Want to Play Fast Chops on Drums? Learn These 4 Things 

Probably one of the most useful videos I’ve watched on the topic of chopping and soloing

This episode will probably explode. Everything is spot on as usual but with a content "everybody" want.✌️👍

Growing up in church back in the early 2000s the best drummer would never share these techniques. It was a top dog type of environment. Now with RU-vid Ive revisited my desire to learn chops.

RllK Is the JP bovet special, he really goes deep on that. Great video

Nate, IMO, this is the BEST instructional drum channel on RU-vid. Keep up the great work. I love your videos.

The only thing missing in this lesson is that i also would apply all that stuff also in triplets and sextuplets cause a lot of these choppers do this especial in tempos where 32nd are too fast

my favourite lecturers ive noticed have seemingly completely unrelated hobbies, love making strange analogies that make you remember things way better etc. you remind me of them, and i have learnt a ton from your videos. thanks nate

If you want to be “authentic” (generic) Berklee/Gospel Chops, make sure to strip out the dynamics and only play forte, so it sounds like a midi file. I guess you get dynamics if you graduate? 🙃 But seriously, I think it might be cool to deep dive into the Yoda of linear drumming, Gary Chaffee Patterns series and how to study a new book (if it’s new to you. You haven’t really talked about Chaffee, if I remember right).

As someone who has the Solo Course- this was a great refresher and if you liked this, you’ll LOVE the course!

Great video! Thanks!

Nicely done. Thnx Nate 🔥👌🏽🥁

Thanks nate keep the info coming

Another awesome video ❤

Amazingly useful explanations and ideas. You are amazing at this. Props!! 🎉

Loved this video and the transcription

As ever, a great breakdown. Really appreciate your shared insight to the possibilities.

so great, thank you!! gonna rock these proper

Awesome, thank you very much!

Great class

Thanks Nate your explanation is spot on.

I love this... Thanks for explaining it in this way.

Glad to see you over 100k subs now. You were so close for ages. Well done you deserve it.

Really inspiring Nate. You are a great drummer; congrats.

Really inspiring and informative - thanx Nate 😃🥁💕

Thx for the time & effort you put into this!👌

Great video! Love the decoding terminology as well. Very clear, tangible and has utility. Thank you

Thank you.

Great lesson 80/20 TY!

Going to have to listen to this one a bunch of times. Rarely will I use it with the band. But when I do it will really be exciting. Thanks!

This might be the most helpful vid on this topic 😭 thank you Nate!!! You sound so crispy doing this stuff!

Lovely. 👌🏻

Definitely a great way to explain it and will open way more vocabulary and phrases for when playing chops. You broke it down in a perfect way that makes it simple to connect the dots. You're the man nate!

Nate, this is one of the most informative useful videos I've seen in a while. Thank you!! This is a really great video lesson. Much appreciated!! Great job!! 🙏🥁🎶

Really helpful🙏🏽

I appreciate this info!! I’ve been self taught and wondered what was being played in a lot of this stuff! I can hear the combos and patterns!! I greatly appreciate your gift and input with those inspiring to be where you are at with the craft!!!!!

This is soo good!!!

Kudos for breaking it down so logically into useful concepts!! Great great great video, Nate!! Thank you!

Nate, outstanding breakdown here. Thank you! I agree with whomever said, “this lesson should explode.” I’ve watched you for a long while, but at my playing level, not much of what you’ve said was useful yet. This though, as well as your “ergonomic kit set up” interview a few weeks ago, both hit home for me. To the naysayers, he said right at the beginning, this doesn’t replace fundamentals; chops are fun spice, just remember to eat your veggies first.

every clip I see of Giribaldi that I've never seen is more inspired than the next. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you so much, this opened a part of my brain that I couldn't reach before...

Thanks I signed up for more Trasncriptions

Thank you smart drummer man

Excelent!

All good tips. "Practice slow to play fast" is one of my favorites, as it seems to apply in most situations. One other point to consider, is the power of odd-number groupings on a 16th note grid. A case could be made for everything breaking down into 3- & 2-note groupings. The thing that I like best about that concept, is that it facilitates playing across the barline. It also leads to accent patterns that make a run of 16th, or 32nd notes more interesting.

Great vid

we can only admire you

Not that I'm great at this sort of thing, but this is basically my approach as well, although I don't really think of it as linear vs. diddles when I'm playing. In my head, I'm just thinking about short accent patterns and which drums I want to play those accents on. Then I let that guide my hands and feet. It's more like combining singles and (usually inverted) doubles, occasionally substituting some notes with the bass drum, and occasionally adding in short phrases like KRL or RLKK. I didn't get very far with it, but Gary Chaffee's system of linear drumming works for a lot of people. I like his mixed stickings system better - a specific number of singles followed by an indeterminate number of doubles - although you have to figure out how to incorporate the bass drum.

