Technique guide · 15 minutes

Learn it slowly. Then let the tempo rise.

Whatever your instrument, rehearse the mechanics you want at performance speed slowly enough to learn what good technique feels like. Then build speed without letting that technique become sloppy.

By Matt · GigClick developer and drummer

Start clean+2 BPM

Same technique · less time

Why I practise slowly

Getting through the pattern is not the same as learning the technique.

When I go straight to performance speed, I can sometimes make a difficult passage happen. I can also grip harder, shorten the wrong movement, rush the awkward transition and use a slightly different solution every time. Reaching the final note does not tell me which version I have practised.

Slowing the passage down lets me rehearse the technique I actually want to use at speed. I can feel the grip, stroke, rebound, balance and path of the movement without the tempo hiding what is happening. I am not inventing a separate “slow technique”. I am putting the intended technique under a magnifying glass.

That repeated feeling matters. After enough good repetitions, I no longer have to issue a separate instruction for every note. My body knows the shape of the movement. That is what I mean by building muscle memory: making the correct technique familiar enough that it remains available when there is less time to think.

This is not just a drumming method. A guitarist can use it to settle a picking movement or chord change; a pianist to coordinate a fingering; a string player to refine a bow change; a wind player to connect fingers, tongue and breath. The mechanics differ, but the principle is the same: teach the body the version you want before asking it to produce that version faster.

Practise the movement you want to keep—not merely the tempo you want to reach.

Mechanics before speed

Make good technique repeatable while you can still feel every part of it.

A new groove, fill, scale, chord change or difficult passage asks the body to solve a sequence of movements. Slow practice gives you enough time to choose that solution instead of accepting whichever one survives.

What to rehearse

01
Choose the performance technique. Decide on the sticking, fingering, articulation, motion and sound you intend to use when the passage is up to speed.
02
Play it in slow motion. Keep those mechanics intact. Do not replace them with oversized movements simply because more time is available.
03
Notice the complete feeling. Pay attention to rebound, pressure, balance and where each limb is preparing for its next note.
04
Repeat the same solution. A correct attempt matters. Several repetitions with the same feeling are what begin to make it dependable.

Useful slow, not arbitrarily slow

Find the tempo where good technique becomes clear.

The starting tempo should give you room to understand the movement while still allowing you to use the mechanics you are trying to learn.

A practical test

Start near the point where the pattern becomes unreliable, then lower the BPM until you can meet all four conditions:

01
The intended technique remains present. The sticking, rebound, motion and orchestration still resemble the performance version.
02
You have spare attention. You can notice tension, sound and balance while the pattern continues.
03
The repetition feels the same. You are not finding a new rescue for the difficult section each time.
04
Five clean repetitions agree. One success proves it can happen. Repetition begins to teach your body what it should feel like.

From muscle memory to speed

Give the learned movement slightly less time.

Once good technique feels familiar, raise the tempo in steps small enough that your body does not need to abandon it. The purpose of the ramp is to preserve the movement while gradually increasing the demand.

Example setup+2 BPM every 8 bars

80Establish
82Repeat
84Preserve
86Test

The numbers are only an example. Choose an increase small enough that the technique should not need to change, and enough bars for the movement to settle at each step.

Why automatic steps help

Without a tempo trainer, every increase breaks the repetition. You stop, reach for the control, change the BPM and then rebuild your attention. An automatic step lets you stay inside the physical task.

For a one-bar pattern, try increasing by two BPM every eight bars. That gives you eight complete repetitions to feel the movement at each speed. A longer phrase may need more bars; a difficult technique may need a one-BPM step.

The question at every step

Does this still feel like the good repetition I learnt at the starting tempo? If it does, keep going. If it does not, the ramp has found the part that needs more work.

Quality sets the maximum

Stop when speed begins to replace technique.

A tempo ramp is not a command to reach the final number. It is a way to locate the speed where good technique stops remaining automatic.

When the ramp has done its job

01
Stop at the first mechanical change. Notice grip, tension, stroke height, balance or a sticking that changes without your decision.
02
Return to the last clean tempo. Give your body more repetitions of the version you want to keep.
03
Isolate the failing movement. Practise the smallest section that contains the change rather than repeatedly running the full pattern into the same problem.
04
Record the repeatable speed. The useful result is the fastest BPM where the technique remained solid, not the highest number you touched once.

Technique first

A 15-minute practice block

Spend more time establishing the movement than testing its limit. The ramp should confirm what your body has learnt, not replace that learning.

5 minLearn the movementSlow-motion performance technique; five matching repetitions
7 minRun the rampSmall BPM steps; keep the mechanics and sound unchanged
3 minRepair and recordReturn to the last clean tempo and note today’s repeatable range

Build speed without losing the work

Let the tempo rise while the technique stays solid.

GigClick’s Tempo trainer raises the BPM by your chosen amount after your chosen number of bars. Set the movement first, choose a small step, and keep your attention on what good technique feels like.

Coming soon to Google Play