Drum Tips - How Fast is Fast?

Mike Mangini, drummer for Extreme and the Steve Vai Band, set the current world record for speed of a single stroke roll.

Mike played 1247 single strokes in 60 seconds. He also set the Fastest Feet Speed/Endurance Record: 13,222 single strokes with his feet in 900 seconds (15 min).

For those of you who want to work at breaking this record:

1/16 note triplets = 6 notes per metronome tick. Start slow! Try playing them at 60bpm at first, this will be 6 notes per second or 360 notes in 60 seconds.

As you get comfortable, keep moving the tempo up a little each day.

When you can play 1/16 note triplets at 209bpm for 60 seconds you'll be playing 1254 notes in 60 seconds and setting the new record.

When you can get your feet up to 1/16 note triplets at 150bpm you'll be playing 900 notes in 60 seconds. Keep that going for 15 minutes and you can set the new record for fastest feet/endurance with 13,500 notes.

Way back when, before I was in law school and could dedicate a reasonable amount of time to practicing drums, I was having difficulty getting my triplets clean, around the kit, past the 176bpm tempo. 176 is very fast, at 209bpm Mike has set an amazing bar for you all to try and jump over, but I hope you realize that it is not impossible! With patience, determination, time, and effort, you too can get there!

Have Fun!