We were all proud kids the day we graduated to a new echelon of coordination when we had our training wheels removed from our bikes. In a sense we were set free as we realized our vast potential. There is a parallel in just about everything we learn including the drums. So how do we take the training wheels off and unlock our vast potential with the drums? This can be done by improving your internal time sense. Your internal time sense is what governs how well you will keep a groove solid, how well you'll keep in time after fills or an important change, and ultimately how good you sound as a drummer. So how do you find the pocket and stay there as long as you want?

So lets get started. Lets assume you are practicing with the metronome at 80 BPM in 4/4 time. This means that every beat you will hear a reference click or beep from the metronome. The metronome is letting you know if your on track by clicking every single beat. In my opinion this is like training wheels. In order to really begin to train your internal time sense you need to somehow be able to play at the same pace but get less help from the metronome.

There is a very easy way to do this that everyone with a metronome can do. Simply divide your metronome marking by four and set your metronome to this new number. If you were practicing at 80 BPM you would turn it down to 20 BPM which is 1/4 as fast. If you continue playing at 80 BPM pace you will now only hear a click on the first beat. The other 3 beats of the measure will be up to you to play evenly by yourself without help. This is a great excercise because is shows very clearly whether you tend to slow down or speed up when you play.

I suggest playing a very simple beat until you can lock the timing down. Don't get frustrated because this is an advanced method and chances are your speed will tend to drift. Just remember that any amount of time you spend on this will be well worth the effort. It took me a long time to get use to this and I continue to struggle today, although I have improved a ton. Once you've gotten comfortable staying in time with the click only on the first beat of the measure, then you can start getting fancy and throwing in fills. You'll see how fills can throw off your timing, by either slowing you down, or speeding you up. Keep practicing until your fills fall seemlessly into the measure so that you land right back with the click on one. This will take some practice, but you will see yourself getting better each day you practice this exercise. Good luck, and have fun.