The 3-Part Daily Practice Routine

How to achieve consistent growth in just 30 minutes every day

Let’s Get Started

We all have busy lives, and learning the drums most definitely is a time investment. But
you don’t have to spend hours and hours practicing every day to grow on the
instrument. When you know the correct things to practice…and the correct way to
practice them… you can progress consistently and steadily day after day - even with
just 30 minutes of practice each day!

The 3 Parts

A well-rounded practice session includes hand technique and foot technique work,
coordination practice, and something musical that isn’t so technique-focused. Here’s
how I like to break it down:

PART 1: Hand Technique (p.2-3)

• Basic rudiments - singles, doubles, paradiddles.

• Focus isn’t on speed, though. We’re using these exercises as tools to work our
grip & rebound.

PART 2: Coordination (p.4-11)

• Grooves, patterns, exercises, etc. to push your coordination.

• Use this as an opportunity to work the feet specifically, by practicing rudiments

with your feet (works foot technique as well).

PART 3: Music (p.12)

• Always be in the process of learning a song (or 2 or 3 or 4 songs). This is the big
WHY! You didn’t get into the drums so you could practice paradiddles with your
feet. You want to make music.

• Spend just as much time listening to music through headphones as you do

physically practicing the drums. This is how you learn what to play in musical
situations, and you develop your taste and instincts. This is important.

*Remember that our goal each day isn’t to practice everything in all three categories. That’s
crazy! Instead, pick one thing from each category - one thing to get better at today. Maybe that
means you practice rebound, foot rudiments, and one particular song on day 1. Then day 2 you
practice doubles, a challenging groove that’s pushing your coordination, and you continue
working on that favorite song. You get the picture. This is how you make steady progress when
you don’t have 3 hours each day to practice.*

But now it’s time to dig into the meat of this lesson. On the following pages you’ll
find lots of notation and tips to help you develop your own specific practice
routine.


1
Part 1: Hand Technique

Practice Tips:

• We’re using these rudiments as tools. They are the “what,” but remember that the
“how” is more important. We’re using these to work on grip, looseness, and
achieving smooth rebound (and we’re practicing them SLOWLY!).

• Practice these around the kit. Just orchestrate them randomly once you’re feeling
solid just on the snare. Be able to play them on different surfaces while still
maintaining loose grip and great rebound.

• Practicing anything on the kit can still count as hand technique if that’s what
you’re focusing on while practicing. With that in mind, play basic grooves and
basic fills over and over again while watching your hands closely.

• Remember that each day you’re picking ONE thing from this category to focus on
and grow in within each session. Don’t try to cover everything in one day.

• Method book recommendation: Stick Control by George Lawrence Stone

SINGLES

DOUBLES

PARADIDDLES

2
BASIC GROOVE

The “Money Beat” (aka, the “Billie Jean” beat):

3
Part 2: Coordination

Practice Tip:

• Getting your limbs coordinated is not rocket science. It just takes patience and
repetition. Yes, it can be frustrating and painful when you just can’t quite get your
feet to do what you want them to. But work hard at this, because it’s all worth it.
This is how you get to where you can play anything you want to play.

• I’m about to throw a bunch of stuff at you here. But remember that our goal is to
pick one “coordination thing” to work on every day. Don’t try to get through all of
this immediately. Take your time.

Foot Rudiments

SINGLES

DOUBLES

PARADIDDLES

Bonus Tip: Once you get comfortable playing these with your feet, get creative and
add in the hands. You could start by playing 8th note time with your right hand, and you
could even add in a backbeat (snare hit on beats 2 & 4) with your left hand. This is a
really fun challenge, and it really pushes your independence.

4
Rudiments Between Hands / Feet

You’ve learned singles, doubles, and paradiddles between your two hands and two
feet, but it’s now time to mix them up between hands and feet. This is challenging to
do smoothly and steadily, but practicing this is worth it. You build a LOT of
coordination and limb independence doing so.

Singles Between Hand & Foot:

Doubles Between Hand & Foot:

Paradiddles Between Hand & Foot:

Bonus Tip: Like we can do with the foot rudiments, add in something interesting with
your right hand. You could play 16ths or 8ths as timekeeping, plus you could add in left
foot quarter notes. If you pull that off, you’re really pushing your coordination. Limb
freedom will skyrocket at this point!


5
Rudiments Over a Foot Ostinato

Time to take the rudiments to another level! Try playing singles, then doubles, then
paradiddles over a couple of different foot patterns. Start with these below.

Basic foot quarters pattern

Bossa Nova pattern

Samba-style pattern

Practice Tips:

• Remember that the snare 16ths can be any hand pattern. You could play it just
with one hand, or you could use both to play the patterns I mentioned. Or you
could totally switch it up to create your own hand patterns. You could also mix in
accents and create dynamic changes.

• Same goes for the foot patterns. Create your own, too!


6
Grooves w/ Left Foot Timekeeping

For this section we’re going to use some basic grooves to work the left foot. After all,
the most common context of left foot action is timekeeping during a groove. We need
to be able to play whatever we want with our left foot while playing anything else with
our other limbs.

