How to Practice Hand Drumming

Hand drumming is one of those activities that you can learn to do in an afternoon or two. The more you play and the more you enjoy playing, the better you are likely to become. If you'd like some specific suggestions about building your technique, the following exercises should come in handy. You will encounter many different advanced techniques specific to different regions and different styles of drum, but these basic techniques apply to almost any type of drum that you play by hitting it with your hands.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Experiment with the different sounds your drum can make. Specifically, the difference in sound of hitting it in the middle with your palm versus using just your fingers near the edge can be quite dramatic. There are also differences based on how quickly and how hard you hit, what part of your hand you use, and whether you are touching any other part of the drum. Practice a variety of different sounds, and try to get so familiar with them that you can make any sound you want consistently, using either hand.

2. Make up short patterns of sounds and repeat them. Try to repeat them consistently, making the same rhythm and the same sounds each time. Practice the same pattern for five minutes or more, concentrating on consistency. When you find this exercise very easy, repeat it with more complicated patterns, and try playing them at a variety of speeds.

3. Practice rolls. Drum rolls are one of the fundamental skills that you will probably want to practice a lot for hand drumming, involving many very fast and even strikes in a row. Start slowly, hitting the edge of the drum with your left hand, then your right, then your left, continuing like this at an extremely even pace. As you become more comfortable, practice this exercise as quickly as you can, but always concentrate on playing an even rhythm and keeping your body relaxed.

4. Practice accents. Accents are particular beats that are struck with special emphasis, usually loudly. Practice one of your favorite patterns repeatedly, but instead of playing it the same way all the time, change the accents. For example, hit the first beat hard for a while, then hit the third beat harder instead. Notice what a difference this makes in a pattern that is basically the same. This is one of the most important skills to practice for advanced hand drumming.

5. Improvise. While it's important to keep practicing patterns, don't feel bound to repeat the same thing all the time. Play one pattern a few times, switch to a different one when you want, and sometimes just play however you like, without worrying about repetition. Eventually you will find that you can play within the basic structure of a rhythm pattern, but make small changes that add interest to the music.

Tips & Warnings

• If you don't have a drum yet, do a bit of research on the different styles available. Although there are a vast range of hand drums available, from tiny to very large, many of the principles of playing them remain the same. One of the most important decisions you may have to make is what type of skin you would like on your drum. While some people prefer the sound of natural skin drums over synthetic, synthetic also has the major advantage of holding its tuning well under different weather conditions. There are a variety of natural skins available on drums, and all have their own unique properties. In the end, your decision about size, style and type of skin for your drum should all boil down to personal preference.
• A very common mistake of beginning drummers is to speed up unintentionally. While speeding up is fine if that's what you want to do, playing at a consistent speed is also an important skill. Try practicing with a metronome if you can, to make sure that you keep the same tempo.