The Exercises Nobody Wants to Practice (But Should)

You search YouTube for "how to get faster hands on drums" and get 47 videos showing different exercises. One uses this sticking pattern. Another uses that rhythm. Someone else swears by their special 5-stroke roll variation that changed their life.

Overwhelming, right?

Here's what actually works: one boring exercise you stick with long enough to get good at it.

Not 10 exercises. Not 5. One.

The problem isn't that you need more exercises. It's that you haven't stayed with one exercise long enough to unlock what makes it powerful.

The Universal Exercise Principle

A universal exercise is something stupidly simple that targets a fundamental skill and can be adapted infinitely without changing its core purpose.

Examples:

• Single Strokes (8 right-lead, 8 left-lead)
• Groupings of 3 around the kit (RLR-LRL, moving between surfaces)
• Two-surface groove patterns (hi-hat + snare variations)

These aren't exciting. They're not going to make you look cool on Instagram. They don't promise "3 fills that will blow your teacher's mind."

But they work.

Why? Because the limitation forces creativity and depth.

What Happens When You Stick With One Exercise

Let's say you choose paradiddles.

Week 1: It's boring. You do it at 80 BPM because that's what feels comfortable. You think, "This is too easy, I should move on."

Week 2: You try it at 100 BPM. Suddenly your left hand feels weaker. You notice tension creeping into your shoulders. That's information. You slow back down and focus on keeping your left hand relaxed.

Week 3: You start moving the pattern around the kit. Right hand on floor tom, left on snare. Both hands on cymbals. Floor tom to hi-hat. Now it's interesting. Same exercise, completely different technical challenge.

Week 4: You realise you can accent certain notes. You try leading with the left hand first instead of the right. You experiment with dynamics—playing the whole thing quietly, then building to a forte.

Week 5: You're improvising phrases using paradiddle sticking patterns without even thinking about it. The exercise isn't boring anymore. It's a fundamental movement vocabulary you can draw from anytime.

That's the power of sticking with one exercise.

Why Random Exercises Don't Build Real Chops

Here's the trap: you see an impressive fill in a video, learn it, move on to the next one.

You collect exercises like Pokémon cards. Your practice time becomes a highlight reel of different patterns you never truly own.

The result?

• Surface-level familiarity with lots of techniques
• No depth in any of them
• Frustration when you can't execute those "cool fills" under pressure
• A practice routine that feels scattered and directionless

Compare that to the drummer who spent 6 months drilling groupings of 3 around the kit in every possible combination. When they improvise, those groupings show up naturally. They're not thinking about them anymore. The technique is built in.

That's what "chops" actually means—having fundamental movements so ingrained that you can deploy them musically without conscious effort.

The "Bored? Get Creative" Rule

Here's the key: if you get bored with an exercise, that's your cue to get creative with it, not abandon it.

Let's use groupings of 3 as an example.

Start: RLRK-LRLK around the kit (right hand floor tom, left hand snare, right hand hi-hat, left hand snare...)

Get bored? Change where the accents land. Accent the first note of each grouping. Then the second. Then the third.

Still bored? Split the grouping across different surfaces. Start with RLR on cymbals, LRL on toms.

Still bored? Play it as a non-linear exercise, adding bass drum on the "R" notes only.

Still bored? Change the tempo. Try it at 60 BPM with perfect control. Then 140 BPM. Then as fast as you can while maintaining clarity.

Still bored? Play the pattern over different time signatures. Try it in 5/4 instead of 4/4.

You can extract months of valuable practice from one exercise if you commit to it and let boredom be your invitation to explore deeper rather than jump ship.

What This Looks Like in Practice

What most people do:

• Monday: Learn a new fill from YouTube
• Tuesday: Practice another new fill
• Wednesday: Try a different sticking pattern someone recommended
• Thursday: "Why am I not getting better?"

What actually works:

• Weeks 1-4: Paradiddles with a focus on control, relaxation.
• Weeks 5-8: Same exercise, but now moving around kit, changing dynamics, adding accents.
• Weeks 9-12: Applying paradiddle sticking to grooves and fills in actual songs you're learning.

By Week 12, you own that sticking pattern. It's not something you "know how to do." It's something your hands do automatically when you need it.

That's the difference between collecting exercises and building technique.

For Parents: Why Simple Doesn't Mean Easy

If you're watching your child practice and thinking, "They're just doing the same thing over and over, shouldn't they be learning something new?"—here's what's actually happening:

Repetition with small variations is how motor skills develop.

Your child isn't "stuck" on one exercise. They're building the neuromuscular pathways that will allow them to play everything better later.

Think of it like a footballer practicing passing drills. Same basic movement, but with subtle adjustments to angle, power, distance, and timing. That's what creates mastery.

The boring exercises your child's teacher assigns aren't filler. They're the foundation that everything else is built on.

The Bottom Line

You don't need 50 exercises. You need one exercise you stick with long enough to truly understand it.

The magic isn't in the variety. It's in the depth.

Drill one universal exercise. Get creative with it when you get bored. Notice what changes, what gets harder, what gets easier. Apply it to actual music.

That's how you build real chops.

That's how you stop feeling scattered in your practice and start making genuine, measurable progress.

Choose one exercise. Stick with it. Get creative with it. Own it.

Then move to the next one.

Need help identifying which universal exercises to focus on? Let's work on building a practice routine that actually creates lasting progress. Contact me for drum lessons in Bristol