A teacher taught me about accenting the 2nd stroke of a double way back in the late 70s. Been practicing them that way forever and it was a game changer. Funny thing...I tried to tell other drummers in music school about it and they thought I was crazy. In any case, I am grateful that a great player like yourself emphasizes the rudiments.
Gregg Bissonette went to the same University and did tons of marching band rudiments just like Keith did.... it's great to play from the heart, but pays dividends to know those rudiments.
@@gregpeller1499 It's all about the foundation. You can build the most beautiful house in the world, but if it doesn't have a good foundation, it won't last. My dad was a drum teacher at NTSU, back in the early 70s after he got out of the US Army Studio Band, so NTSU holds a special place for me.
No - I wouldn't give NT that much credit- he had those skills before North Texas. Here's a word from the wise: most of the successful musicians coming out of big time music schools were good before they got there. The biggest benefit of going to a music school is the networking opportunities. But you would never know that by the way the schools promote their association with their previous 'attendees' (most never graduate).
What a great video. Getting a free class from one of the best drummers in the game . I had the pleasure of seeing Keith with Steely Dan and I was on the 3rd row. It was incredible and a highlight of my life.
Wow a I have watched Mr Carlock for years and he is awesome , just watch his left hand technique, it hardly changes when going from slow to fast, how loose is he, thanks so much.
When I learned to play percussion in Indonesia they told me that a sort of rite of passage was being able to do single strokes for 1 hour. If you can do that, you have the hand/arm strength to really play. And it really works, after 20 mins you feel your body adapting to the most efficient and relaxed way to play. And after that, it really becomes a mater of endurance, both physically and mentally. With drums it is easier because it isn't as physically demanding as hand drumming, but still you get into such an amazing space after doing double strokes for an hour, you feel in total control of the sticks and the bouncing.
@@mildlyconfused1130 if we say the alternating strokes are 16ths, I would say around 90 bpm. Not too quick, not too slow, just a steady comfortable pace, one hour is a loooong time. The goal is to create clarity and balance of the strokes, in a way that feels completely natural in the hands.
It is so great to hear that another player plays like this. I often think there’s something wrong in my playing because I’ve put so much time into learning double strokes etc as opposed to singles. As a result, I hardly ever use single strokes. Good to know I’m not alone!
When I first started drumming I just figured you only used doubles for speed flurries without losing count since it's the same amount of movement and you just add a rebound for twice the notes. I had no clue they were legitimately separate techniques with pros and cons and applications - I just figured it was an "easy" way to double your output
Keith is such an amazing drummer that it never even occurred to me that he doesn't play single strokes around the kit until he just said it. I guess when your doubles are that good, why bother?
Kinda grew up checking out Keith & Wayne & Tim at the 55 Bar, in The Village since 1997. Here's a two drink minimum toast to Keith for keeping that gig going even though he didn't have to 🍻
You are one of the drummers whose name I probably murmur in my sleep. I'm having some trouble sorting out the left hand...still, and the shot at 5:24 was a TREMENDOUS help, so thanks for that ! Oh, and Happy Holidays !
Thomas Lang does the same double exercise where you accent the second partial of the double rather than the first. Till this day Keith and Thomas have the best sounding double stroke rolls on earth!
After seeing this, I think the true "secret" behind his doubles is that he has very fast and accurate WRIST double strokes. We can talk all day about push/ pull, finger control, rebound etc but the reason why he pulls them out with so much power is that he's using a lot of wrist. Really: any other finger or rebound based technique will give you no sound on toms and loose surfaces in general. Amazing drummer and very good techer as well.
Arrigo Axia exactly. They all say „stay loose“ but they all forget, that there is motion, that „pulls the trigger“ and thats the wrist. Or as tony williams once said: „try to really play every stroke, not only rebound it“
I agree, every drummer in videos keep talking about rebound and show it when they go slow, but when the speed picks up to get those strong 2nd notes. You just don’t get the greatest 2nd stroke sound in toms unless you use your wrists
I beg to differ. Using the fingers to snap the 2nd note can be as powerful as 1st stroke and no one is forbidding the use of both fingers and wrist for the 2nd stroke, thus fingers are there to take some load off the wrist. It's just a way to take advantage of the rebound however much there is of it. Dave Weckl uses the finger snap technique with both snare and toms. Can't find fault in the sound of his tom work and don't find mine sounding bad either.
really enjoyed your video Keith, rudiments are key to all drumming it teachers you where the beats are and the notes drop in time so when you play fills etc they will fit and sound right toms and cymbals are an extension of the snare if you can play it on the snare you can play it anywhere on the kit many thanks
"Other instruments have chords and scales - we have our rudiments" As a drummer who regrets not playing in the drum core in high school, I wish someone told me this 25 years ago.
