Blast Beat Practice 2, 200-240 bpm
By Guts
I took a break for about three weeks recently, where I didn’t touch the sticks, and this is the second time I play since then. Letting your body rest can be very powerful sometimes.
In these short videos, I play around some with a paradiddle, some rolls and a blast beat. I tried to keep them pretty similar, as I decided to progress from 200 to 240 bpm, in increments of 10. Even though it’s definitely not that tight at higher speeds, I have never been able to play this solid before. I think I owe it to two things:
- Coming back from a whole lot of rest. I still have some issues with my hands and thumbs, but I believe it’s getting better.
- New stick type, going from Vic Firth 5A to 5B (both nylon-tipped).
And by the way, I’ve been playing for about a year now, and even though I haven’t dedicated nearly enough practice to my feet, I really feel that I’ve gotten somewhere with my hands!