347 – [Daniel Glass Show]: The Secret To Playing Fast!

In this session, Daniel discusses our obsession with playing as fast as possible, and offers a real, practical road map to reaching new levels of speed. The short answer: If you want to play fast, you must first learn to play slow!

What’s covered in this session:

• Daniel describes how learning drum parts on classic power ballads helped him understand the benefits of slow playing.
• Daniel explores two elements of drumming that we fear most: playing slowly and playing softly. If you ignore these elements, you do so at your own peril.
• An explanation of “space equals time,” a phrase that Daniel learned from his teacher Freddie Gruber.
• Why playing slowly offers us a deeper understanding of the space between beats, leading to greater clarity when the tempo increases.
• Why playing slowly can help us to identify and remove tension, which is the greatest impediment to playing fast.
• Daniel explains an exercise he created that helps develop speed by developing greater clarity and reducing tension.

Resources/Links/People Mentioned:

• Barry Manilow’s hit song, Mandy, which (like many power ballads) begins with a basic quarter-note pattern on the hi hat.
• Daniel demonstrates the function of the four limbs in a basic rock groove. By slowing down the movements and allowing the limbs to drop, greater relaxation and clarity can be achieved, leading to greater speed.
• Daniel’s Drumeo presentation on the evolution of timekeeping and pulse. At 39:45, he demonstrates concepts related to the above topics (slow play, “allowing” the limbs to drop in a tension-free manner).