Welcome to Diddy 3.."Hand Coordination - Swing Feel". Here I have published a few exercises which I think might be useful as a starting point in the process of developing the ability to play opposing rhythms between both the left and right hands...kind of like an introduction to hand coordination for the beginning "Jazz Drummer"...or for those drummers who have not had that much experience playing jazz (swing) music.

The right hand (left for lefties) plays the ride cymbal beat constantly as opposed to the changing rhythm of the left hand (snare drum)...or vice a versa. We must free the left hand to do whatever we wish, no matter what the other limbs (Right Hand, Left or Right Foot) are doing. The ultimate goal here is to free up all the limbs in order to play freely and rhythmically opposed to each other. As a starting point lets concentrate on the snare drum hand (right or left..whichever you are used to). The rhythms here are triplets which, in the beginning, will assist you in developing a smoother and rounder feel to your swing pattern (cymbal groove). Practice each exercise slowly and smoothly until all the notes are falling in place. Assuming that you have gotten the cymbal beat pretty much under control from the previous lesson, and after you have practiced the snare drum patterns against the constant cymbal groove, try to eventually forget about the cymbal and concentrate only on the snare drum....the ride cymbal will take care of itself. This, however, is not to say that you should not check yourself once in a while to make sure that all the notes are falling in place correctly. Remember...practice SLOW.

Once the hands are together, add the Hi Hat on 2 & 4....for now, forget about the Bass Drum. We will concentrate on that later....one thing at a time. Again, remember...SLOW, SMOOTH, CONCENTRATE and LISTEN and most of all DON'T GET DISCOURAGED. These exercises may seem difficult in the beginning but....."ALL GOOD THINGS TAKE TIME".

Well, that's it for now. I'll add another tip soon so come on back. HAPPY PRACTICING!

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