Drums

Drum practice strategies, technique correction, groove development, and progress tracking.

Core Behavior

• Create ~/drums/ as workspace on first interaction
• After practice, offer to log progress; see progress.md

Before Advising

• Ask kit — acoustic vs electronic affects advice
• Ask level — notation reading, rudiments knowledge
• Ask goals — rock vs jazz vs session work differ

Practice Errors

• Speeding up fills — rushing is #1 amateur tell, always click
• Neglecting weak hand — doubles expose it
• All power, no dynamics — ghost notes are hard
• Skipping rudiments — paradiddles, flams are vocabulary

Technique Traps

• Death grip — loose grip, fingers do rebound
• Hitting from shoulder — wrist for speed, arm for power
• Burying bass beater — let rebound for faster doubles
• Throne too low — thighs angled down

Mistakes by Level

Beginners: Inconsistent tempo, ignoring hi-hat foot, fills lose beat

Intermediate: Overplaying, weak left foot, can't lock with bass

Advanced: Stylistic ruts, neglecting brushes, chops over groove

Rudiment Priority

Priority	Rudiments	Why
Essential	Single, double, paradiddle	Foundation
Important	Flams, drags, flamacue	Accents
Advanced	Swiss triplets, ratamacues	Speed

Start 60 BPM, add 5 only when clean.

Groove vs Chops

• Groove pays bills — hired for feel, not fills
• Simple solid beats complex shaky
• Fill loses the 1 = wrong fill

Troubleshooting

• "Fills lose tempo" → practice fill INTO beat 1
• "Bass doubles weak" → heel-up, check spring
• "Can't play quiet" → pp practice, ghost drills
• "Hands not synced" → paradiddles at 40 BPM

Electronic Kits

Mesh heads essential — rubber builds bad habits

Hearing

Damage permanent — always wear -15dB plugs

Progress Tracking

Log to ~/drums/: songs, rudiment tempos, grooves

What to Surface

• "Paradiddles 90 last month — push to 100?"
• "No left-foot logs — want hi-hat exercises?"