How to Get Good at Finger Drumming? A Summary of Years of Practice
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- Опубліковано 17 тра 2024
- ►► Learn all the basics of Finger Drumming for FREE on → questforgroove.com
If you're thinking about learning finger drumming, you might want to know what such journey will more or less look like before you commit to actually putting in all that hard work over a long period of time. In this video I tried to compress multiple years of diligent finger drumming practice into this one story that explains how I would do things if I started from the beginning and what to expect.
List of resources I reference in chronological order:
⭐ Getting set up ⭐
- My current gear and software recommendations: questforgroove.com/gear-recom...
- Pad layout and basic beat in 3 minutes: • Finger Drumming Tutori...
- Free beginner course that helps you step-by-step: questforgroove.com/course/beg...
⭐ The Honeymoon Phase ⭐
- Basic beat: • Finger Drumming Tutori...
- Easy drum fill that sounds awesome: • Easy drum fill that so...
- The easiest way to drum a Shuffle beat: • The easiest way to dru...
- Disco challenge: • *Disco* Finger Drummin...
- Free beginner course with basic beats and basic fills: questforgroove.com/course/beg...
⭐ Drums + Music ⭐
- Grooving & Improving course: questforgroove.com/course/gro...
⭐ Eating your Vegetables ⭐
- Clapping and counting: • The best timing advice...
- Playing beats, fills and counting: • Let's Fix those Crappy...
- Shifting metronome / Gap click: • Ditch your metronome a...
- Let's Hit the Gym course: questforgroove.com/course/let...
⭐ Rudiments ⭐
- 1 year of doing rudiments: • What I've been practic...
- Building Fills Course: questforgroove.com/course/bui...
- Next Level Beats Course: questforgroove.com/course/nex...
⭐ Moeller Technique ⭐
- Advanced Techniques Course: questforgroove.com/course/adv...
⭐ Coming up with your own stuff ⭐
- Monthly Challenge course: questforgroove.com/course/mon...
⭐ Timing & Groove ⭐
- Benny Greb's DVD: bennygrebshop.bigcartel.com/p...
- My course about Timing & Groove: questforgroove.com/course/tim...
Timelinks:
0:00 Introduction
0:48 Getting set up
1:09 The Honeymoon Phase
2:38 Drums + Music
5:06 You made it!
6:28 Or maybe you didn’t...
7:29 Eating your Vegetables
10:39 Half-Time Summary
12:04 Rudiments
15:36 The problem with rudiments
16:59 To Infinity and Beyond!
17:52 Moeller Technique
18:45 Coming up with your own stuff
19:44 Timing & Groove
►► Learn all the basics of Finger Drumming for FREE on → questforgroove.com
List of resources I reference in chronological order ↴
⭐ Getting set up ⭐
- My current gear and software recommendations: questforgroove.com/gear-recommendations/
- Pad layout and basic beat in 3 minutes: ua-cam.com/video/z_7Tj0mBB-s/v-deo.html
- Free beginner course that helps you step-by-step: questforgroove.com/course/beginnercourse/
⭐ The Honeymoon Phase ⭐
- Basic beat: ua-cam.com/video/z_7Tj0mBB-s/v-deo.html
- Easy drum fill that sounds awesome: ua-cam.com/video/kiRSBMN75y8/v-deo.html
- The easiest way to drum a Shuffle beat: ua-cam.com/video/Ey1Q13F4vjs/v-deo.html
- Disco challenge: ua-cam.com/video/LAm6ukK3RMI/v-deo.html
- Free beginner course with basic beats and basic fills: questforgroove.com/course/beginnercourse/
⭐ Drums + Music ⭐
- Grooving & Improving course: questforgroove.com/course/grooving-improving/
⭐ Eating your Vegetables ⭐
- Clapping and counting: ua-cam.com/video/E4XbHQi0pUA/v-deo.html
- Playing beats, fills and counting: ua-cam.com/video/eXG2Tyj33Dc/v-deo.html
- Shifting metronome / Gap click: ua-cam.com/video/R9ZkWSQxwqY/v-deo.html
- Let's Hit the Gym course: questforgroove.com/course/lets-hit-the-gym/
⭐ Rudiments ⭐
- 1 year of doing rudiments: ua-cam.com/video/nyOM4Hmkh-M/v-deo.html
- Building Fills Course: questforgroove.com/course/building-fills/
- Next Level Beats Course: questforgroove.com/course/next-level-beats/
⭐ Moeller Technique ⭐
- Advanced Techniques Course: questforgroove.com/course/advanced-techniques/
⭐ Coming up with your own stuff ⭐
- Monthly Challenge course: questforgroove.com/course/monthly-challenge/
⭐ Timing & Groove ⭐
- Benny Greb's DVD: bennygrebshop.bigcartel.com/product/download-the-art-and-science-of-groove-hd
- My course about Timing & Groove: questforgroove.com/course/time-and-time-again/
Timelinks:
0:00 Introduction
0:48 Getting set up
1:09 The Honeymoon Phase
2:38 Drums + Music
5:06 You made it!
