If you have a weak hand, odds are it's not gotten any stronger over the years. Meanwhile your strong hand has excelled. Why is this?

We’re answering this frustrating question today, and we’re digging into a super solid, 4-step method for fixing your weak hand once and for all.

Stop worrying about your slow, clumsy hand that can’t keep up with the other! Let’s deal with this. This is the method I put every one of my students through, and it really does have a 99% (if not 100%) success rate. If you follow these steps, you’ll get the same results too!

WATCH: The Foolproof 4-Step Method for Fixing Your WEAK Hand

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God Bless,

Stephen

As we’re getting into springtime, many of us are getting our hopes up that the gigs of 2019 we used to know and love will start to come back around. I know this is different for everybody depending on where you live, but I hope that you’ve at least been able to get back to rehearsing with your band or playing at your church if that's what you were doing pre-covid. Even if things aren't the way they used to be, any chance to play music with real people is a huge blessing!

I'm speaking to two groups of folks today:   

1. Those who lost gigs due to COVID.
2. Those who have always been wanting to gig…but just haven’t had the chance yet.

...and maybe there's a third group of folks who have no plans of gigging...but you know you want to get better at your instrument for your personal enjoyment and satisfaction, which is still awesome. Mastering an instrument is great, regardless of what you choose to do with that.

Besides the obvious of...

If you’re totally honest with yourself, what do you think the biggest obstacle is standing in the way of your growth on the drums? I have an idea what it might be, but think hard for a moment before you keep reading…

BIGGEST OBSTACLE:

Feeling demotivated because you feel like you don’t have enough time to practice nor the right resources to make sure you’re practicing the right things the right way. So as a result you don’t really practice much, and when you do you’re not getting much done.

Now I know I’m speaking to a wide audience, but this is something I’ve personally faced and seen a lot of other drummers face, too. If this is you, we want to help you break past this. Know this one thing:

You have to “show up” to your practice space, and you have to put in the work on a regular basis in order to grow.

Sounds pretty obvious, doesn’t it? But here’s the key. You have to show up and put in the...

There’s something you must lose if you want to gain speed, control, and stability on the drums. Maybe you can relate to this…

But first I have to hijack this email with something else I'm excited about. I hardly ever share personal, family stuff in these emails, but this is something I have to tell you.

My wife and I had a baby this month!

We're thrilled to welcome our new baby girl into the world and to spend less time sleeping and more time changing diapers. :) Life is super busy in a new way right now, but thanks to the modern technology of a digital business the Non Glamorous Drummer can keep humming along as usual. We now have an extra mouth to feed here at the Clark household, so be sure to enroll in my premium courses on the website. ;) Just kidding - This isn't a hard sell, so do what you want to. But if you do want to sign up for a course I won't stop you.

Ok on with today's promised email lesson...

When I was in high school, I had my chops together and I...

I learned the hard way that trying to impress other musicians with your playing will get you nowhere. That’s one of the biggest mistakes you can make, and I was making it constantly in high school and even into college.

When playing with other musicians, especially if they were well-experienced pros, my priority was constantly to “show them what I got” and make sure they could tell that I’m a “good drummer.” I felt like I needed to demonstrate at least a little of my technical ability every so often so that they knew I could play more than just groove and time. I needed to throw a 32nd note fill in there so they could see my facility around the kit. Most of all, I needed to look like I was working hard to make these things happen - because I was a “good drummer” with fast hands. Then after the gig I was pretty much just dying for feedback from the guys I’d played with. I wanted to hear anything - but especially some good...

I had the opportunity a little over a year ago to attend a masterclass by one of my all-time favorite drummers. This masterclass wasn’t a clinic, though, where a bunch of folks gather in a music store to listen to their favorite fusion drummer shred for an hour. This was a true “masterclass,” where the objective was to actually just hang out and have a Q&A session.

Only 12 slots were open, so the group attending was kept small. This allowed for more of a “hangout” kind of vibe, where the masterclass was all about group discussion instead of watching a performance. The entire event lasted for 3 hours, and it took place in a recording studio.

For the first hour and a half, we all sat in a circle in the tracking room and just asked this drummer questions. We talked about the music industry, getting paid, working in studios, how to learn songs, and lots more. It was really fun being in a room with 11 other guys my age who shared my exact interests and...

I was playing a church gig years ago with a bass player I’d played with a bunch. He was one of those guys who was a lot of fun to play with, and he had a keen interest in my personal growth on the drums, skill-wise and career-wise. That day he happened to mention a drummer friend of his he’d like me to meet…

Now this drummer-friend wasn’t just any drummer. He was a monster-player who was currently touring with a major act, and who had toured with several nationally-renowned bands in the past few years. He had played on several records I listened to a bunch in high school, so I felt like I already knew him. The realization that I could meet him had the introvert inside of me very nervous. But of course, I couldn’t resist.

I was able to get in touch with this drummer, and we set up a time to just hang out and chat. It’s amazing the power of a mutual friend!

As we conversed and got to know each other, I got the feeling that this guy already...

In February of 2015 I was wrapping up my college career and enjoying a final semester of smooth sailing to the finish line. I had already performed my senior recital the previous fall, and I was just finishing up a few class credits in the spring. I also had the time and opportunity to take additional lessons outside of school, so I reached out to a respected drummer in town whom my percussion teacher recommended. He solved a big struggle I had at the time by giving me some very counter-intuitive advice.

Now I was playing a bunch in jazz band at this time, and I was really working at being a solid jazz drummer. At the same time, I was also playing at my church every Sunday and playing in a cover band as often as possible. Genre-wise, I was gaining a lot of versatility just from these three groups alone. I had a problem, however, in the jazz realm.

Our jazz band director was constantly hounding me for not having the right feel in my ride pattern. Straight-ahead swing is...

Here’s the big thing I’m alluding to in the title… the one thing you need to possess in order to succeed on the drums…

It’s curiosity.

What do I mean?

Think back to when you were a kid. (This has been a fun daydreaming exercise lately, seeing as how life seemed so much easier back then!) Remember when you had an interest in something. Maybe it was the drums… Maybe it was drawing… Maybe it was rock polishing… Maybe it was digging holes in the back yard. What was the driving force behind all of these activities?

Curiosity.

What does curiosity do? It drives you to try things, to experiment, and to explore. As a kid you were curious about everything. The whole world was new to you, and everything was an exciting adventure.

Think back to the first time you listened to a record you liked. I bet that was a huge adventure of an experience. Remember the first time you listened to music and were emotionally moved by it....

In light of last week’s email about my first week of music school, I thought I’d share the most valuable and practical skill that I took away from 4 years in a university music program.

Here’s the cool thing: You don’t have to go to music school to gain this skill.

The most difficult class I ever took was ear training. In this class we had to “sight sing” melodies (read the notes on the page and sing the melody correctly without accompaniment), listen to and identify chord types, scales, intervals, and more, and listen to melodies and chord progressions and write out the exact notation for what we were hearing. This musical “dictation” was the most difficult and dreaded portion of the class for everyone. The funny thing, too, about this kind of class was that there was no possible way for anyone to cheat. YOU had to be able to sight sing your melodies for the professor. YOU had to properly write out...