Drums For One and All - Tutorial page

Hand drumming can be a joyous experience, but there are potential risks which can lead to discomfort or injury if they aren't dealt with properly.

This primer points out a few concerns that hand drummers should be aware of if they wish to develop healthy playing habits.

Chronic drumming discomfort comes from two basic sources:
1) holding onto an often large, heavy, awkward object for a long period of time
2) repeatedly striking that relatively hard object with your own flesh and bone

Well, in this business, hitting stuff with your hands is the nature of the beast, so the trick is to minimize the negative effects. If you play with a beater or stick, then you've removed half of the problems. But there are still basic issues that affect all drummers, and we'll get to those in the second half of the primer.

Let's start with the problems associated with "true" hand drumming (no beaters). Since your hands are the beaters, they're going to receive a certain amount of abuse, so keeping that abuse to a minimum is the goal.

TIP #1: Remove all rings or hand jewelry while playing.

Usually, the harder parts of your hands (bones and joints) are striking the springy drum head, and that cushions much of the impact, sparing your hands from the sting. But if you wear a ring while playing, the impact is transferred directly into your finger joints and bones and can quickly cause acute pain.

Not only that, but the edges of a metal ring can eventually wear through some of the thinner goatskin heads, so you might be hurting both yourself and the drum at the same time.

Even playing with bracelets can cause some discomfort as they bang around on your wrists with every strike, so please be conscious of how the things you wear on your hands can affect your playing.

TIP #2: Warm up before each round of drumming.

It's tempting to grab a drum and launch into your playing, but taking a few minutes beforehand to stretch will contribute to a healthy playing style. Not only do you want to get the blood circulating through your arms and hands (especially if it's cold), but you also want to prepared your muscles for the workout their about to receive.

Here's a warm-up routine that I find useful:

Vigorously shake out your entire hands as if they were loose pieces of cloth on the ends of your arms.
Extend your arms straight out in front of you with the palms facing front, fingers pointing up. Spread your fingers wide and push the heel of your palms forward while drawing your fingers back.
Shake out your hands.
Repeat, but this time with your fingers pointing down.
Shake out your hands.
Open your hands, palms up, and roll your fingers closed, with the pinkies leading and letting the other fingers follow. When you fingers are all closed, roll them open with the index finger leading and let the others follow.
Roll closed again, this time with the index fingers leading, then roll open with the pinkies leading.
Roll open and closed several times, alternating between pinkies and index fingers leading.
Shake out your hands.
Open your fingers and rotate your thumbs in wide circles.
Find the pressure point on the outside of your upper forearm, in a small hollow just below the elbow. Massaging this point helps release any tension in your wrists.
Finally, loosen the muscles in your neck and shoulders to free up any tension held there.

In between drumming rounds, take time to shake your hands out again to get out any stiffness and get blood into your joints and muscles.

TIP #3: Play with relaxed, smooth, efficient movements.

Even when drumming becomes very energetic, it's important to not let tension accumulate in your arms, shoulders or neck. It is possible to play with authority without hammering on a drum, so try to develop a playing style that wastes little energy while creating a clear, percussive sound. If swinging your arms wide is your style, that's fine, but realize that you'll last much longer with smaller, more flowing movements.

TIP #4: Only play as loud as you need to hear yourself.

Up to a point, loudness is directly linked to how forcefully you hit the drum. If you're struggling to be heard in a noisy group, then you'll be hitting that drum much harder than necessary, and you're bound to be sore by the time you're done (if you make it that far). There's a price to be paid for all that heavy hitting, and over time, it catches up with you.

If you want your drumming career to be long and prosperous, I hope you'll see the value in playing with sensitivity and dynamics, rather than perpetually at full blast. When you recognize that a group is simply too loud, it might be wise to take a break until things quiet down to a reasonable volume, rather than abusing your hands trying to keep up.

