Need help with weak hand flams

[MrSouth]

Heya! So I’m trying to practice the Flam Tap rudiment for a music theory class but I’m having a lot of difficulty when switching the stick to my left, for example (rL L)

I flam just fine otherwise but that sticking feels really awkward.

If you guys have any advice, I’d very much appreciate it, thank you-

 

[RyanLovesDrums]

Heya! So I’m trying to practice the Flam Tap rudiment for a music theory class but I’m having a lot of difficulty when switching the stick to my left, for example (rL L)

I flam just fine otherwise but that sticking feels really awkward.

If you guys have any advice, I’d very much appreciate it, thank you-

Maybe practice it slower? Sometimes it’s hard to get everything even, even for people that have been playing a long time. If it’s stressing you out too much go onto something that you’re better at and comes easier.

 

[bigbonzo]

Practice...practice...practice...

 

[Seb77]

Would be good to see you play. With flams, the stick tips should start at different heights. The flam or grace note should be lower. If you start the motion at the same time, the grace note will arrive earlier. For the other way round, you also need to change those heights.

 

[cworrick]

Funny. I don't remember drums rudiments being addressed in Music Theory Classes.

OK. Seriously - Like Seb said above we really need to see what you are doing to really know what to address.

Common Problems to look at:
1. Flam Tap is like an overlapping 3 stroke roll: L L l R R r = rL L lR R rL L lR R etc. Make sure you can control 1 stroke with 2 bounces. It doesn't have to be fast, just controlled.
2. Check your upstroke (lifting stroke, or whatever the current vocab is) after the grace note strike. This is usually the big problem area people forget to look at. You need to make sure it is up and prepped for the next down stroke (beginning of the 3 stroke pattern). You have the time of the two opposite hand strokes to lift so it doesn't have to be fast, just up and ready.
3. If you are just beginning, don't worry about how low you are keeping the grace note (yet). Learn the pattern and let your hands get used to it. THEN work on keeping the grace note down.

 

[wolfereeno]

Try focusing on the Accents and exaggerate them. They build up the muscles but also in your mind get you more accustomed to your left hand having more power and control.

Your mind usually focuses on the thing that's loudest. So experiment around that and try to get the power of things you do with your left hand to = your right even to the point of exaggerating it to develop headroom.

Simply put, it's part physical and part mental.

It's hard going from things that lead Left vs Right. That's why there are so many threads, books, videos....

 

[RyanLovesDrums]

Funny. I don't remember drums rudiments being addressed in Music Theory Classes.

Me neither

 

[malkire]

Heya! So I’m trying to practice the Flam Tap rudiment for a music theory class but I’m having a lot of difficulty when switching the stick to my left, for example (rL L)

I flam just fine otherwise but that sticking feels really awkward.

If you guys have any advice, I’d very much appreciate it, thank you-

I'm no expert, but a few months ago I couldn't do weak hand flams AT ALL. I just kept practicing, taking it very slow to get my form down and incrementally increased the pace. Persistence, repetition, and patience are all you need. You got this!

 

[Pat A Flafla]

It's best to not force the grace note down, but to let it fade out in the sets of 3 cworrick mentioned, like gradually feathering the brakes. Eventually those flam taps are supposed to be completely bounces so you can burn them with a legato sound at high tempos. At its final opint in development, it's basically overlapping Hugadigs (accented triple bounces), and the prep and stroke should be more of the rebound type than the control stroke type. Technique wise flam taps have much in common with swiss army triplets.

Sometimes with your specific problem it can help to think about accelerating the grace note (as opposed to forcing it or delaying the accent).

Probably too advanced, but it's the only relevant thing that came up with a search for Hugadigs: https://www.fatmattdrums.com/the-woodshed-1/tag/Hugadigs

 

[bigbonzo]

Another one that asks a question, then is never here since that day. So, he hasn't seen any of the good responses. Makes you wonder.....

 

[cworrick]

Another one that asks a question, then is never here since that day. So, he hasn't seen any of the good responses. Makes you wonder.....

He must have failed Music Theory so decided he didn't need to know the answer.

 

[KCJazz]

Something I tell students right off the bat is that a flam should sound essentially the same at any speed. Like saying the word flam.

The flam exercises in Stone's Stick Control book will fix your problems.

 

[bigbonzo]

I wonder where @MrSouth went. Asked a question and hasn't been back. It's been over a month.

 

[gwbasley]

Think hitting both sticks together but start one stick high and the other close. The high stick falls on the beat but the low stick will precede it ever so slightly and as a ghost note. Try to play them smooth and not forced. Play your high stick about 4" above the head and your low stick at 1 "

 

[Elegant drum]

This is a bit I learned:
In a nut shell, you should have 16 volumes that equate to that many inches off the drum.
The sticks sit at exactly 1" off the drum 99% of the time if you are playing slow.
If the stroke and return is always fast at every tempo, then you are ready for the next letter (Single, double, or flam) no matter what is going on. The sticks are waiting at 1" off the drum already.

Same Idea applies to the kick beater.

exercise: Use rand number generator to give you 32 values from one to 16. Practice hitting those volumes, it's a bitch!
I just realized, I need to give that a go with tempo some time.

Here is one my current benchmarks. I can't play Sting's St. Augustine in hell. The ride vs kick snare pattern is unnatural. I have to work out another level of separation to get it done.

 

[Elegant drum]

The flam is the most difficult of the 3 letters.
Single, Double, Flam.
If you stick always stops 1" over the drum, then you are ready for the next letter no matter when or what it is.
The flam is the most difficult because there is no upstroke, and the timing between the hands becomes critical.

If you are used to playing in circles to get a strong pulse, flams are gonna be a pain.
This is where the marching and bugle core type skills really come into play.

Try this: Random write SDDDFFDSFSFDFSFF or some series like that, Then practice it.
S=single
D=double
F=Flam

 

[Gcort49]

Practice...practice...practice...

What I was going to say...also, takes time for muscle memory to develop..like a newborn learning to walk..
Patience and time

 

[Gcort49]

I wonder where @MrSouth went. Asked a question and hasn't been back. It's been over a month.

Yes. I did not notice it was an old post.
Maybe he 'flamed' along the way.

 

[wolfereeno]

I never heard of a Hugadig! Thx for that.

Hugadigs — The Woodshed — FatMattDrums

www.fatmattdrums.com

So is it basically a swung version of swiss triplet with an added note?

lRrr lRrr...