Latest Stuff…
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Milestone: 65 BPM Left Hand Strokes
Today I practice my left hand finger strokes at 65 BPM. My first bump in tempo since I started using a metronome to track it. It’s on the edge of my ability. And I do have to take breaks from fatigue. I only did about 20 minutes today, mainly because I want to also work
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Sabian Quiet Tone Classic
When I search online for good practice pads, it’s interesting to me how many there are. And there are lots of videos that go through dozens and dozens of pads. But most are just a variation of the rubber mat or the cheapie 8 inch plastic one. It took me a long time to find
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Starting to Use a Metronome in Daily Practice
Today I am starting to use a metronome. I’ve seen enough YouTube videos now where they say you really should be doing *everything* to a quantized beat. Especially beginners. So today marks the date. I start today. I did an hour of left hand quarter note strokes at 60 bpm. I think that’s about as
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Milestone: 200,000 Left Hand Strokes
My left hand strokes are starting to feel good! I have a sense of control, and it’s a feeling I never knew I didn’t have. It’s like getting a new ability in your body. It’s weird. Other notes: I think my focused efforts are paying off. It’s as though spending time practicing something really does
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Milestone: 20 Hours of Music Practice
Just hit 20 hours of music practice since I committed to at least one hour of practice per day. So, 20 days ago. Actually less because I couple of days I practiced more (moar!) than 1 hour. The vast majority of the practice time as been spent on just left hand single strokes. I’m up
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Three Personal Bests in One Day!
Today I practiced two hours of music. That’s a first! And because most of it was left hand finger technique. I logged 20,000 strokes today, also a first. And since I did so many, that pushed me over the 100,000 milestone. When I first started doing this tracking nonsense, at the back of my mind
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SD10 Swinger Sticks
I do my practice pad work using marching sticks. Big huge heavy things. I like them a lot. They’re easy to hold and rebound easy on the practice pads. But I’ve been asking myself are these the right sticks to be practicing my strokes with? After doing some reading online, I still don’t know the
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Snare Stand for Tall People
If your snare sits too low and you think you need a taller stand, make sure that you are mounting the snare on the tips of the claw, like so: I mounted mine settled on the base of the claw. Mounting on the tips gave me the extra inch that I needed. And I was
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Left Hand Personal Best: 12,000 Stroke
Today I hit 12,000 strokes on just my left hand. A personal best. Single strokes using the finger technique. It’s hard to even imagine such numbers. But it just takes a little over an hour to do. I cant help feeling though that at these size numbers, my left hand should be better/stronger/faster than it
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Milestone: 10 Hours of Music Practice
I just had a milestone yesterday, of 10,000 left hand strokes. Today I crossed the tenth hour of music practice (since I started tracking). It seems inconsequential having two small ones so close together. But it’s still encouraging. It means I’ve had 10 days of deliberate practice, not just screwing around whimsically. A solid hour