Secrets of the Hand:: Soloing Strategies for Hand Drummers

For about a decade I have had an avid interest in drumming of all kinds (Regular drum stick playing, various kinds of hand drumming and my favorite kind Taiko (Japanese) drumming) and I am always seeking ways to improve my drumming saw this volume . When I saw this text (Secrets of the hand: Soloing strategies for hand drumming by Alan Dworsky and Betsy Sansby) on Amazon for a fair price I ordered it.This is considered an advanced manual because it explains in greater detail the various exercises you can do to increase your drumming speed and skills. Since I familiar with the methods taught in this book I found the information interesting and informative. The drumming exercises are challenging and unless you are willing to actually practice the lessons this book may not be for you; however, if your goal is to become a better at hand drumming this will provide lessons to improve your drumming skills.This text is organized into two detailed parts. Part one covers the five basic hand pattern strategies and Part two explains the five strategies for creating the illusion of speed. If you are interested in improving your hand drumming speed and skills you may want to check out this manual.Rating: 4 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Hanbo-Jutsu: Use of the Hanbo, Cane, Walking Stick and Baton for self-defense).

This book does not have an accompanying cd and is a little less satisfying than other books by the Dworsky / Sansby team. Some of the chapters make rather obvious points about omitting ghost notes or alternating hands. Still, I expect I will learn valuable tips from working from it.

No CD

It did not have the CD with the tracks for the exercises

Bought my copy in a music sheet store 2nd hand and didn't include a CD. I am currently working with other instructional material and participate in a basic hand drumming class. I am a little more than half way through and have found the exercises fun and chop building. Especially helpful in developing that weak left hand slap many new/ intermediate players complain about. In addition your sense of time, playing off the beat, dealing with pauses, and alternating hands, will improve. A few of the explanations of the patterns can appear overly intellectualized and a bit confusing at times, but in essence, a nicely packaged book.A year later I am updating my review as I have played an open Mic with a percussion group of people from our aforementioned class posted on YOUTUBE . Our final number featured a piece of which we all get to improvise for a minute or two and reviewing and re reviewing my solo has made me aware of the influence and instruction the Dworsky/ Sansbury material has had in shaping and developing my playing.

This book has some valuable techniques and concepts. Having the ability to read well and follow the guidance is another challenge in and of itself. I practice percussion training as a way to capture my short attention span and cultivate orderly frameworks in my conscious and subconscious minds. Some points that are extremely crucial, no matter how seemingly fundamental or primitive at face value must be emphasized with recurring frequency. After inevitably getting carried away with playing to hard and fast, bring it back to simple exercises. Such as loops or phrases/strings of notes that you play over and over for no less than a hundred reps a piece(-use your own discretion, make a meditation of it, kill the chore feeling, it was implanted by corporate ad campaigns that have empowered our weaknesses...). They can be 2 beat patterns through 6,8,12,16,32, however you see fit. Play it slow-hard, slow-soft, hard-fast, and soft-fast, and everything in between. To develop multi-dimensional agility, one must explore every possibility, that is why practices such as these can be illuminating in other arenas too. Try not to let your ego get in the way of admitting that you, like everyone else is a student first, and that to teach is to also learn. No need to ever feel inferior or less desirable to not know something, you'll get further faster admitting ignorance and asking for immediate guidance at every turn.This art like any other is a form of kung fu. You get out of it what you invest. I compare the analogy of learning how properly to pronounce an unfamiliar word in another language. It requires a little exaggeration on the inflections, tones and rhythm, so that when you smooth it out a bit you're right on.