There are several benefits to having a practice buddy when you are learning the drums. Let's look at why.

Motivation

Practicing with someone else can be more motivating than practicing alone. It can be easier to stay focused and engaged when you are practicing with someone else, and you may find that you are more likely to stick to your practice routine when you have a practice buddy.

Feedback

When you practice with someone else, you can get valuable feedback on your playing. This can help you identify areas of your playing that need improvement and give you a different perspective on your progress.

Accountability

Having a practice buddy can help you stay accountable to your practice goals. You can motivate and encourage each other to stay on track and make progress in your playing.

Social interaction

Practicing with someone else can be a fun and social activity. It can be a great way to make connections with other musicians and improve your skills in a supportive and collaborative environment.

Skill development

Practicing with someone else can help you develop your listening skills and improve your ability to play with others. This is an important skill to have as a drummer, as you will often be playing with other musicians in a band or ensemble setting.

I have great memories of my days while studying at university and having practice sessions with other drummers. I was the super enthusiastic one and would say to other drummers (not just other drummers at uni), “let’s get together for a drum jam!” I’m sure at first the other guys were like, “who is this guy” :).

Sometimes it would be with one other drummer and we would each pick a couple of rudiments each that we would run in the session. This was nice and easy with just a practice pad each and a metronome. I also use to set up days where there would be four drummers all on drum kits getting together. We would go for about four hours and have a blast. There would be impromptu jam sessions with trading 8’s as well as each person getting to talk through and demonstrate a new skill or concept that they were working on.

This had so many different levels of motivation to it! Of course there’s that friendly competitive element that you want to keep up with everyone else, but also the opportunity to share your own ideas. I remember wanting to share some very difficult stuff so it gave me a lot of extra motivation to practice it up to a level that I could show and play to others.

If you’re looking for the opportunity to work up your core drumming skills and come together regularly to practice with other drummers, please feel free to check out my DRUM CHOP ACCELERATOR. Besides having a library of awesome workout videos to play along with, we get together each week as a group to practice and develop our skills.

Here’s what one of our new members Dale had to say about his first, ‘Saturday Session’:

I had a great time and a great practice session afterwards while the blood was flowing. I was certainly out of my depth when I was watching the other guys but it’s great inspiration and motivation for me to improve, which I’m hoping to everytime. Any Saturday I can make it I’ll be there. Thanks again 🥁

There’s something for everyone so no matter what your level, you’ll get in a great practice session!