The Formula One, the Civic and the 18-Wheeler: Three Metaphors That Can Help You Play Drums Better, Faster and Longer

• Posted on 31st May 2013
• in Drum Technique
• by Bill Gato

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Foundational Principles of the Buddy Rich–Henry Adler Technique, Part 1

Imagine that you owned three vehicles: a Honda Civic, a Formula One and an 18 Wheeler. If you lived five blocks away from your nearest supermarket and needed groceries, would you drive up in the 18 Wheeler? Would you rev up the Formula One? Or would you take the Civic?

If you said Civic, I commend you on your frugality and practicality. Most practical people would use their Civic.

Now imagine that you’re about to compete at the Indy 500. Would that same Civic help you win the gold medal? Would your 18 Wheeler zip past Mario Andretti? Certainly not. Your best choice here would obviously be the Formula One.

In my first lessons with students, I often use these three vehicle metaphors to describe the various muscle groups along their hands, wrists and arms. Understanding these muscles is critical to developing your technique. It’s important to know which muscle groups to employ for the right sticking at different tempos.

Here is how I equate these three vehicles with your muscle groups:

• 18 Wheeler = Forearms, Upper Arms (Bigger Muscles)
• Honda Civic = Wrists (Medium Muscles)
• Formula One = Fulcrum muscle, Fingers (Tiny Muscles)

So, what is each muscle group best suited for? And how can this understanding help you play faster, better and with utmost endurance? Here’s how:

Arms: Your forearms and upper arms contain big, strong muscles. These muscles are suitable for lifting heavy objects. Other examples: swinging bats, throwing balls, hurling javelins, chopping wood, swimming, punching (hopefully just a punching bag and not a person) or lifting weights. Here in sunny Miami we never see snow, but if we did, our arms would be great for hurling snowballs.

Wrists: Your wrists are perfectly suited to wielding drumsticks or mallets and playing at slow, medium and fast tempos. I tell my students that roughly 65 percent of their playing will come from their wrists, particularly in styles such as rock, pop or funk. Just as a good Civic can get you from Miami to Vancouver and back, your wrists can handle most of the demands you’ll need in drumming. These are your workhorses. They’re not the muscles you’ll use to win drum solo championships or speed competitions, but hey, most of the time we’re making music and serving the demands of a song and a band. No need for speed.

Hands: Your hand and finger muscles, such as the fulcrum (see photo), when used properly in combination with your wrists, are the best muscles for playing at the fastest speeds. Watch any great drummer with awe-inspiring speed (such as Buddy Rich or Jojo Mayer) and you’ll notice that they transition from their wrists to their fingers as they increase their speed. Roughly 30 percent of your playing will require the effective use of these smaller, nimbler hand muscles.

Beginners and even some intermediate and advanced students are often not aware of how they use the wrong muscle groups in their playing. As they attempt to increase speed when playing rolls or rudiments, they will (metaphorically speaking) switch to their 18 Wheelers instead of their Formula Ones. That’s actually the opposite of what they should do.

And it’s understandable. The increased tempo places a demand on their wrists. In struggling to meet that demand, the student subconsciously will attempt to assist with the strength of the larger arm muscles instead of the more suitable tiny hand muscles. Using your forearms to play a faster drum roll is simply not an effective or efficient use of your body. You can unnecessarily burn a lot of calories and even damage your drum heads.

Is there ever a need in drumming to use the arms? Sure. For entertainment. Visually, it’s exciting to see a drummer bashing and wailing away at his cymbals at a rock concert. Yet, a well-trained discerning drummer knows that drum bashing is only for show. There is one more use for the arms: loading and unloading your equipment to and from a gig. After all, some bass drums and cymbal hardware are heavy.

Studying the Buddy Rich–Henry Adler technique is like earning a license to drive all three types of vehicles and discerning which one to use at the right moment. It takes time, coaching, awareness and practice to gradually feel comfortable using the right muscles for the right drumming requirement.

Is it time for a trade-in? You can keep driving that 18 Wheeler to the corner supermarket.

For that errand, I’ll stick to my Civic.

Bill Gato is the Founder of Drum Lessons Miami, a South Florida blog and private instruction school that teaches the Buddy Rich-Henry Adler drumming technique. For more information, visit www.drumlessonsmiami.com or send an e-mail to [email protected]. 

Tags: Bill Gato, Buddy Rich, drum lessons, drum technique, drumming, drums, Henry Adler, miami