Hi everyone, I'm Senri Kawaguchi.
I'd like to talk to you about playing powerful when you don't have too much muscle.
Let's call this How to play powerfully without power .
Drumeo has had a lot of great drummers over the years and almost everyone has been strong built.
As you can see I look like I have no muscles, I am small.
There were times when I wanted to work out to get bigger and stronger but
I found it wasn't very easy for me to gain muscles but I have been a power hitter drummer.
If you are a female drummer, you might have been trying to play louder but not successful.
Maybe you have been wondering how to gain volume in your playing but don't know how.
I want to share my tips with you to hopefully help you play louder and more powerfully without using power.
Let's now talk about hands, arms and upper body.
One of the point is my stick which have been custom made by zildjan.
These are a little bit longer than usual and have rubber grip on.
The reason why it's longer and has coated with rubber is because
I usually hold them at the end where you can barely see the stick sticking out of my hands.
Just by holding at the end of the stick allows you to utilize the gravity to your playing and when it's done right the sound
Since I am playing with the weight of the sticks I am not just throwing them down, I am hitting the drums with minimal
I am holding them loosely in order to maximize the weight of the sticks.
Actually I am not using much of the muscles on my upper arms.
Think of a whip and whipping well and speedy.
When I was taking a lesson my teacher instructed me to hold the sticks towards the tip around here.
So I was trying to hold the sticks where I was told but I realized that if I wanted more volume with minimal effort I
needed to place my hands farther back on the stick for more power
It may take a little bit of time to get used to it but please give it a try if the low volume has been an issue for you.
The backbeat would sound more solid and powerful.
It will get louder and less stress for your body.
Then I also get questions often about how I am playing the fast fills.
In fact, I change my grips during the song especially the part I feel like putting fast fills.
If you are holding sticks firmly you might not be able to change the grip during the song in matters of a second.
There is a right timing to shift my hands while I'm playing the beat.
Let me play and example as I will put in a fast fill during the beat.
So I shift my hands towards the tip during the beat, it may not be obvious but I gradually do it.
Playing the complex and fast fills with shorter grip.
Playing big beats with more volume with longer grip.
So in order to be able to play and shift my hands to play faster fills, the most important point is not to hold the sticks
In just one position because that limits my ability to play powerfully.
I would like you to be mindful to be a flexible drummer both mentally and physically.
I hope you can try this out!