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How to practice a drum section up to full speed

Pick a song, choose one section from the chart's markers or drag across a few bars, and start the loop. JamJamz begins at 60 percent speed, counts you in, and marks every note hit, early, late or missed. After 3 clean passes in a row it raises the tempo 5 percent, until you reach full speed.

Updated

Steps

  1. Step 1

    Pick a song and difficulty

    Search your library and choose a song. JamJamz uses the Expert drum part by default; lower difficulties are simpler versions of the same part.

  2. Step 2

    Choose a section

    Select a section marker such as a chorus or fill, or drag across the bars you want. Short sections of one to four bars are easiest to clean up.

  3. Step 3

    Set the tempo ladder

    The defaults are a 60 percent start, 5 percent steps, a 100 percent target, and 3 clean passes to step up. Change any of them before you start.

  4. Step 4

    Play the loop

    Listen to the count-in, then play along. Each note is marked hit, early, late or missed, and stray hits are marked extra.

  5. Step 5

    Read your timing

    Check the timing per limb: right hand, left hand, toms and right foot. If one limb is early or late, try hands only or feet only to fix it.

  6. Step 6

    Climb to full speed

    After enough clean passes the tempo steps up on its own. Your best clean tempo is saved for that section.

What counts as a clean pass?

A pass where every note lands within 35 milliseconds of the chart and there are no extra hits. The tempo ladder needs 3 clean passes in a row by default before it steps up, so one lucky pass does not count. You can set the number from 1 to 10.

Should I use the note highway or the notation?

Both are on screen. The notation shows the real drum part, with each note colored by how you played it. The highway shows what is coming next. Many drummers read the highway at first and lean on the notation as the section gets familiar.

What if I keep missing the same notes?

Slow down. Drop the starting tempo, shorten the section to one bar, or switch to hands only or feet only. A clean pass at 60 percent teaches more than a messy pass at full speed.