The world around us in a constant state of change, whether it’s the environment, our bodies, or our social interactions.  We’re geared to respond and adapt to it.  This is why it is so important the music should be played dynamically.

As drummers and percussionists our basket of tools is almost unlimited to create contrast in sounds and patterns.

Although practicing effective dynamics should be a high priority for all drummers, I wonder if most drummers focus only on speed and fancy fills?  If you were conduct a poll, you would probably find that listeners respond better to well placed dynamics than elaborate fills.  

Why?  For one it compliments the actual song better; and second, there are elements of surprise and the appeal to our emotions.

So HOW do you become effective at dynamics?  I suggest mastering it on one drum or cymbal at a time. . . and what this means is learning proper stick control.

When I was learning to play the rudiments, I found that stick control was key to playing each pattern.  This is because many of the rudiments have accents placed on certain parts of the pattern.  The majority of licks are played at medium volume, and then BOOM, a loud smack!….yes, the accent.

The problem many of us face is wanting to make the other licks louder as we go.  This results in a loud, monotone rhythm – which of course is BORING.

Keeping the other stick patterns at a low and constant volume while accents are peppered in requires lots of practice.  Especially when the patterns get complicated, as with the drag paradiddle or ratamacue.

When practicing rudiments or any other sticking patterns that involve accents, remember to start slow and keep it slow until you can smoothly execute the dynamics. Then gradually increase your tempo.

My suggestion is to use a metronome to keep yourself from arbitrarily speeding up.

Once you become effective at playing a rudiment with accents on the snare, try it on a tom for a while, then the hi-hat.  This will help you become more familiar with the response of each instrument.

As you’ll notice, you have to apply a lot more force to the hat or tom than to the snare to get the same effect. Yet when playing an entire kit, you’re all over the place . . . needing to adjust how the surfaces are attacked.

This is a lot to think about in a short time, but constant practice with accented dynamics will make it second nature, trust me!