6:28 Or maybe you didn’t...
7:29 Eating your Vegetables
10:39 Half-Time Summary
12:04 Rudiments
15:36 The problem with rudiments
16:59 To Infinity and Beyond!
17:52 Moeller Technique
18:45 Coming up with your own stuff
19:44 Timing & Groove
Always great tips!
For anyone struggling, 1 thing that's helped me exponentially when i make a mistake is this - I guarantee this will help anyone, wether you're a pro or beginner.
Say you're playing & you hit the wrong pad, normally that would throw you off & you'll stop / it'd show up as a mistake & the crowd will pick up on it, cos it didn't fit in with your initial groove cos you hit the wrong pad once right?
Instead of hitting the wrong pad / pad combo once & exposing the mistake, try to REPEAT THE MISTAKE in EVEN MULTIPLES (2,4,6,8,etc), so that it doesn't stand out singularly, thus if you repeat it in multiples of 2, it'll be like it was done intentionally, sounding like a build up / breakdown / roll AND buys you time to recover & get back to your original groove + it'll catch the crowd off-guard & will come out as a "happy accident" & not an awkward silence.
So in a nutshell - REPEAT your mistake in EVEN MULTIPLES, NEVER let your mishit occur ONCE, do it in 2s, 4s, 8s, etc & you'll never have awkward silences + it'll give your brain time to recover so you can keep playing. 🦾
Great tip! Great example of a confident mistake in music that the musician corrects immediately, so it sounds on purpose, is "Man Who Sold the World" on Nirvana's MTV Unplugged. During the solo, Kurt went to the wrong fret, and immediately turned it into a slide, which sounds great! (So, it's not the same, as in it's not repetition, but it is turning a mistake into a happy accident)
Yea cuz I use my drumpad to finger drum for a live audience.
Needed this. No music background but picked up the MPC LIve 2 and having trouble gaining the confidence.
I’ve been finger drumming since 2013 but I still find different approaches really interesting to hear! Great stuff as ever.
You are great. Hats off! 🙏🏼
I like the structure of this particular video and you energy overall.
Being a drummer I am so excited to get into the finger drumming as well. So inspiring somehow 🎉 cheers for the video ❤
Thank you for uploading this, I'm gonna start drumming hybrid with a MIDI Fighter 3D on it live, so this is very helpful!
I love your energy!
This is going to be so helpful! Liking and commenting before watching.
Thank you for sharing your experience! I'm getting back into finger drumming, so lots of work and fun ahead.
Welcome back!!
Amazing video Robert! I think you nailed the arch nicely and appreciate your transparency! 🙏
Hey Joshua , happy to see that you watched the vid after me recommending it by email yesterday :-) Have fun playing!
so glad i found this guy early on in my finger drumming career. of all the channels ive found, this guy is by far the best for me. if there are any newbies looking for somone to learn from, this is it. just dont give up
Thanks for the endorsement!
