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Mike Johnston - Faster Hands in 10 Days
Mike Johnston - Faster Hands in 10 Days
57
10-Day
The
Plan For
Faster
Hands!
With Mike Johnston
Road Tested
$5.99 US $5.99 CAN
By Mike Johnston
April 2013 DRUM! 41
Speed Test
Single Stroke Roll
Before you begin, Day 1
you’ll need a start-
ing reference point for ____ __ bpm
where you’re at with
your speed so you’ll Double Stroke Roll
know exactly how much Day 1
further along you’ll be
ten days from now. Use ____ __ bpm
______ bpm
Single Stroke Roll - 1 min - 50% of max Flam Taps - 1 min - 50% of max
-
-
Double Stroke Roll - 1 min - 50% of max Paradiddle-diddle
- - 1 min - 50% of max
Exercise 1 8-4-2-2
TEMPOS
60% of max : 2 minu tes ________
bpm
70% of max : 2 minu tes ________
- bpm
80% of max : 1 minu te ________
- bpm
NOTES (right vs left, soreness, attitude)
The 8-4-2-2 exercise is designed to help you build your individual hand speed. During this
exercise you want to pay close attention to the difference between your right hand and left
hand. Is
your right
hand
gripping
tighter
than
your
left? Is
your
lefthand
angled
differently
than
your right? Use your dominant hand to “teach” your weaker hand.
2 Paradiddle
Exercise Accents
TEMPOS
60% of max: 2 minutes ________ bpm
70% of max: 2 minutes ________ bpm
80% of max: 1 minute ________ bpm
The paradiddle
accent exercise
will increase your
muscle memory.
By shiftingthe place-
NOTES (right vs left, sorene ss, attitude)
ment
of the accents each measure you are forced to really give every note a great deal of
care. Remember,
speed
will
come through
repetition
and focus,
so don’t rush
through
this.
Focus on perfection.
Exercise 3 Flammed Groupings #1
TEMPOS
60% of max : 2 minu tes ________
bpm
70% of max : 2 minu tes ________
bpm
80% of max : 1 minu te ________
bpm
NOTES (right vs left, soreness, attitude)
The Flammed Groupings exercise is designed to help improve your speed on flam taps as
well as improve your ability to memorize long patterns. Symmetry between the hands is key
during this exercise. You really want to listen, and correct for any difference between your
right hand and your left hand.
2
The 10-Day Plan For Faster Hands
All right guys and girls, it’s day two. Please don't lose
Single Paradiddle - 1 min - 60% of max
sight of what we are trying to achieve here. Muscle memory is
the name of the game. Resist the temptation to “max out” and
keep focusing on playing each and every note with purpose.
Single Stroke Roll - 1 min - 60% of max Flam Taps - 1 min - 60% of max
-
Double Stroke Roll - 1 min - 60% of max Paradiddle-diddle
- - 1 min - 60% of max
This flammed groupings exercise incorporates flam taps as well as groupings of four. The NOTES (right vs left, soreness , attitude)
grouping of four gives you a chance to A/B how your dominant hand feels compared to your
weaker hand. It’s important that you take time during the slower tempos to look down at your
hands and make sure that they are both using the same technique.
3
The 10-Day Plan For Faster Hands
Day three is all about repetition. We will be using two of the exer-
cises from day one and one exercise from day two. Remember, our Single Paradiddle - 1 min - 60% of max
goal is to increase the overall speed of our Five Focus Rudiments, so
do not skip out on the five-minute warm-up. Focus on playing each
individual note as perfectly as possible.
Single Stroke Roll - 1 min - 60% of max Flam Taps - 1 min - 60% of max
-
Double Stroke Roll - 1 min - 60% of max Paradiddle-diddle - 1 min - 60% of max
-
Exercise 1 8-4-2-2
TEMPOS
60% of max : 2 minu tes ________
bpm
- 70% of max : 2 minu tes ________
bpm
80% of max : 1 minu te ________
- bpm
NOTES (right vs left, soreness, attitude)
Focal
Point
Reminders
Right and
left
hand
evenness
Use your dominant hand to “teach” the weaker hand
2 Paradiddle-diddles
Exercise And Singles
TEMPOS
60% of max: 2 minutes ________ bpm
70% of max: 2 minutes ________ bpm
80% of max: 1 minute ________ bpm
Focal NOTES (right vs left, sorene ss, attitude)
Point
Reminders
fortherhythm
Listen oftheaccents
Sing along internally to the accent rhythm
Exercise
3
Flammed
Groupings
#1
TEMPOS
60% of max : 2 minu tes ________
bpm
70% of max : 2 minu tes ________
bpm
80% of max : 1 minu te ________
bpm
NOTES (right vs left, soreness, attitude)
4
The 10-Day Plan For Faster Hands
Day Four brings you three brand-new exercises. We have also
bumped up the speed of the rudiment warm-up to 70 percent of Single Paradiddle - 1 min - 70% of max
max. Remember, the focus of this workout is muscle memory so
don’t push yourself. Play at a tempo that you can easily handle
and allow your brain and muscles to memorize the rudiment.
