How to Take Your Drumming Up a Notch (or Two)

This post is for the drummers who can hold down a solid groove, but want to make their playing “pop” within the mix. So, I need you to do one of two things with this post:

1. If you’re a drummer, keep reading, then share with your drummer friends.

2. If you’re NOT a drummer, share with your worship leader and drummer friends.

Cool—let’s dive in!

Basic Foundation

Alright, before you take your drumming up a couple notches, you have to meet some basic requirements:

• Standard backbeat in 4/4, snare on beats 2 and 4, kick drum on beats 1 and 3, keeping time on the hi-hat or ride cymbals with quarter notes and eighth notes.

• Half-time groove with backbeat on beat 3, simple syncopation with the kick drum, keeping time on hi-hat and/or ride cymbals.

• You can play 16th notes in the hands, using single strokes and double strokes.

• You can perform a basic paradiddle (RLRR, LRLL).

• It’s a plus if you can play the kick drum with heel-toe technique. (If not, you’ll get to work on it, using these next-level tips.)

Basically, you need to have some facility around the kit, keeping basic time and not getting turned around when you need to adjust the groove or your sticking patterns.

Step-Up No. 1: “Left-Foot Hi-Hat”

Most drummers can navigate the basic foundation above, playing with two hands and a single foot on the kick drum. But have you tried marking time with your OTHER foot on the hi-hat?

Yeah… it’s not so easy!

When you mark time on the hi-hat with your foot, it can help strengthen the sense of pulse in the groove, thickening the sound as you play your ride cymbal or a tom groove.

It’s best to start with quarter notes, or even more simply, mimicking the backbeat hits on the snare. Eventually, you can move to eighth notes, but I wouldn’t go as far as doing 16th notes—it’ll sound too “splash-y.”

Step-Up No. 2: “The In-Between Stuff”

I’ll let drumming legend Jeff Porcaro (Toto, Steely Dan, Boz Scaggs) explain this next-level tip (23:18–24:34):

Here’s what he’s saying: There are little “bits and pieces” that pro-level drummers add to their playing that make a groove feel more interesting within the mix. You may not hear everything, but if it’s subtracted, then the groove feels WAY different.

Much of this comes from using ghost notes, where you play the “in-between” with a reduced dynamic, compared to the primary parts of the groove, i.e., the backbeat, placement of the kick drum, crash cymbals to accent the phrase, etc.

Now, some of you probably have ghost notes mastered easily enough, often opting to play them on the snare drum. This is cool, but you might consider shifting part of your ghost-note patterns to the hi-hat. This works really well if your snare drum can’t seem to shake those annoying overtones or if something is vibrating sympathetically. Just shift your snare hand over to the hi-hat in between backbeat hits, and it’ll clean up your groove from sounding to “ring-y.”

The way I use this most enough when I have to fill in at church is on songs with a half-time feel, where I need to open up the space between “big” snare hits on beat 3, but still keep activity going without playing too many toms. In this pattern, my right hand always plays the ride cymbal, and my left hand plays the closed hi-hat and snare, alternately and then simultaneously.

Here, I’m using a variation of a paradiddle rudiment, and orchestrating between different parts of the kit. The end result is a multi-layered texture of contrasting, yet complimentary percussion timbres. Pair this with a kick drum placed on beat 1, and you’ve got a decent groove!

Step-Up No. 3: “‘Chops’ Playing (Or, Kick Drum = Just Another Tom)”

Many average drummers only think of their kick drum as a means to mark the foundation of the main groove. But what if I told you that this drum can also work as another tom to make your fills more interesting?

When you open your mind to see your kit in different ways, you open up new possibilities of expression, so viewing the kick as a “super low” tom helps you explore phrasing that wouldn’t otherwise be possible, especially if your kit is fairly basic, with just a couple of toms, a crash cymbal, a ride cymbal, hi-hats, and snare.

The outcome of this shift in thinking is that your playing starts to sound more like “chops”—as in, “Man! This guy’s got CHOPS!” The technicality is increased, which adds interest and pizzazz to your playing.

One of the first “chops” patterns you should learn is this:

R - R - L - L - K - K

Here’s a video from Rafael Silva showing you the basic pattern, and then progressively moving to faster applications across the kit:

Here, the kick drum steps aside from its normal role of marking the groove and becomes a continuation of your toms, but you get to use your foot, freeing up your hands to move around the kit! It’s worth noting that the faster you play this pattern, the more necessary it becomes to utilize heel-toe technique for the kick drum. Here’s a demo:

Recap

Here’s the gist of what you should try if you want to take your drumming up a few notches:

• Use your left foot to mark time in place where there is plenty of activity. It fills out the sound, thickening and strengthening the pulse.

• Play the “in-between stuff,” using ghost notes on the hi-hats and snare to add girth to the groove.

• Start building up “chops” by re-thinking your usual approach to the kit. Treat your kick drum like another tom, using it for fills with the rest of the kit, freeing up your hands to explore different phrasing.

• Expand your knowledge of technical skills, applying rudiments across the kit and using your body more efficiently (e.g., “heel-toe” technique for the kick drum).

Be blessed 👊✌️