Here’s how these groove exercises will work:

Step #1: Add left foot (hihat chick) on 2 & 4 to whatever grooves you’re already
working on. If you’re totally new to this, start with the most basic groove.

Step #2: Also add left foot on beats 1 & 3 so that you’re playing every quarter note.

Step #3: Now practice switching your left foot pattern over from the “beats” to the
“ands.”

TIP: Remember to focus on just one of these each day. We’re actually picking just one
thing from the entire coordination section, so you might not even pick one of these if
you opt to do foot rudiments instead. Either way, you get the idea. Don’t try to master
all these at once. Take your time.

Groove #1 (basic groove):

7
Groove #2:

Groove #3:

8
Groove #4:

Groove #1 (w/ RH on hihat):

9
“Syncopation”-Style Exercise

Practice Tips:

• Practice reading the rhythms first. For instance, m.1 is “1 - - AND - AND 4 -” or (1-
and-2-and-3-and-4-and - bold counts represent the notes) Click here to listen to
what the rhythm below sounds like.

• Then practice playing the rhythms whichever way you’d like. Then get creative
with it…

• We could play a basic groove with snare 2 & 4 and RH 8ths, and make the rhythm
below our kick pattern.

• We could play a Bossa Nova Latin-style groove and make the rhythm below our
crosstick pattern on the snare.

• We could play jazz time (jazz ride + left foot HH 2 & 4) and play the rhythm below
on the snare.

• The options are limitless, and I’ve had students even create their own methods of
playing these kinds of exercises. Remember that flexible, versatile methods that
can grow with us are the best. This is a prime example of that. You can practice
this same exercise below over and over again for years, learning new skills from it
each time. Have fun and stay creative!

10
Coordination-related method book recommendations:

• Realistic Rock by Carmine Appice | This is a great beginner rock method that
quickly becomes advanced. It’s a versatile book with multiple ways of playing
every groove and exercise, so it can grow with you. It’s also a very fun way to build
your rock vocabulary.

• Syncopation by Ted Reed | This book is full of exercises like the one on the
previous page. You can practice these rhythms so many different ways that you’ll
never run out of something to work on. This is a legendary method, and so many
drummers have build deep coordination by working this stuff.

• Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer by Jim Chapin | Another

legendary method, this method dives into advanced coordination as it relates to
jazz and bebop. These exercises are some of the hardest I’ve ever played, but
they’ve been an integral part to my coordination growth.

Final thoughts on coordination…

This is the longest section in this e-guide because coordination is an endless topic with
endless potential solutions for you.

Here’s the deal. You can’t really go wrong with what you practice here. Start by working
all the exercises I’ve given you right here. Then grab Realistic Rock, then Syncopation,
then the Chapin book if you’re interested. Don’t overwhelm yourself. You don’t have to
practice everything out there in order to become well-coordinated. Sometimes it’s more
about finding a few things that work and sticking to those.

Remember our big tip: Don’t try to practice all this stuff at once! Pick one thing to grow
and excel at. Then move on to something else.


11
Part 3: Music

The coordination section of this guide is deep, but music can go even deeper.
However, I can’t spoon feed you this stuff. I can’t force my favorite music on you or tell
you what you need to go listen to and learn. It’s all up to your personal taste and
preference. Having said that, here are some tips for making serious musical progress
on the drums to balance out all that technical facility you’re now gaining!

Tips for big-time musical growth…

• Really listen to music, and do it often. Listen to a new song through headphones
every day. You don’t have to learn it and play it on the drums immediately - Just
listen to it. Practice listening for details in the recording. Pay attention to the exact
drum parts, and ask yourself “why did the drummer play that?” A lot of times the
drum parts directly relate to the melody of the song and the other parts the other
musicians are playing.

• Grab this totally free e-guide I put out recently that teaches you exactly how to
listen skillfully. Ultimately the guide teaches you how to learn any song in under an
hour, with the eventual goal of conquering a song in just a few minutes. Learn the
unique, 5-step method that teaches you ANY song by ear in 60 minutes.
Download the guide right here!

• Save this part of your practice for last. Also remember that this part of your
practicing doesn’t need to be physical practice every day. You can work hard at
your hand technique and coordination, then reward yourself afterward by just
chilling and listening to music. Some days you may choose to practice a song,
other days you may choose to just listen. The point is to activate the “musical,”
creative side of your brain.

• Find a favorite band or favorite artist, and dig their stuff. Then find out what
drummer played on most of their recordings, and see what else that drummer
worked on. Sometimes you find that a particular drummer is the common thread
amongst music you like. This is a great way to find a favorite drummer. A lot of
times these studio guys fly under the radar and aren’t as well known as other
“band” drummers who make their living touring. You may find, though, that a
particular studio drummer is actually your most-listened to drummer and the
player who influenced your playing the most.

• Check out this recent video on the channel about how to play simply, tastefully,
and musically without being boring. These tips were major turning points for me.
Once you learn to listen, your playing automatically becomes more mature and
tasteful. Enjoy! WATCH: Make Your Simple Groove Sound PRO in 3 Steps -
WITHOUT Being Boring!

12