I thought of Socrates with sugar soccer (futbol). Lol. Fellow Greek brother. :3
Great video Rob, inspirational. Along with most of my instruments I need to find more time and get on with it.
Thanks Ivan! I hope this video gets you moving in the right direction :-)
What you said about getting to where you need to be was a turning point for me as I am not interested in becoming a specialist but my use of Maschine pads is very dependent on quantize and step mode which loses any spontaneity. I now understand my objective. Great video. BTW I am full of admiration for your idiomatic use of English.
Interesting video!
thank youuuuu
Welcome back after long furlough! great material. This complements your '3 drumming techniques (2019) which got me into this. I opted with your alternating fingers technique- with velocity. Practised with non-dominant first. It worked very well... Now after 2.5 years, I am doing the 4th technique - independent alternating fingers :) groove on chief!
Hey this is great to hear! Wishing you good luck on your (never ending) journey! :-)
Awesome
You are awesome thank you !! your recommendation on the maschine mikro changed the game for me , i got it and im playing beats and having so much fun counting out loud getting better :) thanks
Hey that's great to hear! I hope you will continue having fun playing and making music!
Really great overview. Thanks for sharing all this!! I 100% agree. I was playing drums (and a little piano) for 10+ years before I got into finger drumming. And my journey on the "real" drum set was pretty similar. Especially the "groove" part. Once I could play most of the things I needed I was always looking after groove and sound. And I applied all of what I learned before when trying to figure out how to do finger drumming. Maybe there is just one little thing I'm missing here: always watch your finger movement/posture/health - very important when going for the long run!
Hey thanks! And yes, posture, health, not overplaying are all very important as well! I do mention this all over my website and in the courses so I really hope people will not just watch this video but go and do the free beginner course or something :-)
@@TheQuestforGroove Yes, I can recommend Quest for Groove courses to anybody out there! Really great recourses. 🙂
I get the peace of mind from your vibe like "I know it's hard but do your best and know that as a fellow musician, I'm proud of you". And really, thanks for that :D
Was there a similar vibe you were surrounded while you were developing as an artist? (for example, studying at uni ) I really wonder.
Well, honestly there was a bit more of a "negative" vibe quite often. Like "I can't believe you still cannot do this or this". The thing I discovered though was when I started practicing finger drumming by myself was that positivity and patience work so much better for me :-) Usually frustration about not being good enough leads to you rushing things and then actually not improving as much as you could have. Thanks for your kind words!
@@TheQuestforGroove It’s awesome that you’re not carrying the same negative approach as a teacher :) Thanks for you being you :)
Love how you explained the moeller technique! I been experimenting on how to do the moeller technique on finger drumming because there is little to no rebound on a midi drum pad. Any tips?
Yeah you cannot use any rebound, so the "finger drumming moeller technique" is just lifting your arm up a little while dropping your hand down. You will need a pad controller with sensitive pads for this because basically the weight of your hand dropping down on the pads should be enough to trigger it. Maschine (mikro) mk3 can do it for sure, but something like the presonus atom might not be sensitive enough.
Wow am going to look at your course I’m a guitarist who likes rock ,AOR & 80s pop I’m getting an akai mpk mini play as a musical hotter pad & needed some drum groove basics that were not just geared towards dance music as it is now etc . I really like aerosmiths groove plus some examples of Latin type pop beats like Madonna’s holiday etc but mainly will be using it for rock and AOR Covers & self written stuff. If I take to it might get a dedicated drum controller like the akai MDP etc . Looking forward to the first course but the groove 2nd one sounds amazing too
Awesome! Welcome aboard and just send me an email (or use the QFG messageboards) if you have questions or suggestions. Rock on!
@@TheQuestforGroove thanks so much
What a great and very insightful video. You're lookin' great man!
Btw are you left or right-handed? I am curious to know as I want to try to out your layout.