@@lh1678 Greg Tyson was the drumline instructor when I was in the line with Keith at Clinton in '89. Greg made that line great! I don't remember him ever taking lessons with Bud, but Keith was one of George Laurence's students. Bud was an amazing teacher when I was at HCC and my favorite drum instructor by far.
Keith’s awesome I saw him play with steely Dan in Auckland New Zealand, pity about the vector arena where they played whoever built it did not know anything about sound.
Maarten Fivez unfortunately the camera angle doesn't help... up to a certain speed it's clearly all wrist, then at the peak he probably involves some kind of finger snap.
@@jerrywitaj I know for a fact his doubles are better than my own, I was just making a dumb comment about how Keith can have great doubles without needing to have the best cardio.
I love the fact that his left hand has such a loose grip, that the fingers are often open. I had a classmate who gave me shit about that. Then I saw Evelyn Glennie at PAS. And I said “you going to give her shit too?”
while I appreciate that the rhythm in the opening exercise is composed of pairs of notes and you can focus on the 2nd note because of the 'rest' , these are not based on a grouping of 'four sixteenth notes', they are part of a group of three notes as confirmed by the sixteenth note rest between each pair of notes. So the feel is different to when you remove the left stick part from a double stroke roll. A double stroke roll has groups of 4 as it's main building blocks in 4/4 ,whereas the opening pattern feels like 4 groups of 3 x 16th's [ of which only 2 are played ] plus a 4 grouping on the end [ of which 2 are played as 1/8th notes] making up the 16 pulses. I understand what is being said but it may be confusing to say that those 2 notes are what's being played in a double because the placement in time is different when you introduce 2 notes with the left hand , rather than a single rest. Still great playing all the same.
Yeah I noticed that too but I think for the purpose of building strong doubles the spacing doesn't really matter. In fact since there's only a single 16th rest in that exercise it makes the exercise more difficult than the double stroke rudiment itself for each hand.
I was thinking the same thing, yeah. But if one thing is clear about Keith, other than his well-honed talents, it's that his style seems organic and real and I bet that has a lot to do with his personality bleeding into his technique. Meaning he might be fine with panting on camera during an explanation of how he developed such great chops lol I know I'd probably ask for an edit - not so much for the general viewing ease but for my own sense of.. I dunno, pride? I don't know if I'm expressing myself correctly here, but maybe you get my point. Or maybe Keith just had other shit to do and wanted to get this over with lol
Yah but he's gotten it to the point where it sounds like a storm the way he goes around the drums with those doubles. This video is well done (micing and general sound) but hearing this man in a band is another thing. He's a true artist!
Man! This is why double strokes are such a easy and kind of cheat for certain type of fills! Certainly works for me when I am jamming along to Almost Easy by A7x. That part when Jimmy does the double ride groove is really difficult to pull it off with single strokes (atleast for me) thus I just cheat away with smooth doubles 😅😅. Anyone like me who does this ?
That exercise at the beginning sounds kinda like the theme from Terminator. Just play the Terminator theme, and you can practice doubles and playing in 13 at the same time.
A teacher taught me about accenting the 2nd stroke of a double way back in the late 70s. Been practicing them that way forever and it was a game changer. Funny thing...I tried to tell other drummers in music school about it and they thought I was crazy. In any case, I am grateful that a great player like yourself emphasizes the rudiments.
Besides being a monster on the drums he’s also such a wonderful guy. Met him once and he was the most down to earth guy you wouldn’t believe it.
Why wouldn't we believe I he seems like an awesome person
Totally second that
He’s not a monster.
Okay. This is crazy! Keith, dude, you might want to consider doing this for a living.
lol
Keith just oozes smoothness and stability. LOVED his playing with Toto.
North Texas State leading the way. First saw Keith at PASIC 2006 and he was a BEAST then. My dad was always impressed by Keith and what he was doing.
Gregg Bissonette went to the same University and did tons of marching band rudiments just like Keith did.... it's great to play from the heart, but pays dividends to know those rudiments.
