Tiger Bill’s Speed Lesson #52: Developing the Weak Hand - Part 3

This month we continue with our exercises specifically designed to strengthen your weak hand. This will allow you to develop equal speed, power, endurance, and precision with both hands. If you missed last month's lesson, please go to the lesson section at DrumMagazine.com and work on Lesson #51 "Developing the Weak Hand - Part 2" before proceeding to this one.

Video Lesson

Study the written exercises below before accessing the video clip. The line marked S is to be played with your strong hand and the line marked W is played with your weak hand. You should be practicing these exercises daily and keeping track of your progress in a notebook. Write down each exercise along with a metronome tempo that you can play easily without tension. Repeat each exercise for at least 3 minutes without stopping. Once you become comfortable playing the exercises separately, play them one after the other. The entire three exercises should take you 9 minutes to complete. Each day you should try to increase your metronome speed.

If you have followed my instructions in last month's lesson, you should be practicing the first two parts (6 exercises) of this series for 3 minutes per exercise for a total non-stop practice time of 18 minutes. This month we'll be adding another 3 exercises and another 3 minutes to our practice routine for a total of 27 minutes. To get the most benefit from these exercises, you should be practicing non-stop for a full 27 minutes each day.

Additional Workouts

Once you get good at practicing these three exercises as explained above, reverse the sticking and play the Strong (S) line with your weak hand and the Weak (W) line with your strong hand. You shouldn't have to devote nearly as much practice time but this variation will help keep both of your hands balanced and equal in speed, power, endurance, and precision. At this point in your study, you will be adding an additional 27 minutes to your practice time for a grand total of 54 minutes! For more information on drumming without tension, visit TensionFreeDrumming.com.

Questions on this month's lesson can be sent to me at .

Until next time: Stay loose and have fun!

Tiger Bill Meligari