Also, if you could, can you maybe make a video about trying to translate you layout into a keyboard setup for us who don't have a drumpad yet? Like try putting your layout into a keyboard setup in a way that would also translate the practice in Drum Pads. I think no one has done this yet.
Anyway! Thank you for your content. Looking forward to the next one!
Hey Giuliano, I'm right-handed, but on my website you can actually select that you're left-handed and then the videos and the pad diagrams will flip to a left-handed setup! For keyboard drumming, I'm not the person to ask, but I know this video from someone else which seems to be extensive and well explained: ua-cam.com/video/TxD30s4jvcw/v-deo.html
I just suscribed to Premium Q4G. You're a great teacher, I feel like I'm improving fast, currenty at Section 2 of Grooving and Improving. Just wanted to say thanks!!!
Thanks Oliver! I hope you'll keep having fun and learning a lot. Let me know if you need anything and maybe join me in one of the livestreams!
@@TheQuestforGroove Will do, I turned the notifications for the stream on. Will I get them via email?
@@olivermirez6667 Yes via email. And every time you log into your user dashboard you should see either a recap of the previous stream or a countdown towards the next one.
Hello, great channel.
Would you recommend your course for someone with ABSOLUTETY NO 'Music Theory' knowledge, no knowledge of Traditional Drum Playing?
In other words someone starting from scratch.
Thanks!
Yes I try and slowly build things up from the absolute beginning. It's not 'easy' but I think for most people it has the right pace to go from 0 to a 100 over time :-)
@@TheQuestforGroove Thanks!
Just bought a Launchpad Pro Mk3, I"ll give it a try.
Heyyyy! Got my answer lol
Hello. thank you for your videos. very helpfull. I''m not new in music production. I have big studio saparate from the place i live. i have some finger equipment there - ableton push, and some hardware drum machines. but i never finger drummed in my life. used sequencers. my level is very low.
as for starting point for a VERY VERY beginner - how important is it to have velocity sensetive pads?
i'm thinking of buying roland mc-101 just for home for drumming practice. it doesen't have velocity. pads are small. but lots of kits. and can put melodies on top very quickly. so its gonna be not only practicebut fun also. it works on battaries.
Hey! If you already own a device you can start practicing with that for sure. Velocity sensitive pads will be needed for the exact type of "realistic" drum sound I have, but you can practice the basics on any device!
Oh and by the way, an Ableton Push is pretty good and has velocity sensitive pads if I'm not mistaken.
I'm considering becoming a producer, more towards studio mix engineer because I love mixing.
I'm already a guitarist so I have that going for me at the very least.
Do you have any tips on how I can get buy and make at least enough money for rent, food, electricity, phone, and decent internet?
In the beginning of my career?
@@Eric-dd8bk just loving what you are doing! and money will come and everything will come
Can you recommend any specific controllers or pad/DAW setups that provide note roll/repeat at different values? i.e., each pad can roll at 1/8. 1/16, 1/32 synced with tempo. Seems the mpd 218 can only do one at a time across all pads. I'm looking to incorporate hi-hat rolls and other sampled loops with live drums.
Hey I'm sorry but I don't know much about note repeat since I never used it. Maybe you can look into the Nektar Aruba controller. There might be something there, but not 100% sure!
@@TheQuestforGroove Thanks. Looks like the ATOM can do it, still looking for a standalone. My old Roland R-5 had it.
Just found your channel with the video of how to lay out the Launchpad X for finger drumming. Would you suggest using a layout like that to start rather than the usual 4x4 layout? Seems using the Launchpad X would be best but not sure.
Yeah you can use that layout when you start. In my beginner course and in the blogpost for that video I have this altered version with the toms horizontally, which then will resemble a classic 4x4 layout a lot. That should make it easier to switch between the two when learning.
@@TheQuestforGroove Thanks for the info. I’m using the Launchpad X with Loopy Pro, so the extra pads are really useful.
I liked your over view but I took your advice once and bought the Irig Pads but found it difficult to set-up with my DAWs (Cubase) and was put off finger drumming.
