What drum skill, or piece, was your ‘most challenging’ to play.

[Steech]

Dust in the wind, Kansas

Yes, the drumming is so subtle and airy in that song. Almost inaudible.

 

[Deafmoon]

Challenging? Let’s see: Cold Sight Reading, Studio Recording, Gary Chester’s Systems, Soloing over Ostinato’s, Left Hand Lead Grooves, Hybrid Rudiments, Multi Rudimental Flow, Flam Displacements from Gaddiments. I’m sure there’s more.

 

[JimmyM]

We could get married ?

I will be flower girl.

 

[chrisr777]

Back when I was taking lessons from Louie Bellson's brother Hank he used to give me charts and a tape to play to. He once gave me West Side Story by Buddy Rich. The charts were one thing. Playing along with Buddy was another thing entirely.

 

[GretschMan61]

Still working on Gary Chester’s New Breed, what a great book and system . It really makes me think and concentrate . Maybe the most challenging thing I have found to date other than studying polyrhythms with Peter Magadini .

 

[GiveMeYourSmallestSticks!]

Playing odd time signatures without having to constantly count in my head. I've gotten a lot better at this over time, but it's been a long haul to play them without counting, feeling natural and in the pocket.

 

[Fat Drummer]

Sooooo many challenges over my 50+ years of playing, in fact ALL of it has been a trial to some degree in so much as I don't poses any actual talent! I fell in love with the drums first and learn to play second and have always been playing catch up ever since.

I gave up on two base drums by 1983, gave up on playing a double pedal by 1989 and figured out around 1996 that I really wasn't very good with just a single pedal either!

But my biggest current challenge is maintaining the jazz doted ride pattern while playing something else with my left hand.... I am STRUGGLING!

 

[Houndog]

Sooooo many challenges over my 50+ years of playing, in fact ALL of it has been a trial to some degree in so much as I don't poses any actual talent! I fell in love with the drums first and learn to play second and have always been playing catch up ever since.

I gave up on two base drums by 1983, gave up on playing a double pedal by 1989 and figured out around 1996 that I really wasn't very good with just a single pedal either!

But my biggest current challenge is maintaining the jazz doted ride pattern while playing something else with my left hand.... I am STRUGGLING!

Yeah , me too . I lose my swing pattern on ride when I try to cut loose with my left

 

[Mapex Always]

Sooooo many challenges over my 50+ years of playing, in fact ALL of it has been a trial to some degree in so much as I don't poses any actual talent! I fell in love with the drums first and learn to play second and have always been playing catch up ever since.

I gave up on two base drums by 1983, gave up on playing a double pedal by 1989 and figured out around 1996 that I really wasn't very good with just a single pedal either!

But my biggest current challenge is maintaining the jazz doted ride pattern while playing something else with my left hand.... I am STRUGGLING!

Sorry to disagree brother , I’ve heard you play … your very talented.

And if you want to take it to the next level , grab a “six - lugger”

 

[Tornado]

But my biggest current challenge is maintaining the jazz doted ride pattern while playing something else with my left hand.... I am STRUGGLING!

John Riley's "The Art of Bop Drumming" really opened that up for me. With the bass drum patterns mixed in too. I spent months in that book, and was eventually able to play all the comping patterns without any trouble. It's all I did for months. Just hammering those phrases over and over. The key thing I took away from going through that book was to really understand when your limbs play together and to really ensure they line up exactly when they do. Doing that really reenforces the muscle memory. As he says in the book, it's not limb "independence", it's limb "interdependence". That was a crucial mind shift for me. A real lightbulb moment.

 

[Fat Drummer]

Sorry to disagree brother , I’ve heard you play … your very talented.

And if you want to take it to the next level , grab a “six - lugger”

Nope, it really is all learned skill sets for me, but the six lugger thing does interest me. One day I will find one and have to try it.

 

[hsosdrum]

'Cuz you asked... I've always had trouble playing triplets on my bass drums underneath a fast shuffle (around 150BPM – 160BPM) while making the whole thing fit together and groove. I managed to do it well exactly one time, during a recording session almost 20 years ago. Fortunately the results were captured in the recording, but I've never been able to duplicate what I played, no matter how much I practiced it. (And I'd been practicing it for years before the session.) During that part of the recording I had an almost out-of-body experience, as if I was not even in control of what I was playing or how I was playing it. When that happens it's close to a mystical experience.

 

[rsq911]

For marimba, it was Niel DePonte's Concertino. I performed it on my graduate recital for my MM.
For snare, one would be Ken Mazur's Lazerbeam.
Also for snare, my piece at the 9/11 Memorial, which is one of three movements.

 

[Matched Gripper]

It’s been several years, but the one that challenged me the most, was the Purdie shuffle, specifically, playing the ghost note that immediately follows the snare;
View attachment 605092
That little bugger took me several sessions, and required me to slow the tempo down to an absolute crawl to play.

Today it’s auto-pilot, and I play it without even a thought. But I well remember the dedication it took to wrap my mind around forcing my hand to release the stick for the grace note after that snare strike, I felt like I had summited Everest the first time I was able to just sit and play it. Lol.

