PRACTICE PLANS
Your practice plan is everything you’re working on, all in one place.
Below you’ll find a digital copy of your current plan, ready to download or view any time you need a reminder of what to focus on.
Print it out, keep it handy at home, on your phone, or wherever you practice.
Foundations
This plan is for beginners, or for drummers who have been learning for less than 6 months.
Entry Level
This plan is for drummers who have been learning for 6-12 months and have completed the Foundation skills.
The focus is on learning basic technique and musicianship skills and learning Rock and Pop songs.
Stick Control pg. 5-7 (Single Beat Combinations)
Syncopation pg. 10-11, 30-32 (8th notes)
Groove Essentials - Rock 1-5
Level 1
This plan is for drummers who have been learning for 1-1 ½ years and have completed the Entry Level skills.
The focus is on building basic technique and musicianship skills and learning Rock and Pop songs.
Technique
Stick Control pg. 5-7, 10-13 (16th note rolls)
Rudiments Tier One
Musicianship
Syncopation pg. 12-13, 20-29 (16th notes)
Groove Essentials - Rock 6-10
Level 2
This plan is for drummers who have been learning for 1 ½ - 2 years and have completed the Level 1 skills.
The focus is on developing basic technique and musicianship skills and learning Rock, Pop and Blues songs.
Technique
Stick Control pg. 8-9, 14-15 (Triplets)
Rudiments Tier Two
Musicianship
Syncopation pg. 10-11, 14-19 (Triplets / swing feel)
Groove Essentials - Blues (Grooves 1-5 swing feel, 58-60, 68-69)
Level 3
This plan is for drummers who have been learning for 2 - 2 ½ years and have completed the Level 2 skills.
The focus is on learning intermediate technique and musicianship skills and learning Rock, Pop, Blues and Funk/R&B/Soul songs.
Technique
Stick Control pg. 16-23 (Flams)
Rudiments Tier Three
Time Functioning Patterns - Fat-back exercise
Musicianship
Syncopation pg. 47-49, 60-63 (Accented 8th notes and 16th notes)
The Language of Drumming (Binary Letters)
Groove Essentials - Funk / R&B 11-17
Level 4
This plan is for drummers who have been learning for 2 ½ - 3 years and have completed the Level 3 skills.
The focus is on building intermediate technique and musicianship skills and learning Rock, Pop, Blues, Funk/R&B/Soul and Jazz songs.
Technique
Stick Control pg. 24-33
Rudiments Tier Four
Great Hands for a Lifetime - Lifetime Warmup (Basic)
Time Functioning Patterns - Jazz independence
Musicianship
Syncopation pg. 33-38, 50-59 (Accented dotted notes and triplets)
The Language of Drumming (Ternary Letters)
Groove Essentials - Jazz 18-26
Level 5
This plan is for drummers who have been learning for 3 - 3 ½ years and have completed the Level 4 skills.
The focus is on developing intermediate technique and musicianship skills and learning Rock, Pop, Blues, Funk/R&B/Soul, Jazz and Latin songs.
Technique
Stick Control pg. 38-46
Great Hands for a Lifetime - Lifetime Warmup (Intermediate)
Time Functioning Patterns - Linear
Musicianship
Syncopation pg. 38-46 (Syncopated Exercises)
The Language of Drumming (Words)
Groove Essentials - World 27-47
Level 6
This plan is for drummers who have been learning for 3 ½ - 4 years and have completed the Level 5 skills.
The focus is on learning advanced technique and musicianship skills and learning songs that align with stylistic studies.
Great Hands for a Lifetime - Lifetime Warmup (Advanced)
Patterns - Chaffee Stickings
The New Breed - Systems 1-13 with pg. 14-17
Groove Essentials - Rock and Odd Meter Grooves 48-60, 91-100
Level 7
This plan is for drummers who have been learning for 4 - 5 years and have completed the Level 6 skills.
The focus is on building advanced technique and musicianship skills and learning songs that align with stylistic studies.
Level 8
This plan is for drummers who have been learning for 5 - 6 years and have completed the Level 7 skills.
The focus is on developing advanced technique and musicianship skills and learning songs that align with stylistic studies.