Chopsticks for Dummies"
Originally Posted 11/04/2005
By Elmo
As all percussionists know, how well you play is directly influenced by
your wrist strength and your ability to control that strength. Many
percussionists develop this strength by doing many repetitive exercises that
strengthen the wrist. These exercises are called "chop builders". In this
article we will talk about building chops and controlling your hands.
The first part of chop building is stick height. A stick should never be
more then 4 inches off the drum in my opinion. By never letting the stick go
above this point you can easily move the stick in the right stickings and
right rhythms without struggling to get back on beat on time. Remember stick
height is the key.
To maintain a steady stick height stand in front of a
mirror, and make a mark about 4 inches above your snare on your mirror with
an expo marker(these are erasable). Next practice with just one stick. Let
the stick freely bounce on the head, but do not let it pass the line on the
mirror. Every time you pass it start over and do it again. I recommend doing
this for around 20 minutes on each hand. Your hand may be tired after this
the first couple of times but I guarantee it will make your stick height
uniform.
The second part of chops building is hand control. Your hand should
never move the stick, that is the job of your strong wrist. Moving your
wrist and not your hand increases speed. I know this by experience my first
year in marching band I used my hand to move the sticks...it drastically
slows down your response time and playing ability.
The best way to practice on improving your wrist is to play a simple rhythm on a pillow. The pillow
strengthens your wrist because of the no rebound property of the pillow. I
recommend doing this in an 8 beat one handed pattern.
RRRRRRRR LLLLLLLL...etc.
And when you can do the quarter notes with out moving your
wrists, move to a new patter.
RRLLRRLL LLRRLLRR...etc.
After one week of
this simple exercise you should start to notice and change in your wrists.
If at anytime your wrists begin to hurt, discontinue that exercise until the
muscles in your wrists heal. It is very easy to strain your wrists if you
move to fast through this exercise. I recommend doing it for at move 10
minutes a day for a week and then gradually move up.
Practice is the key. If you practice these exercises at least 3 times a
week your chops will begin to become stronger. To maintain strong chops, you
must have a steady practice schedule. I recommend practicing using this
schedule: Monday #1, Wednesday #2, Friday and Sunday-do both exercises.
Until next time drummers, play that drum with all of your spirit
and heart.
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