11/26/2025
Drum Set Sticking Independence is a free video course on developing independence with your hands and feet. If you missed previous week's posts - etudes 1,2, and 3, click on School of Percussive arts and you will find it there. Click like and follow to catch the remaining 10 lessons.
Etude 4, the Baion Ostinato, is the 4th segment in a 12 segment course. Each week, for 3 months, I will post a new etude. The video includes the etude being performed, 4 times each. You can practice along with the video. You will see amazing results in your mastery of limb coordination after each etude. This approach is fail proof if you follow the procedure. Please click like and follow if you want to catch the whole series.
This process was inspired by using variations with the George Lawrence Stone book, "Stick Control". The version presented in this series includes some sticking combinations not found in Stick Control. Each etude has the same sticking pattern, but the bass drum and high hat ostinato changes. Seeing it written out clearly indicates what occurs together and with which hand, written over the current ostinato.
Drum Set Sticking Independence
The concept of sticking independence in drumming is centered on the ability to use all limbs separately, ensuring that the movement of one does not interfere with another. Rather than perceiving drumming as numerous actions happening simultaneously, it is more effective to view it as a single rhythm being played, with the freedom to choose which limb executes each part. Every pattern performed is, at its core, a coordinated combination of hand and foot movements.
These sticking patterns are articulated between the snare drum and the ride cymbal, while the feet maintain an ostinato—a short, fixed rhythmic pattern that forms the foundation of the music. When practicing, it is important not to focus on the resulting sound, but rather to concentrate on whether the right or left hand is being used. Through this approach, each task gradually becomes ingrained as muscle memory, allowing for effortless and automatic playing.
If a particular exercise proves challenging, it is essential to pause and isolate the difficulty. Begin by establishing the ostinato with your feet. While maintaining this, verbally indicate each sticking direction by saying "right" or "left" in rhythm. This process serves as self-instruction, helping encode the sticking sequence mentally. Once you can recite the sequence over the ostinato, you are prepared to physically practice the example.
Muscle Memory in Drumming
Achieving mastery in drumming relies on developing muscle memory. This involves internalizing elements such as counting, rhythms, reading notation, sticking, and playing with precise timing. Muscle memory refers to the ability to reproduce specific movements without conscious thought, and it is most effectively developed through repetition at a pace slow enough to ensure flawless ex*****on. This deliberate practice must be consistent and purposeful.
A key principle to remember is that practice does not inherently make perfect—it makes permanent. Only perfect practice leads to perfect performance. The way you practice will directly influence how you play; if you practice with poor technique, frequent mistakes, interruptions, or by skipping necessary steps, these bad habits will become permanent. The goal is to achieve perfection at a slow speed, as practicing slowly and with accuracy accelerates the development of muscle memory. Once a rhythm can be executed perfectly and automatically, speed can be increased incrementally. There are no shortcuts to this process.
