How to Play Drums with Brushes

Brush technique on a Snare Drum

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How to get a softer, sexier sound on a set of Drums? Learn to set aside the wood sticks and pick up a set of Brushes to get music in to the right mood. Discover how Brushes are easier on the ear, yet quite fun to play.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

A set of Brushes
A Drum or set of Drums

Soften it up with Brushes!

Step1

Don't brush off brushes, they're cool! Get a proper grip. You'll use the same grip you use for sticks, but a much lighter touch. Much more wrist and finger tip control than arm. The Brushes are very light weight so they take far less energy to manipulate than Sticks.

Step2

Go for a combination of sounds. Brushes can be played much like Sticks to create a very soft, muffled type sound. The Cool Cats of the big band era were masters at using Brushes. They sound great along with an Acoustic Stand-up Bass. The best part of using Brushes is to swirl them across the drum head to get that great swishing sound. A quite challenging style is to swirl a brush on the head with one hand and play a beat pattern with the other at the same time. Much like patting yourself on the head and rubbing your stomach, it's a real test of coordination! That technique creates a really cool effect behind your beat pattern.

Step3

Choose the right set of Brushes. Brushes come in various types depending on what other sounds you want to create besides what you get when playing the Brushes across the Drum Head. Brushes are made with different materials on the butt end to make different sounds when stroked or swiped across the cymbals or other drums in your set.

Step4

Brushes are delicate instruments so treat them gently. The shaft of the Brushes dent easily. Try not to hit them on the Rim of the Drum while playing. Some types of Brushes are also retractable so the Bristles don't get damaged while in transport, . The Bristles can be pulled back up the shaft for protection. They can also be retracted only slightly to make the brushes play with more stiffness on the head.