Sounds good nate. Now hit em like you mean it

0:20 "OW MY NECK HAAAAAALP" - Ya'know, I actually had ... IMPOSSIBLE😅 ... problems with speed until a couple years back. Like, stuck for a decade problems. My progress flew forward after I got so disgusted, that I flipped my kit lefty-backwards, & played the old punk rock my right hand was trained on. I figured both, my left hand would have nowhere to hide now, & that it would go through the same progression my right hand did. During the time I was stuck, I was trying to copy the thumb on top blastbeat video that a million people have done. I quickly found that you simply can not copy training of dynamic tension. All that going for a cymbal, a ride bell, a travel from hats to ride & back, & all the time throwing the stick or holding it too hard, trains your tension over time. There was no way a pad was going to fix this. It also got me out of obsessing over thumb on top + fingers = speed since on the kit, my german/french/american grip was simply dynamic based on angles. One thing I have found recently, is how I hold the stick. Idk if anyone does this or if there's an name for the grip, but I've never seen a video on it. I don't even hold it between my thumb pad center & my pointer finger anymore. That's where I'm used to seeing the balance point. - Well now, my balance point is almost my full palm. The stick actually rests inside where the thumb+pointer is, & my thumb is almost pressing upward on the stick it's so far on the side. - The tops of my fingers are very curled, & my grip is very closed, but it is also extremely bouncy this way & feels more connected to what my intended actions do. - The exact fulcrum point actually feels like my palm, directly under where my pointer finger starts, but it also seems to spread to the whole grip. - It feels more that I'm pulling the stick into my palm to get a strike, instead of throwing it behind my thumb+pointer fulcrum. This also makes my pinky extremely active when I play. I get a TON more return pressure into my grip (or perhaps just sensitivity), but also, it doesn't feel sharp & wrong, like if you hold way off the balance point or something. What this grip also does, is decrease how effective fingers are at slower consistent tempos (or I need practice) & my wrist has to take over at higher tempos than I used to play using my wrists. At the same time though, I have gained a bunch of speed & control in my fingers. When I do doubles, its like I'm pushing & pulling away from the fulcrum with my fingers on one side of that part of the palm under the pointer, & my thumb+pointer on the other side. It ends up feeling like I'm pulling a "flat" line of pressure into my grip. I found this through experimentation so it probably needs cleaning if it's an existing technique, but it feels so fast , so sensitive, with more control over pressure.

My favorite song with fast chops is Tool - Pneuma,, Danny Carrey killed it with this one

I grew up on skate rock drumming (hardcore punk speeds) so that helps speed if you start early.

unique

I tend to think my right foot leads and my hands just fill in but thinking 3/2, then 4/1, then 2/1, etc.. could be a good practice exercise to build some chops. do that pattern but mix up the sticking and see what happens.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion I personally enjoy learning about chopping. It is just another tool to be used when appropriate also it elevates. our knowledge it is important to learn some thing every day that you don’t already know that’s where growth comes in there’s certain styles of music that I personally don’t like however, I listen to them to better understand what is being played and why so don’t look at this is I hate text from one Drummer to another, let’s keep the groove pushing and keep it on the one. Enjoy your day.

yeah i think the key words here are linear drumming and ghost notes. the way i learned how to play like this is by learning a few linear stickings and playing around with dynamics and the drums you do them on. eventually once you're fluent in these they'll get easier to slide in when you're improvising

Could you do a video on CJ Thompson?

Maybe you should do a video of going between gospel chops, buff hello kitty, and chris dave/ neo soul grooves. I kinda find it hard to go from chopping into hello kitty if you catch my drift

The king of chop's Keith moon

Its would be cool to hear your set cranked up a bit. this kinda sounds jazzy. Lets see you get that fusion kit out. more toms!!

dynamics, dynamics, dynamics.

Nate, what's your view on keep quarter/8th notes on your left foot while shedding this type of material? Useful coordinator or Achilles heel?

they play a lot of single notes right!!

Berkley Chops

I call hitting the hi hat a flare and not a bark but I will allow it this time I suppose

Is it actually true that if you can play this stuff slow, then you will eventually be able to play it fast? Because I can literally play all of this at 75% speed in any configuration of combinations( including the fancy doubles and cross overs and whatever else I see in the videos). But when it comes to playing it at regular speeds I cannot process the combos. At 100% speed I revert to combos I already know which are much more basic/ ubiquitous. Like the Portnoy fills, single stroke rolls (which I personally don't think are very creative even with interesting orchestrations like Buddy Rich or Denis Chambers use) paradiddles, etc. Because if it's true that in order to play fast you need to play slow then I'll just shed it slower from now on. Otherwise, I feel like it would be a huge waste of time as it wouldn't be getting me any closer to being able to play it at speed. cheers!

It’s actually gospel chops before Berkeley chops

Wait do you get cancelled for saying gospel chops now? Yikes

YOU’RE not gonna get calls to play like this on a gig but these are “Gospel Chops” techniques, developed in church basements..It’s normal, perhaps even expected to play like this in many churches..Not frowned upon…It’s “norm de’ riguer “ as a matter of fact..And most of the live clips he shows are of working, touring drummers..Excellent video and breakdown, one of his very best.

F*cking Zac Grooves... I can't even tell what he's playing.

It's called worship

I give it a shot to stay open minded but i still hate chops. I hate how it sounds and i hate how it kills the groove. But it’s a great list of exercises.

amphetamines?

Secret step 0. Be black?

I am sure I’m going to get him lots of negative comments for this but I really despise this style of drumming I really don’t see the point of this when the drummer’s job to sit back play the groove pill when you need to and service the song over one’s self OK let the hate mail start.

This style of “chopping” sounds like random nonsense.