@@gregpeller1499 It's all about the foundation. You can build the most beautiful house in the world, but if it doesn't have a good foundation, it won't last. My dad was a drum teacher at NTSU, back in the early 70s after he got out of the US Army Studio Band, so NTSU holds a special place for me.
@@JohnGatesIII I studied with your dad, John. He was a cool guy. A great guy. We kept in touch over the years.
@@GeorgeLawrence24 I appreciate you sharing that with me. I think the one thing my dad valued, over anything else in his "career", was teaching.
No - I wouldn't give NT that much credit- he had those skills before North Texas. Here's a word from the wise: most of the successful musicians coming out of big time music schools were good before they got there. The biggest benefit of going to a music school is the networking opportunities. But you would never know that by the way the schools promote their association with their previous 'attendees' (most never graduate).
Keith Carlock just blew my mind. Same drill in drum line for years and never used it on the kit. "That's also a shuffle..."
What a great video. Getting a free class from one of the best drummers in the game . I had the pleasure of seeing Keith with Steely Dan and I was on the 3rd row. It was incredible and a highlight of my life.
7:05 *after slaying drums*... “so I hope that was helpful.”
...
It was, Keith. It really was
😂😂😂😂
Strong Fundamental Rudiments, all the great drummers have them. Great insight, thanks for sharing Keith !
This is such a great lesson from a humble, beast of a player! Love this!
Wow a I have watched Mr Carlock for years and he is awesome , just watch his left hand technique, it hardly changes when going from slow to fast, how loose is he, thanks so much.
When I learned to play percussion in Indonesia they told me that a sort of rite of passage was being able to do single strokes for 1 hour. If you can do that, you have the hand/arm strength to really play. And it really works, after 20 mins you feel your body adapting to the most efficient and relaxed way to play. And after that, it really becomes a mater of endurance, both physically and mentally.
With drums it is easier because it isn't as physically demanding as hand drumming, but still you get into such an amazing space after doing double strokes for an hour, you feel in total control of the sticks and the bouncing.
Just curious, what BPM was this generally at??
@@mildlyconfused1130 if we say the alternating strokes are 16ths, I would say around 90 bpm. Not too quick, not too slow, just a steady comfortable pace, one hour is a loooong time. The goal is to create clarity and balance of the strokes, in a way that feels completely natural in the hands.
@@LesterBrunt hmm ok, well, challenge accepted! I'm sure it'll take me ages, but it really appeals to me somehow, thanks for sharing!
The man explains his playing as well as he executes it, and that's saying something
His style is so unique. I love this guy
Amazing drummer and a very inspiring video. The rudiments are the foundation of good drumming.
I saw Keith drum for Steely Dan back in 2017…he was incredible!
It is so great to hear that another player plays like this. I often think there’s something wrong in my playing because I’ve put so much time into learning double strokes etc as opposed to singles. As a result, I hardly ever use single strokes. Good to know I’m not alone!
When I first started drumming I just figured you only used doubles for speed flurries without losing count since it's the same amount of movement and you just add a rebound for twice the notes. I had no clue they were legitimately separate techniques with pros and cons and applications - I just figured it was an "easy" way to double your output
He has the strongest double stroke I have ever seen. Super strong and clean.
Keith is such an amazing drummer that it never even occurred to me that he doesn't play single strokes around the kit until he just said it. I guess when your doubles are that good, why bother?
Everything he does is smooth, I love it.
Kinda grew up checking out Keith & Wayne & Tim at the 55 Bar, in The Village since 1997.
Here's a two drink minimum toast to Keith for keeping that gig going even though he didn't have to 🍻
You are one of the drummers whose name I probably murmur in my sleep. I'm having some trouble sorting out the left hand...still, and the shot at 5:24 was a TREMENDOUS help, so thanks for that !
Oh, and Happy Holidays !
Beautiful kit. Good lesson
Fantastic lesson. Thanks for sharing your wisdom, Keith.
Thomas Lang does the same double exercise where you accent the second partial of the double rather than the first. Till this day Keith and Thomas have the best sounding double stroke rolls on earth!
Carlock is a double stroke beast!
