Back to: POPS! 1
The single stroke roll alternates between right and left hands. This might seem like a very simple place to start, but it is the foundation of your playing technique! Practising this gives you the chance to focus on the quality of your playing:
- check you’re holding the sticks well, and adjust their balance if needed
- check you’re relaxed – become aware of the muscles in your arms, shoulders and back and consciously relax them
- check your timing – at first it can be hard to get slow and even timing
- check the volume of each stroke is the same
Play along tracks
Here’s a click track at 80 bpm (beats per minute) for you to practise with – the same speed that Ross uses.
And here’s a backing track (with click track) to play along with. Don’t worry if the style of music doesn’t take your fancy – there are over 20 backing tracks in lots of styles and speeds in the Resources (previous lesson). This one is called “Billie Eyelash”: