Balancing the Hands - Swing
By Steve Ley
This is an exercise designed to balance your hands through playing the jazz swing rhythm with either hand. In the first bar, the right hand leads, playing the rhythm on the floor tom. In the second bar, the left hand leads, playing the high tom. The spaces are filled with ghosted snare drum notes. These ghost strokes help you to hear and feel the underlying triplets in the swing feel.
Below is the sticking pattern. Get comfortable playing it on a practice pad before taking it to the drum set:
Practice tips:
- Make sure to keep the flow of triplets even
- When playing the rhythm on the kit, be sure to keep the snare notes soft
- Try substituting the floor tom for the ride cymbal and the high tom for a left crash/ride