Awesome! That first exercise was one of the double routines I studied with Jim Riley. Both UNT grads. Great drum school
After seeing this, I think the true "secret" behind his doubles is that he has very fast and accurate WRIST double strokes. We can talk all day about push/ pull, finger control, rebound etc but the reason why he pulls them out with so much power is that he's using a lot of wrist. Really: any other finger or rebound based technique will give you no sound on toms and loose surfaces in general. Amazing drummer and very good techer as well.
Arrigo Axia exactly. They all say „stay loose“ but they all forget, that there is motion, that „pulls the trigger“ and thats the wrist. Or as tony williams once said: „try to really play every stroke, not only rebound it“
I agree, every drummer in videos keep talking about rebound and show it when they go slow, but when the speed picks up to get those strong 2nd notes. You just don’t get the greatest 2nd stroke sound in toms unless you use your wrists
I beg to differ. Using the fingers to snap the 2nd note can be as powerful as 1st stroke and no one is forbidding the use of both fingers and wrist for the 2nd stroke, thus fingers are there to take some load off the wrist. It's just a way to take advantage of the rebound however much there is of it. Dave Weckl uses the finger snap technique with both snare and toms. Can't find fault in the sound of his tom work and don't find mine sounding bad either.
i’ve been working with textiles for a few years now
no silk is as smooth as those doubles tbh 😂
What a comment!!😊
His backbone is actually his left hand!
really enjoyed your video Keith, rudiments are key to all drumming it teachers you where the beats are and the notes drop in time so when you play fills etc they will fit and sound right toms and cymbals are an extension of the snare if you can play it on the snare you can play it anywhere on the kit many thanks
Great instructional video!👍
I didn't know who Keith Carlock was until he slayed on the Toto XIV album.
Smooth, speed and power
Love that flow.......
"Other instruments have chords and scales - we have our rudiments"
As a drummer who regrets not playing in the drum core in high school, I wish someone told me this 25 years ago.
Smooth and clean. .Like everyday life.
Went to the same H.S. and me and my brother were in the marching band with him..Clinton High School Marching Band...honored.
Mr. Wilson and I think it was Chip Fortenberry? he would know the teachers
I bet he would know Bud Berthold..my teacher at HCC
@@lh1678 Greg Tyson was the drumline instructor when I was in the line with Keith at Clinton in '89. Greg made that line great! I don't remember him ever taking lessons with Bud, but Keith was one of George Laurence's students. Bud was an amazing teacher when I was at HCC and my favorite drum instructor by far.
😍 wow. That was awesome and his playing is amazing.
"I'm not thinking about what I play" (5, 7 stroke rolls, accented doubles, etc) is what separates drummers like you from drummers like me.
Ive heard the first exercise refered to as "double beat" i play this everyday in my warm up. I learned it from a drummer named Richie Martinez.
Lol that intro ... what a beast of a start!
Fantastic information, thank you!
Keith’s awesome I saw him play with steely Dan in Auckland New Zealand, pity about the vector arena where they played whoever built it did not know anything about sound.
1:25 - "He's going the distance.....................he's going for speeeeeeeed.....he's all alone"
In his hour of need...
Smoooooooth. Wish i played like this.
U can...just practice!!!!
Peart was a master of everything drums..... the beginning reminds me of his snare work. Keep working.
You could see his right hand drastically change on 4:59 while slowing down. I think he comes back there from using the push/pull or open/close method.
Maarten Fivez unfortunately the camera angle doesn't help... up to a certain speed it's clearly all wrist, then at the peak he probably involves some kind of finger snap.
Looks like you marched drum corps too nice video.
- Former Cavaliers Drum Bugle Corps snare drummer.
Great snare work! Smooth...
3:45 “im always on the pad” hehehe nice
How to get fast, silky doubles?
Step 1: Do Cardio.
Aiafati irrelevant moronic comment.
does it look like keith does cardio?
Dawson Nichols irrelevant comment #2..... but I will say this, his doubles are way better than anything you can do.
@@jerrywitaj I know for a fact his doubles are better than my own, I was just making a dumb comment about how Keith can have great doubles without needing to have the best cardio.
@@jerrywitaj Try to lighten up a little man this is youtube, I meant no disrespect to Mr. Carlock lol.
Awesome video
Yes, Master.
