Drum practice is important. But, rudiments can become boring sometimes. Here’s how you can add variety to your practice and do it like a pro.
Now now…
I’m not saying that you should skip the routine practice of rudiments and beat counting…especially if you want a strong fundamental.
However, doing routine practice along can kill our interest in the drums pretty quickly.
So, here’s a quick tip to keep that motivation game strong.
Play randomly to backing tracks!
Backing tracks are simply music tracks with a missing instrument. They are more commonly used by pianists or guitarists.
But hey, drums are an instrument too.
Quick Tip – Select backing tracks with music that you are not familiar to
Choosing the hottest song on Spotify to start with is a BAD idea.
Trust me.
You know the song, you know how its played.
But…
You’re a beginner and have no idea how to play it.
Everything will sound off. Everything will sound weird.
And that’s the fastest way to kill your confidence.
Instead, select backing tracks of songs that you do not know. Or, user generated backing tracks.
The idea is to have fun, and to build up your familiarity with the sounds of your drum kit.
Where to find backing tracks for drummers?
- Wikiloops: Great place to find backing tracks from different genres. Free to use.
- Youtube: Just search for “drum practice backing track” and you’d get plenty of choices.
- Vic Firth: Of course they would have some useful resources eh. Free to use. Comes with PDF sheet music too.
- Karaoke-Version: You’ll find backing tracks from popular music here. Paid. (don’t use this unless you really want to kill your self-confidence)
Do you use any backing tracks for your own practice?