A second for me would be learning to play a Waltz, which I do regularly in our set these days without struggle. (Shout out to @DamnSingerAlsoDrums who mentioned this in another thread) But again, there was a time my feeble 4/4 mind fought against the strange, awkward auto-pilot I had engrained over the years.

What’s yours?

Mine? Pretty much every permutation in Garibaldi’s “Future Sounds” book. It’s like, there are only so many years in one lifetime, dude.

Other than that, learning to play a mambo on the drumset with left foot clave (all 4 permutations). Took about 6 months to get one permutation together. Once you have it, it’s a great skill to have on songs like “Caravan,” “On Green Dolphin Street,” “A Night in Tunisia,” as an alternative to the usual drumset samba facsimile, depending on who you’re playing with.

Shifting gears, here’s a close up of BP demonstrating the Purdie Shuffle @ about 4:30. Doesn’t look so tough when he does it.

 

[Matched Gripper]

Sooooo many challenges over my 50+ years of playing, in fact ALL of it has been a trial to some degree in so much as I don't poses any actual talent! I fell in love with the drums first and learn to play second and have always been playing catch up ever since.

I gave up on two base drums by 1983, gave up on playing a double pedal by 1989 and figured out around 1996 that I really wasn't very good with just a single pedal either!

But my biggest current challenge is maintaining the jazz doted ride pattern while playing something else with my left hand.... I am STRUGGLING!

Are you working out of any method books? “Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer,” by Jim Chapin is the gold standard for that skill. Another method that’s a little easier and very practical is “Studio/Jazz Drum Cookbook,” by John Pickering.

 

[JazzAcolyte]

It’s been several years, but the one that challenged me the most, was the Purdie shuffle, specifically, playing the ghost note that immediately follows the snare;
View attachment 605092
That little bugger took me several sessions, and required me to slow the tempo down to an absolute crawl to play.

Today it’s auto-pilot, and I play it without even a thought. But I well remember the dedication it took to wrap my mind around forcing my hand to release the stick for the grace note after that snare strike, I felt like I had summited Everest the first time I was able to just sit and play it. Lol.

A second for me would be learning to play a Waltz, which I do regularly in our set these days without struggle. (Shout out to @DamnSingerAlsoDrums who mentioned this in another thread) But again, there was a time my feeble 4/4 mind fought against the strange, awkward auto-pilot I had engrained over the years.

What’s yours?

The sixteenth notes in the bridge of the second chorus of Max Roach’s solo on Stompin’ At the Savoy. For me, that’s fast. Starts around 5:10.

 

[Northamusi]

Rosanna. The song itself is kind of annoying to me too but, good lord, that drum part and his time & feel on it. Playing it with the right dynamics, feel, touch, etc. is something I've been slowly working on. Almost there...

+1

 

[bpaluzzi]

It’s been several years, but the one that challenged me the most, was the Purdie shuffle, specifically, playing the ghost note that immediately follows the snare;
View attachment 605092
That little bugger took me several sessions, and required me to slow the tempo down to an absolute crawl to play.

Today it’s auto-pilot, and I play it without even a thought. But I well remember the dedication it took to wrap my mind around forcing my hand to release the stick for the grace note after that snare strike, I felt like I had summited Everest the first time I was able to just sit and play it. Lol.

A second for me would be learning to play a Waltz, which I do regularly in our set these days without struggle. (Shout out to @DamnSingerAlsoDrums who mentioned this in another thread) But again, there was a time my feeble 4/4 mind fought against the strange, awkward auto-pilot I had engrained over the years.

What’s yours?

FWIW, that’s not a Purdie shuffle.

The ghost notes are similar, but that’s a regular shuffle, not half-time like the Purdie is.

It’s still a big challenge to play well (especially to make it feel right). If anything it’s probably more useful than a “textbook” Purdie shuffle, due to the small amount of half-time shuffles in use.

 

[malkire]

'Cuz you asked... I've always had trouble playing triplets on my bass drums underneath a fast shuffle (around 150BPM – 160BPM) while making the whole thing fit together and groove. I managed to do it well exactly one time, during a recording session almost 20 years ago. Fortunately the results were captured in the recording, but I've never been able to duplicate what I played, no matter how much I practiced it. (And I'd been practicing it for years before the session.) During that part of the recording I had an almost out-of-body experience, as if I was not even in control of what I was playing or how I was playing it. When that happens it's close to a mystical experience.

I have trouble with triplets on the kick at any tempo that isn't glacially slow

 

[hsosdrum]

I have trouble with triplets on the kick at any tempo that isn't glacially slow

For me it's not the bass-drum triplets themselves, it's playing them smoothly while grooving the shuffle on top of them. (My hand-foot independence has never been that great.) I get close when I stop concentrating on making it all work and "just let it happen". Trouble is, I've never been able to keep up that "just let it happen" for very long before my friggin' brain starts getting in the way.

Think I'll take another whack at it tomorrow.