I love the fact that his left hand has such a loose grip, that the fingers are often open. I had a classmate who gave me shit about that. Then I saw Evelyn Glennie at PAS. And I said “you going to give her shit too?”
while I appreciate that the rhythm in the opening exercise is composed of pairs of notes and you can focus on the 2nd note because of the 'rest' , these are not based on a grouping of 'four sixteenth notes', they are part of a group of three notes as confirmed by the sixteenth note rest between each pair of notes. So the feel is different to when you remove the left stick part from a double stroke roll. A double stroke roll has groups of 4 as it's main building blocks in 4/4 ,whereas the opening pattern feels like 4 groups of 3 x 16th's [ of which only 2 are played ] plus a 4 grouping on the end [ of which 2 are played as 1/8th notes] making up the 16 pulses. I understand what is being said but it may be confusing to say that those 2 notes are what's being played in a double because the placement in time is different when you introduce 2 notes with the left hand , rather than a single rest. Still great playing all the same.
Yeah I noticed that too but I think for the purpose of building strong doubles the spacing doesn't really matter. In fact since there's only a single 16th rest in that exercise it makes the exercise more difficult than the double stroke rudiment itself for each hand.
Can someone explain to me what exactly he is doing with his hi-hat in the beginning (0:10)?
I'd assume he was filling the extra space with the HH, while keeping tempo. It's like he wanted to put his own accent on the tempo. IMO
Steely Dan 🤙🏼
They should have allowed him some time to recover, though. Catch his breath? It's not a live recording, after all.
I was thinking the same thing, yeah. But if one thing is clear about Keith, other than his well-honed talents, it's that his style seems organic and real and I bet that has a lot to do with his personality bleeding into his technique. Meaning he might be fine with panting on camera during an explanation of how he developed such great chops lol I know I'd probably ask for an edit - not so much for the general viewing ease but for my own sense of.. I dunno, pride? I don't know if I'm expressing myself correctly here, but maybe you get my point. Or maybe Keith just had other shit to do and wanted to get this over with lol
Very good
Another thing to remember, apply what he’s doing to the double bass pedals too if you use them it helps a lot!
Cranckin' the tom batter heads helps doind those doubles. => high tuning for doubles
I don't agree on 4:26. You could play the accents on the beats ;-) . But some nice exercises you show us.
Thank You!
amazing
Like I've said in previous videos, please start filming in 60 fps!
@Mac Ton It would be a ton of help for slowing down and appreciating motion details.
Is this the Push/Pull, Open/Close technique?
I started hearing the first exercise and Cowboy Bebop opening came to my mind
no way to print the sheet music man?? and yes I am a member of drumeo already
Thanks.
Dam you know your good when steely dan calls you up for a gig
Good lord look at those cymbals
I'm no drummer per se, but that's how I naturally hold the sticks. Is there a term for this style/grip? thanks in advance.
Traditional Grip
It’s called a traditional grip☺️
Daaam Daniel
Yah but he's gotten it to the point where it sounds like a storm the way he goes around the drums with those doubles. This video is well done (micing and general sound) but hearing this man in a band is another thing. He's a true artist!
Are drummers supposed to be able to overlap these? Cause I can't seem to do it
What are the cymbals he is using?
Happy Nikolaus!
Man! This is why double strokes are such a easy and kind of cheat for certain type of fills!
Certainly works for me when I am jamming along to Almost Easy by A7x. That part when Jimmy does the double ride groove is really difficult to pull it off with single strokes (atleast for me) thus I just cheat away with smooth doubles 😅😅.
Anyone like me who does this ?
That exercise at the beginning sounds kinda like the theme from Terminator. Just play the Terminator theme, and you can practice doubles and playing in 13 at the same time.
2nd one is like a train leaving the station, going down the track and then stopping at the station.
Wow! Don't the doubles sound like singles at that speed?
👏👏👏
Gotta be humble when taught by Ed soph
Si good
For all you 90’s kids isn’t this the Mortal Combat soundtrack? 😂
What drumlines did he play in???
I don't know why 15people disliked this.
Fejerick Torres They're limbless.
Can you just quickly walk me through that last exercise again. I know it's simple but I think I may have missed a few notes.
Keith is GOD.
Somewhere in the silky smooth area? - Zohan
I see the doubles, I like
I'm a simple man
I got a whipslash feeling.
awww he's so nervous in the beginning
Niiicee
There's a lot of exercise in doubles. The problem is how to execute them properly on the kit
4:57 Caravan
why am i here?? i dont even know how to hold the sticks... but i like this video
Dude got the drum sweats. Or withdrawal.
I wonder if he was ever in a Drum Corp...