If you’ve ever wanted to develop your coordination and independence, then you’re in for a treat! You’re in the right place!

The good news is, this works even if you’re a total beginner or even in the intermediate level already. Practicing the following exercises will also help you in what we call “Linear Drumming” where one limb doesn’t play alongside another.  Totally ibang topic na yung Linear Drumming, there are two categories pa jan, “Linear Groove” and “Linear Fill”. in tagalog, ibig sabihin ng linear drumming is walang part ng groove/fill na magkasabay yung kamay at yung paa, or even left and right hand. Pag may part ng groove or fill na nagkasabay ang either right, left na hand or leg, non-linear na agad yun!

Learning how to play linear is harder than playing non-linear patterns. Ewan, don’t take this as a science pero that’s what I personally discovered. The masters are also Jedis in playing linear groove, the force is with them. Yung mga Gospel Chops drummers like Tony Royster, Eric Moore, Chris Coleman, and many more, even yung mga legends like Dave Weckl, Vinnie Colaiuta, Steve Gadd at kung sino sino pa. Di ko kayang ilista dito lahat but many (if not all) of them are masters of linear drumming. 

Pero how do we learn this as beginners/intermediate drummers? Well, I just have quite the trick for you. Hindi ko sinasabing maso solve nito 100% ang problems mo sa coordination at independence pero I’m telling you, if you practice this efficiently, you will find breakthroughs in your playing!! Promise!

 

Here’s the Step by Step Guide:

-Step 1: Understand and learn the paradiddle pattern. 

Bakit paradiddle? Well kahit anong rudiments naman will work, it’s just that paradiddle is a combination of both single strokes and double strokes, so parang pinapractice mo na both rudiments in 1 tsaka paradiddle is also very even. In the sense that whether you start sa right hand or sa left, it always comes back evenly, in this sense nagiging pantay ang strength ng right and left hand mo. 

The pattern of Paradiddle is RLRR LRLL. 

R = Right hand, L = Left hand

 

-Step 2: Play the same pattern but on different limb combinations. 

Pag sinabi mo kasing paradiddle. Matic yan, drummers know na it’s a hand to hand combination. Pero what I want you to do is play the same pattern sa both feet mo. Then play it ng parallel na vertical, meaning, right hand and right foot then left hand and left foot (Technically di na RLRR LRLL yan pero think ‘single, single, double’).

Then practice it cross lateral, left hand to right foot, then right hand to left foot.

Your aim here is to play the pattern without consciously thinking about it. Gaya ng paglalakad, di naman natin iniisip na “Left.. Right.. Left.. Right”. Hahaha.. Di mo kailangang bilisan dito. Basta kaya mo lang sya matugtog without thinking about it. 

 

-Step 3: Up the speed

If you’re able to play the pattern in different limb combinations na. You can aim to play it in a metronome. Start slow, around 60 or 70 bpm. Then aim to hit to reach speed up to 90-100. Di mo naman to need na maipabilis ng sobra. Our goal here is only to free up yung limbs natin to be able to play independently. Kung kaya mo na siya ma play at around 90-100 BPM, you’re good to go!

-Step 4: Play the patterns in 1 go pero in different limbs. 

Baka kasi nakakalito. And this one is not on the video. Bonus mo na to for reading this. What I mean here is play the pattern ng ina alternate mo yung limb combinations. Instead of just focusing on 1 limb combination, do it in 1 sweep ng pinapasadahan mo lahat. 

I don’t know how to better explain this than to compare it with dribbling a basketball. You can just choose to dribble it with 1 hand, let’s say left hand lang for 5 minutes, then stop. Tapos, right hand lang for 5 minutes, then stop ulit. Then crossover naman, tapos stop ulit. That’s NOT what I want you to do.

Ang gusto kong gawin mo is, in 5 minutes, practice mo lahat, i dribble mo sa left, ilipat mo sa right, tapos mag crossover ka, basta do it randomly.

-Bonus Tips

* Start slow.  Understand the pattern first. To the level na kaya na siya i play ng katawan mo with consciously thinking, then speed up 

* You can practice this ng pantay lang ang pattern, pero if you want to play it with a bit of a challenge. Pwede mong lakasan (lagyan ng accent) yung mga unang hit. Example. Instead na i play mo sila ng magkakasing lakas RLRR LRLL. Pwede mong gawing Rlrr Lrll. Capital letters are played loudly tapos small letters are played very softly.

That’s about it! Here’s the video for better understanding: