Neil Peart

Hands · 50–160 BPM

You alternate hands, one hit each, non-stop. You do NOT stay on the snare: every bar your hands move to a different drum so your arms learn to travel.

Goal: Even singles that stay even while your arms travel around the kit

Hands · 50–140 BPM

Each hand plays twice before you swap. First hit is powered by your wrist, second hit is the stick bouncing.

Goal: Clean doubles you can move onto any drum

Hands · 50–150 BPM

Hands only. No kick, no hi-hat foot. You alternate hands non-stop and change drum every single beat, so your arms learn where everything is without your feet helping you keep time.

Goal: Confident travel around the kit with hands alone

Hands · 55–130 BPM

Every beat has 4 notes. The first one is loud (stick starts high), the other three are whispers (stick stays 2cm off the drum).

Goal: You control volume, not the stick

Independence · 50–130 BPM

Half-time means the snare only lands once a bar (on beat 3) so everything feels slower and heavier. Keep your left foot ticking underneath so the pulse never disappears.

Goal: Holding an underlying pulse during quiet sections

Hands · 50–140 BPM

You play a constant quiet stream of 16th notes on the snare, and only the loud notes move to a tom. That contrast between quiet and loud is what makes drumming sound musical instead of flat.

Goal: Dynamic control without any foot support

Independence · 50–130 BPM

Your right hand keeps a completely steady 8th-note ride pattern (1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &) while your left hand plays a pattern that does not line up with it. This is limb independence trained purely with hands.

Goal: Two hands doing genuinely different jobs

Progressive & Odd Time · 50–120 BPM

The bar is still normal 4/4 — 16 notes. But you accent every 3rd note. Because 3 does not divide into 16, the accent lands somewhere new each beat and only lines up again after 3 bars. This is the 'over the barline' sound.

Goal: Comfortable playing one rhythm on top of another

Progressive & Odd Time · 45–120 BPM

7/8 just means the bar is one beat shorter than normal: you count 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 and start again — no beat 8. Grouped 3+2+2 means you feel it as ONE-two-three, ONE-two, ONE-two.

Goal: Odd time that feels natural rather than scary

Independence · 45–110 BPM

'Ostinato' just means a short pattern you repeat without changing. Here your right hand and both feet play a fixed loop while your left hand improvises on snare and toms.

Goal: Genuine four-way independence

Double Kick · 55–130 BPM

Same 16th note double kick, but treated like gym intervals. You play until the timer stops you, then rest completely.

Goal: Hold your tempo for 60 seconds with no tension

Progressive & Odd Time · 55–160 BPM

No grid, no tab. You play music and deliberately drop in at least three things you practised in this session.

Goal: Turn exercises into music

Independence · 50–120 BPM

Your left foot closes the hi-hat on the '&' — the space between the numbers. Most drummers' left foot is asleep; this wakes it up.

Goal: An independent left foot that keeps the pulse for you

Progressive & Odd Time · 45–110 BPM

In the same amount of time, your hands play 3 notes and your feet play 2. They only line up on note 1. The classic phrase to say out loud is 'NICE cup of TEA' — hands on every syllable, feet on NICE and of.

Goal: Internalise the polyrhythmic feel