Interesting, because I've never recommended the iRig pads. I actually told people not to buy this in this video: ua-cam.com/video/bN6MgKreNZ0/v-deo.html maybe you're confusing me with someone else?
Hello i need a table stand for my mikro mk3, how many degrees angle should it has for a comfortable playing Position? Any ideas or experience? - Thanx
The angle depends on how low or how high you're sitting. You need to be able to keep your wrists straight when hovering over the pads. So in a lot of cases that would mean that a stand angles downward away from you. Most pictures of stands do the exact opposite... I don't know why. Probably because it looks cooler, but it's not very ergonomical.
@@TheQuestforGroove Thank you 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Your video was quite inspiring to get me started and I bought a Maschine Mikro MK3
I have set the sensitivity to high, and it feels pretty good, however I have a problem, it feels you immediately have to lift off a finger to do another tap on the same pad, is there a way to force hits to get registered even when a pad is pressed? Sometimes when using two fingers on one for quick rolls it's giving me trouble.
I come from a multi instruments background, played quite a few different percussions and I play tons of rhythm video games, I'm trying to follow some of your advice and techniques while still developing my own ways, and this feels like quite a limitation to me.
The problem you describe is why I have may pad layout with two hi hat pads, two snare pads etc. Besides that, when playing on one pad you have to make your hands work together where one hand lifts when the other one goes down. I talk about this in this video: ua-cam.com/video/W7m3d5RNEtA/v-deo.html
My pad layout can be found over here by the way: questforgroove.com/basic-finger-drumming-technique-pad-layout/
@@TheQuestforGroove I'm using your layout and it's pretty good, I might have to readjust some stuff to make it a bit more comfortable to me but so far your advice have been great to get into it! Thanks a lot for that
I don't have much problem with two hands on one pad and I can do pretty fast rolls, but problems arise when attempting to incorporate two fingers per hands, I can force myself to lift but it's just draining my stamina a bit more
I'm curious if it's a problem only with the maschine or if it's a limitation of all drumpads? I'm kinda used to finger drumming percussions like the darbouka or cajón so I use a lot of single hand rolls
@@Moox_0 Ah yes... this is a problem I also have with alternating fingers. You can do it, but only in a couple of specific ways with two or 3 pads that are next to each other. I must admit that I try doing stuff with fingers sometimes and then I always revert back to playing from the wrist and just focusing on playing proper rudiments between my two hands. My guess is the last word hasn't been said about this. There are guys on youtube who can do some impressive independent finger stuff, but I personally don't have a perfect solution.
@@TheQuestforGroove Thanks for your insight! I think I will train that way and possibly change layouts depending on the songs / types of drums I'm using to suit my playstyle.
@@Moox_0 Yes always be open to that. Also always be open to adjust velocity curves and stuff. I think that is part of the art of finger drumming. For example if you take the top off of a velocity curve on each kit piece you can play nice and firm but the drums will sound subtle because the loudest hits are topped off to be softer hits. That's a sound design thing I think finger drummers should know and use.
Great video! What do you think about Melodics?
Hey thanks! I think Melodics can help if you need structure and motivation to practice every day. For as far as I know, at the moment, they do not train or measure dynamics (loud or soft hits) which to me would make for an incomplete training, since I use dynamics all the time. It really depends on your goals and the type of music you want to make if Melodics is the right thing for you. But the same goes for my courses to be honest, they're not for everyone either :-)
Have you tried to use some bass drum pedal, like Yamaha KU100 for closer than the real drumming experience, and freeing more fingers?
I tried a hi hat pedal once, but I realised that for me, teaching finger drumming and getting as many people on board as possible, it would make things too complicated for most people. Setting up a pad controller in midi mode and the linking it to something like addictive drums is already hard enough as it is, let alone introducing a pedal that then needs to mix its signal with the incoming midi data from the pads. I never got it to work well, I think it is possible to work well, but for me and for what I'm trying to achieve it makes not much sense to dive deeper into this.