Single Stroke Roll - 1 min - 70% of max Flam Taps - 1 min - 70% of max
Double Stroke Roll - 1 min - 70% of max Paradiddle-diddle - 1 min - 70% of max
-
The accented singles exercise is simple yet extremely effective. If you want to get faster
NOTES (right vs left, soreness, attitude)
at single strokes you are just going to have to practice them. The accents will break up the
boredom and give you something to focus on. Try to make a huge dynamic difference be-
tween your accented notes and your non-accented notes.
5
The 10-Day Plan For Faster Hands
Congrats! It’s day five and you’re still going strong. It would
be easy to give up now but this is the most crucial point in the Single Paradiddle - 1 min - 70% of max
workout. This is where the muscle memory will start to take
hold and your hands will begin to do the exercises without you
even thinking about it. Let’s get warmed up.
Single Stroke Roll - 1 min -70% of max Flam Taps - 1 min - 70% of max
-
Double Stroke Roll - 1 min - 70% of max Paradiddle-diddle - 1 min - 70% of max
-
6
The 10-Day Plan For Faster Hands
Now it’s time to start pushing yourself a bit. Our five-minute warm-
up is being bumped up to 80 percent of your max for the next two
Single Paradiddle - 1 min - 80% of max
days. Be sure to stay as relaxed as possible while playing the rudi-
ments. Your workout for today incorporates two exercises from pre-
vious workouts and one new exercise, the paradiddle flam tap combo.
Single Stroke Roll - 1 min - 80% of max Flam Taps - 1 min - 80% of max
Exercise 3 Flammed Groupings #2
TEMPOS
60% of max: 2 minutes ________ bpm
70% of max: 2 minutes ________ bpm
80% of max: 1 minute ________ bpm
NOTES (right vs left, soreness , attitude)
Focal Point Reminders
Use the four-note grouping to A/B your dominant and weaker hands
Watch your hands to ensure consistency of technique
7
The 10-Day Plan For Faster Hands
You have dedicated yourself to building your hand speed
for an entire week now, and that is definitely something
to be proud of. Okay, now back to work. Our rudimental Single Paradiddle - 1 min - 80% of max
warm-up will stay at 80 percent of your max for today. We
will do two exercises from previous workouts as well as a
new one, the sextuplet changeup.
Single Stroke Roll - 1 min -80% of max Flam Taps - 1 min - 80% of max
70% of max: 2 minutes ________ bpm
80% of max: 1 minute ________ bpm
So far, all our paradiddle exercises have been phrased as sixteenth-notes. This exercise NOTES (right vs left, sorene ss, attitude)
puts the rudiment back into its natural subdivision. It also forces you to maintain focus as it
slips onebeatworth
of alternating
strokes
inon the
downbeat
of3.
3 Accented
Exercise
Singles
TEMPOS
60% of max : 2 minu tes ________
bpm
70% of max : 2 minu tes ________
bpm
80% of max : 1 minu te ________
bpm
Work toward a huge dynamic difference between accented and non-accented notes
8
The 10-Day Plan For Faster Hands
By now the muscle memory has fully set in and we can start work-
ing on breaking down your physical barriers. We will be doing our Single Paradiddle - 1 min - 90% of max
rudiment warm-up at 90 percent of your max. The workout has also
been bumped up by 10 percent per set to force your muscles to work
harder during the home stretch.
Single Stroke Roll - 1 min - 90% of max Flam Taps - 1 min - 90% of max
Exercise 1 18-4-2-2
TEMPOS
60% of max: 2 minutes ________ bpm
-
70% of max: 2 minutes ________ bpm
- 80% of max: 1 minute ________ bpm
FocalPoint
Reminders
NOTES (right vs left, soreness , attitude)
Right and
left
hand
evenness
Use your dominant hand to “teach” the weaker hand
2 Dynamic
Exercise Doubles
TEMPOS
60% of max: 2 minutes ________ bpm
70% of max: 2 minutes ________ bpm
80% of max: 1 minute ________ bpm
NOTES (right vs left, soreness, attitude)
Focal
Point
Reminders
Consistency
between
the
opposing
hands’
accents
Exercise
3 Flammed
Groupings
#2
TEMPOS
60% of max: 2 minutes ________ bpm
70% of max: 2 minutes ________ bpm
80% of max: 1 minute ________ bpm
NOTES (right vs left, soreness , attitude)
Focal Point Reminders
Use the four-note grouping to A/B your dominant and weaker hands
Watch your hands to ensure consistency of technique
9
The 10-Day Plan For Faster Hands
Day nine is the last time we will run through our workout
before you test yourself on day ten. That means you need to
Single Paradiddle - 1 min - 90% of max
put in maximum effort today. Maintain a sharp focus during
every exercise including the warm up. I know this sounds
cheesy, but care about every single note you play today!
Single Stroke Roll - 1 min -90% of max Flam Taps - 1 min - 90% of max
-
Work toward a huge dynamic difference between accented and non-accented notes
Single Paradiddle
Day 1 Day 10
-
Flam Taps
-
Day 1 Day 10
-
______ bpm ____ __ bpm
Photograph: Sasha Leahovcenco
-
Paradiddle-diddle
Day 1 Day 10