You don’t have to practice a song over and over and over to learn it, nor do you have to download drum tabs or sheet music in order to learn it the right way. We’re digging into a predictable, repeatable method you can start to implement in your song learning, practicing, and performing TODAY.

Yes, we’ll be talking a little about my favorite “cheatsheet” charting method. But that’s not the only piece of the puzzle when we’re talking about learning songs fast. After all, you want to be able to learn then perform songs without physically practicing if you’re in a hurry. We’re covering some powerful tips you absolutely must implement in order to pull off the no-practicing gig prep. You can do it, though, so let’s get going!

WATCH: How to Cheat at Learning Any Song Fast on the Drums

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God Bless,

Stephen

If you’re afraid that you’ll never reach that true comfort level on the kit where you’ve fully freed your hands from your feet…this lesson is for you! We’re taking a simple method from the book “Stick Control” and using it to free your feet so that you can play intricate grooves with ease.

Even if you've never heard of "Stick Control," no worries because I'll provide you with everything you need to get started!

We're going to apply various sticking patterns to different limb combinations, which will free your feet and teach your limbs to smoothly execute more intricate patterns. This stuff is cool, so I hope you get a lot out of this and are able to take this straight to your practice room. If you practice everything I’m about to show you, your coordination will improve a TON! I’ve seen it in so many of my students and in my own personal practice.

Here’s what you’ll be able to do if you...

If you’re struggling with coordination and improvisation and you don’t know where to turn…this lesson is most definitely for you. 

If you practice everything we discuss in this lesson, your coordination will improve a TON! I’ve seen it in so many of my students and in my own personal practice.

Here’s how this works:

We’re taking a simple rhythm from the popular method book “Syncopation” by Ted Reed, and we’re seeing how many ways we can play it on the drumset. You could probably create a near-infinite number of these variations, so we’re just going to create 5 versions in three popular drumming styles that you can take to your practice room today to greatly push your 4-way coordination.

This method is powerful, and it’s super practical and actionable. So let’s get going! Watch the video, then head to your practice room. :)

WATCH: IMPROVISE & Achieve Limb Independence with ONE Rhythm...

The solution for nailing those quick open notes on the hihats is actually pretty simple, and it all starts with coordinating your left foot.

The truth is, you CAN conquer the notoriously challenging hihat “barks” when you know what to practice. I’ll show you the best techniques for pulling these off as well as a practical exercise to get smooth open note barks happening in your grooves.

Here’s what we’re covering in today’s video!

• The ideal stick placement on the hats to achieve maximum contrast between your closed & open notes
• A simple exercise to help lock your left foot with either of your hands
• How to coordinate the mechanics of open notes, eventually building them into a groove
• How to ultimately “CHEAT” at all of this and play rapid barks on autopilot

Don’t miss this! Take action with your left foot and hihat creativity right now. Check out the lesson…

WATCH: The hihat bark CHEAT for nailing...

You as a drummer are only as good as your feet (technically speaking, at least).

You could be a drum corps marching band extraordinaire and blaze through every hybrid rudiment ever conjured up, but if your right foot can’t play in time….where does that leave you on drumset?

If you’re struggling to play fast on the bass drum…Or you’re able to play fast - but not clean and loud - today’s solution is for you. The best thing about this is that it works for any kind of foot technique, whether you’re heel-up or heel-down.

Here’s what we’re covering in today’s video!

• How to adjust your pedal for maximum speed & power
• How to get rid of bass drum “flutter” where the beater buzzes on the head
• A simple exercise to put everything into practice to solidify and strengthen your right foot
• BONUS: Discover your pedal’s “natural tempo,” which allows you to achieve...

During several college summers and falls, I worked at a local high school with the marching band. I generally worked with the front ensemble or “pit,” which consisted of all the mallet instruments, synthesizers, and other auxiliary percussion. This was a lot of fun, and a lot of it was right up my alley as a percussion performance major in college. I had never played in marching band myself, but I knew and understood the instruments the kids were playing.

To be honest, though, I always felt a little bit like a fraud in this job. This was classic “imposter syndrome,” where you feel like you don’t really know what you’re doing and you’re going to be “found out” at any moment. I felt like I was teetering on the edge of that cliff the entire time I worked this school job. The kids were great, the instructors were great, and the band director was a great guy to work for. But I always felt like I wasn’t really cut out for doing...

Sometimes the most practical, helpful thing you can do to be a better drummer is relax. Literally.

Relaxation is something we’ve learned to appreciate here at the Clark Household since having our baby 2 months ago! Any chance we can get pays off.

But it’s easy for me to say “relax!” while playing the drums, and it’s another to actually do it. Ultimately it comes down to a couple of things…

• Build up your playing from a technical standpoint so that you’re not constantly bumping a ceiling. Here’s a recent video that will help you with that.
• Physically relax while you play. Listening helps a bunch, and here’s a link to today’s video that will help you with exactly that (+ a bunch of additional tips for getting better sounds out of your drums!)

Beyond these two core tips, logging real-world playing experience with actual musicians is the best way to rapidly grow in these skills. But I also...