First, you'll need a little notebook.

Write down these key areas:
1) Practice Pad
2) Timing
3) Groove
4) Fills
5) Stickings & Rudiments
6) Songs
7) Speed
8) Open Solo (more advanced)
9) Independence (more advanced)
10) Summary

These are my typical key areas that I work a lot with.

Ask yourself what kind of drummer do you want to be.
a) If you want to be a drummer that can play a few of your favourite songs, then practise about:
10 to 15 mins - 3 days a week.

b) If you want to be a drummer that can play in a band on a weekly session (e.g worship), then practise:
30min to 60min - 3 days a week

c) If you want to be a drummer that will be good enough to do gigs and sessions regularly, then practise:
about 60mins to 120mins - 4 days a week

d) if you want to be a professional drummer, performer, educator, then practise:
more than 120mins - as many days a week as possible.

Think of it as clocking time.
Some people become very good drummers after 1 year because of the countless time they have clocked in practising. Some drummers learn the instrument for more than 4 years, but are still at a very basic level of proficiency.

At My Drum School, we believe in constant inspiration. So when a student gets bored or discouraged, we will do a short solo or a song to let him look at the end result of practising.

Ok, lets go into the key areas:

Here is a sample of my practise session.
I usually do 2 hours a day. sometimes 4 hours straight when I have more time.

1) Practice Pad (10mins)
Start off by using the pad to do your singles, doubles and paradiddles. Using the pad is like a mini-warmup before you hit the drums. Don't be impatient with the practice pad! I usually put it under my pillow so before I sleep i will 'talk' to it...

2) Timing (10 mins)
Get a metronome. If you don't have one, then go to www.mydrumschool.com/resources
Practice at common tempos e.g 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120, 130
As a drummer, Timing is KING!

3) Groove (30mins)
We often neglect this area. Play your grooves OVER and OVER again. the more you play, the better you sound. Its like polishing a surface. Keep polishing and it'll get shinier!
Play with different tempo songs if you need. Do this on a drumset or a practice pad with some pillows around.

4) Fills (30mins)
The Drum Fill separates the beginner drummer from the pros. Practice your 8th notes, triplets, 16th notes. 16th note triplets... etc Be careful of your sticking. Try new areas of fills. Do not always start from the snare. What about the HH? or the bell? or going in an anti-clockwise direction? Drumming is about being creative. Unleash your ideas... its ok to make mistakes at this stage. Go for it. AND PLEASE ATTEND THE LESSON ON IMPROVISATION AROUND THE DRUM KIT.

5) Stickings & Rudiments (20mins)
Go through your sticks and rudiments on the drum set.
RKRKRKRKRKRKRKRKR
LKLKLKLKLKLKLKLKLKLK
RRLLRRLLRRLLRRLL
LLRRLLRRLLRRLLRR
RLKKRLKKRLKKRLKK
etc...

6) Songs (20mins)
Turn on a few songs and play with it. This trains you to be a musician rather than a time keeper. Understand song structure and dynamics. Do songs with different tempos. If you are using an mp3 player, rename the song title and put in the tempo at the end of the song. So that by scrolling down your playlist, you can see the tempo next to the titles...
It makes LIFE A LOT easier.
Remember, use technology to improve your practising. that's our priviledge as the new generation.

7) Speed (30mins)
Speeeed takes personal discipline. Its like training to swim or run faster. It would not come overnight. But that doesn't mean we don't get started somewhere.

Get a metronome.
Get a pencil and notebook.
Write down on a few columns: Date , Tempo, 8th notes .... Date , Tempo, 16th notes etc...

And get down to playing around the drums. Start slowly so that your muscles have enough time to remember the positioning around the drums and the movement. Something that you do for a long time becomes a habit... be it good or bad. so do it right and you'll reap the reward.

8) Open Solo (more advanced)
At this stage, i will just play an open solo for about 5 mins... and then shed for another 10 mins to push my limits.

9) Independence (more advanced)
I'll work on independence from time to time. Double Bass drumming, Jazz swing, Latin, Clave Patterns, and HH counting... etc

10) Summarize
ALWAYS summarize at the end of each practice. Many drummers practise and leave the set not knowing what they have achieved. This is the time to get your NOTEBOOK and write down
i) some thoughts
ii) some key areas of improvement
iii) key areas to take note
iv) some new ideas or beats that came along the way
v) or even what to practice next.

80% of the things we practice, we only use it 20% of the time.
20% of the things we don't practice, we use them 80% OF THE TIME.

I'm talking about Grooves vs Fills.
Don't waste too much time on fill-ins or trying to get the coolest fill. Focus more on getting the 80% of GROOVES.

A last note:
Practice does not make Perfect
Practice makes Permanent

So practising wrongly will result in you sounding bad all the time.
Perfect practice makes Perfect.
Join us and be serious about drumming!

Cheers and don't be so stress...
James Pang
Founder of My Drum School