@@TheQuestforGroove Makes sense!
Hello there 😍😍😍
you make really nice Video. thanks for that. But we need to see more praxis instead of long explanation. Please
Just go to questforgroove.com and do the courses! I worked on that stuff for years. This video is a summary.
@@TheQuestforGroove okay. Thanks for the Info. Good Job. thanks again
I think the guy that's surpassed all of us is Roy "Future man" Wooten, one of Victor Wooten's brothers. He's being doing it for decades using a modified Ztarr.
Never seen him play before, will look it up! Thanks for the tip!
Parallel universe Bo Beats?
Haha, I don't think we really talk about the same thing though. I'm not a synth guy.
7:36
HAHA! Shame on you.
I actually love vegetables. lol
Just kidding.
Never knew you were a guitarist. I'm also a guitarist who got into recording the whole band for my own songs and ran into a gigantic hurdle or homework that is the finger drumming.
Mind you I'm on a full on piano MIDIkeyboard instead of one of those pad things.
I'm also decent with real drums but I'm feeling like a complete beginner playing the drums except with fingers. Which I am.
Ganna have to checkout a lot of your video lessons from now on.
Thank you.
Hey Eric, welcome aboard and yes... finger drumming takes a lot of work. If you actually want to get it right. The nice thing about it is that if you improve your timing & groove while finger drumming, you will automatically take that with you to the guitar. I did a video about that, how my guitar playing improved even though I did not practice :-) Better timing makes everything sound better on every instrument!
@@TheQuestforGroove
Oh I'm looking forward to that for sure since I could benefit from a little better timing.
Definately will reduce the number of takes for the same riff or solo.
@@TheQuestforGroove
Have to say one thing and that is I believe finger drumming is actually harder than drums, and I say this as someone who's pretty decent at drums as well.
For playing fast roles or fast double kicks, we have rebound and jigling to make it easier whereas you have to move the fingers as fast as such with no rebound and double strokes.
I also find keeping steady tempo on fingers to be harder than on 2 arms and legs.
The movements have to be way more delicate since the surface is way smaller. Doesn't help it at all being on a MIDI piano for drums than the pads either. lol
7 years???? damn
Yes, I'm still practicing :-) But it's not like you have to spend 7 years to get somewhere with this. I think after 1 to 2 years I could do a lot of cool stuff already!
that blue sweater guy looks like you
I have blue sweaters too. Maybe it's just me 🙂
@@TheQuestforGroove 🤣 u kidding
It's Al di Mieola....
I wish...
You didn't say which vegetables! T_T
Tomatoes only! :-D
Shouldn’t you start with… “select a kit, this what programs to use, and how you can create your own kit” sound selection stuff? You can’t drum if you don’t have sounds
Mastering pad mapping is integral…
You gotta pay attention to what I say in the beginning of the video man. At 0:48 I say that if you need to get set up first, I have other videos about that on the channel plus links. They're in the description.
The 2-3 weeks phase: your example is by far too complex for any beginners!!!
Do yo mean the first couple of weeks, starting from nothing? It's easier than you think to learn those basics but you should not try to learn them by watching this video. Just go through the lessons in my free beginner course on questforgroove.com. You can make great progress in 3 weeks if you practice this stuff for 10 minutes a day and just follow the lessons. I spend way more time explaining and demonstrating each concept. This video is just a quick summary (as the title says).
So much talk, little drumming ☹️
It's a *summary* of years practice. Not a "compilation" or a "showreel" or "timelapse" or anything like that. Nothing in the title or thumbnail implies that it is. Have a nice day.
One look at this guy's hair and i'm out.... later
??
Imagine meeting a teacher. With skill and experience. Who can help you develop. And you go “I don’t like your hair”…
I think you need to find the hair & makeup section of UA-cam bro. This video is about finger drumming ya doofus!
You are a loser body shaming. I'm sorry for you
Cuz ur just jealous u don’t look as good 😮💨
With that mindset you have a lot of growing up do. Enjoy the ride