This Way Of Thinking Changed My Playing Forever!

 

I wanted to share a simple concept with you. Something that can really help open up your playing, as it did for me.

 

So I’ve been doing these daily live streams on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram while having my midday coffee.

 

They’ve been great. It gives me the chance to answer questions in real time, sitting on the pads, and actually go into detail.

 

Last week, during one of these, someone asked me what I thought about the three stroke roll. Or the Triple Stroke Roll.

 

My answer was simple.

 

The three stroke roll is great. Any succession of singles, in any denomination, is worth working on.

 

But the way my mind works, I immediately start thinking that it is only one of many things you can do with the concept of three strokes.

 

And that is really the bigger point I want to make here.

 

This is exactly why I think learning to think a little wider than traditional curriculum can be so valuable if you want to develop your own voice in the modern age.

 

We absolutely need to honour tradition, and honour the history of drum curriculum, but I also think it is important to zoom out, look at things from a wider perspective, and think a little more laterally.

 

This is how I have approached the instrument since I was about 17 years old, and it has served me incredibly well in my own development on the kit.

 

So, when someone asks me what I think about the three stroke roll, my response is this.

 

Yes, the three stroke roll is great! But… what else can we do with three strokes?

 

That is where things start to get interesting.

 

Let’s break it down.

 

We can go R R L, or L L R.

 

We can go R K R, R K L, L K L, L K R.

 

We can go R K K, L K K, K K R, K K L.

 

We can go K R K, K L K, K R R, K L L, and that is before we even get into dynamics!

 

And that is when things really start to spice up.

 

If we think about a capital R as an accented right hand, and a lowercase r as a non-accented right hand, then suddenly we can start playing with things like R r K, or r R K.

 

Which can lead to L r K, and R l K.

 

Can you see how much variation opens up just from a dynamic change?

 

That mindset shift, and that overall approach, not only changed my voice on the kit, but it has kept me in a constant state of creative abundance too.

 

I am never short of things to work on, because there is always another variation, another angle, another possibility that I have not explored yet.

 

What I’ve realised is that true progress on and off the kit is determined by a simple concept – getting comfortable in the uncomfortable.

 

The discomfort is where the gems are. Where discovery and adventure live. Where growth is. Where your TRUE voice is.

 

And then, to take it even further, you can apply that exact same approach to four strokes, five strokes, six strokes, and beyond. And what if we start switching some singles for doubles? Even in the middle of phrases. Now we’re talking!

 

This is how I think.

 

That is also why I have gradually moved away from traditional curriculum as the main lens I look through, because a lot of the areas I am interested in now not only go beyond it, but in many ways surpass it.

 

Big call, I know, but I make no apologies when it comes to my progress on the kit, and I lean into the differences, in terms of my way of thinking.

 

Just remember, drumming and drum curriculum are just man-made creative pursuits. Nothing more. It’s just opinions, just like mine here.

 

There are no hard rules. Just suggestions and ideas. There are pathways that have been handed down, and plenty of them are brilliant, but even the most celebrated parts of the curriculum are still just ideas. And often just a product of their time too.

 

Sometimes ideas need to be challenged, stretched, and built on, so things can evolve. We are nowhere near done yet, that’s for sure. So we need to keep thinking, keep searching, and keep exploring.

 

So the next time you sit down at the pad, give the three stroke roll a go, but do not stop there. Zoom out and take it through this wider system of thinking, and see how many different ways you can organise three strokes. Then, start logging those reps.

 

You might be surprised by the doors it opens.

 

Alright, that’s it for this week. I hope you found this helpful 🙂

 

Now, for me, back to work!

 

Stay hungry and healthy,

Stan

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