type of band you are in, your leader/frontman may not appreciate a drummer that is constantly showing off every time he/she has a chance. If you choose to show off at the wrong time you will find yourself out of a job as a drummer. That being said lets take a look at some of the things you can do to help get you noticed.
Believe it or not, the way that you setup your kit makes a huge difference. People will notice a lot of the little things that sometimes drummers don’t even notice. For example things like kit color, how big the drum kit is, how high the cymbals are, and how many voices of the drum kit the drummer is playing all at once, all make a big difference on how your audience will perceive you as a drummer. Usually, the bigger the kit setup, the more response you will get from a crowd!
Stick spinning can be very effective to help people notice you. When playing a constant 8th note hi hat/snare beat, try spinning your sticks a little, you will notice what a difference that makes! It is essential that you are 100% confident with your stick spinning before you go to perform. Always remember “don’t practice when you’re performing, and don’t perform when your practicing” which means that if you cant do something totally perfect, don’t play it in front of an audience, dropped sticks, and the sound of clicking sticks are going to distract your audience much more than impress them. After your show everyone will be talking about how you dropped your stick. So make sure you practice before performing! A great practice method is to go through the book and DVD called Drumstick Spinology. This is a great tool for learning over 100 different stick tricks and spins!
If you are ever in a situation where someone asks for a drum roll, wouldn’t it be amazing if you could just perform a drum roll with only one hand? It would totally shock whoever made the announcement. If you got good enough at it you could even use your other hand to do some stick spins and it would instantly get people talking about how amazing you are at playing the drums.
This technique is also perfect if you ever find yourself in a situation where you have a drum-battle or drum competition. I’ve seen situations where a drummer performs a one handed drum roll, and it just leaves the other drummer in complete shock, they can’t even comprehend what is going on.
The one handed drum roll is actually quite easy to learn and master, but the secret is slowly getting out, check out Jared Falk’s One Handed Roll DVD and learn how to master this technique so you can impress your friends, your audience, and fellow drummers!
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