In my humble opinion, this is the most important lesson there is. I was lucky by stumbling into a drum and bugle corps marching tympani line when I'd only been playing a few months. We were taught the French grip technique from square one. Our instructor always stressed how relaxed our grip needed to be while playing. When we were playing, he would occasionally reach out from behind and hit one of our sticks. If it didn't fly out of our hand, we were doing it wrong. RELAX. Think of it this way... you're only pushing the stick down to the drum, the drum will give it back.
Top lesson and advice as usual, Mike. I'm not bad with my right (dominant) hand, but the left feels like learning to walk all over again. But, as you say, it's a long game and I'm in it for the long haul, so back to the pad I go. Cheers 🍻
Just found your channel. Great stuff man! I’ve played guitar for 20+ years and have dabbled with drums but have recently decided to actually work on becoming proficient at it. Very frustrating at times but gotta keep pushing through! Keep the vids coming! 🤘
Thanks Mike. Good vid with an honest message to practice this important physical technique. Going to employ your tips into my daily life and get my left hand to catch up to my right. Something that I have put off and put off in the hope it would happen naturally but as a right handed drummer, the left hand does have an easier time, so intervention is required. Btw, I'm new to your videos and would just like to say what a grand job you are doing. You're my go-to drum fella on here now. Have subscribed and enjoy receiving the pop up messages for your videos. Great work 👏
I’ve been trying to find a good video on finger technique for months and have watched quite a few. This for me explains things in a relatable way for a newbie like myself, especially as I’m middle aged so don’t learn things as quickly so thanks so much. Love your slowed version of Totos Hold The Line as well as I’m a massive fan of the band and Jeff Porcaro is one of my influences. I’m working on bits of that video so that I’m taking techniques back to the music. Great videos Mike!
Not necessarily IMO. Don't think there's such a thing as "too loose" unless you're dropping the stick or not in control of it! Cheers for watching Bruce.
I practice exactly this right now. But i have the Problem that i kill the rebound with my fingers using the german grip. With the french grip it works. Not that fast but it works. But with the german grip the stick is not coming up by itself 🤔🙄 Maybe you can help me what I am doing wrong?
Hi ash, whole playlist of bass drum material here: ru-vid.com/group/PLcfoni8UPb9rfMKiVUYJVO6C7lBcKZNvb BUT I use and teach heel-up technique, so you'll find me doing that in all videos. I personally only use heel-down for very light playing such as feathering the bass drum in jazz. Always found heel-up much more efficient and powerful for general playing, especially for quicker playing. Cheers!
Jan Keuter This! Just keep going, obvs think about keeping loose, go slow and steady and build your speed and skill. It takes time man! Thanks so much for watching :)
@@MikeBarnesDrumsok thanks, just wanted to make sure I wasnt missing something. I'm in the market for a stand-mounted practice pad while my VDrums go into storage, and can't decide what to get yet
Jérôme Petit Vic Firth Extreme 5a. Bit longer than the regular 5a which I really like, they bounce great! Available here: Check out this list Drum Sticks from Mike Barnes Drums www.amazon.co.uk/shop/mikebarnesdrums?listId=1YXWGWOAP28X7&ref=exp_inf_sh_list_own_mikebarnesdrums Thanks so much for watching man :)
Hi mike! Just wondering if you have any tips on soundproofing a room? Or at least deadening the sound a bit, are there any methods you’ve used in your new studio?
Hi, well we were lucky here because we're kind of in the middle of nowhere, so there's not really anyone to disturb. We put the panels on the wall which I describe here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2I4YrtRxz10.html, but they were mainly for acoustic treatment of the room rather than soundproofing per se. Cooper Drummer's video sums up soundproofing rooms for drummers pretty well: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-gYgTbesF1FU.html