TIP #5: Protect your knuckles by taping up

In general, you want to avoid having your knuckles hit the hard rim of the drum. But you may find that even repeated slaps on the edge of the drum head will make your finger joints ache. If you ever start to experience this pain -- even a little bit -- I suggest you start taping your fingers on a regular basis, because this problem tends to get worse over time.

Half-inch wide, white medical tape is very effective and can be found in any drug store. I find that taping both the index and middle fingers works well, because those knuckles seem to take more of the impact. Put about five wraps of tape around the lower and middle segments of each finger, and that should offer considerable protection.

If you still experience discomfort, it's probably best to stop drumming for a while. But if that's not an option, you can try wearing thin leather gloves, or even biking gloves to put a little more padding between your knuckles and the drum head.

The following pointers are more general advice for any kind of drummer, whether you play with sticks or not.

TIP #6: Protect your hearing at all costs

Once your hearing gets damaged, it's usually permanent, so don't take chances on something that could haunt you the rest of your life. Your own drum is capable of putting out tremendous sound levels right in front of your own face. Add to that a collection of other drummers playing around you, and you may be subjecting your ears to enough continuous noise that your hearing will gradually be degraded.

The first time you notice your ears ringing after a drumming session, you know it's time to buy some earplugs. Most drugstores sell the foam plugs which are very effective at protecting your ears. If you find they make it hard to hear all the musical details around you, only insert them halfway into your ear canal.

If you can afford the extra expense, getting custom-fitted "musician's earplugs" is an excellent way to preserve your hearing while allowing you to hear all the detail at a comfortable volume. They can cost roughly $100 to $150 for a pair, but they are well worth the investment if you find yourself frequently exposed to loud noises or amplified music.

TIP #7: Keep an upright posture when sitting

The ideal posture when playing in a sitting position, is to have a straight spine with your head up and your weight shifted slightly forward. Tilt the drum away from you so the head is at an angle that meets your downturned palms in a natural way. Not only will you be able to play longer, but you'll find it much easier to stay in sync with other drummers if you're looking up and around, rather than down into your drum.

TIP #8: Whether sitting or standing, find an efficient way to hold the drum

If your legs are long enough, wrap one or both around the drum and pull the bottom towards you while you're sitting. Don't try to clamp the drum between your knees, because you'll get exhausted quickly. If your legs aren't long enough to wrap around the drum, use a strap around your waist to pull the drum toward you. Some people leave a strap tied to the drum all the time. I prefer a strap with clips that can be disconnected from the drum when you don't want it getting in the way.

Larger drums can be quite heavy, so if you need to play standing up, I don't recommend slinging a strap over just one shoulder, because it puts too much stress and unbalance on one side of your body. If you can, either buy or make a harness that distributes the drum's weight on both of your shoulders and allows you to stand straight without too much stress on your lower back.

There are plenty of commercially available harnesses that clip onto your drum's tension ropes or rods, but many people make their own out of cloth. Rope is not a good idea because it tends to cut into your skin, or at least leaves bruises.

I've bought a bunch of large duffle bags to carry my drums, but I take off the shoulder straps so it's easier to get the drums into the bags. I found that three of these shoulder straps linked together makes an excellent harness, complete with clips for connecting to the drum and shoulder pads to keep things comfortable.

A harness can be like a spider's web, so here's my method of putting it on:

Lay the drum on its side and straddle it.
Loop the middle of the strap under the lower body of the drum.
Bring each end of the strap up over your back, and then over each opposite shoulder (so the straps are crossed in the middle of your back).
Hook the strap ends to the middle of the drum, just below the rim.
When you stand up, the drum should swing between your legs but remain suspended in front of you at a height that's easy for your hands to reach the head.

TIP #9: Change your playing habits at the first sign of discomfort

Like the patient said to the doctor, "It hurts when I do this." Well, stop doing it! It's not uncommon for people to have to give up hand drumming because their hands got messed up by playing past the first signs of trouble. Often, just changing your playing habits will be enough to get you back on track. Or just taking a break from drumming long enough to let things heal. But if you're in it for the long haul, know where your limits are, and be mindful of when you need to take care of yourself.