Level 2 · Steady Time
2-4 - Loud bar, soft bar
Dynamics on demand - the volume dial on your ghost stroke.
How to practice it
The ghost stroke (fingertips, top corners) at two volumes: one bar LOUD and confident, one bar whisper-quiet (its natural groove volume), alternating for the whole take. The tempo must NOT change with the volume - that's the whole exercise.
Suggested take: ~60s · start 65 BPM → pass around 80 BPM
bar 1 · LOUD
1
g
&
g
2
g
&
g
3
g
&
g
4
g
&
g
bar 2 · soft
1
g
&
g
2
g
&
g
3
g
&
g
4
g
&
g
65 BPM
Start at 65, exercise passes around 80. Legend: B bass · S snare · g ghost · - rest
Tips
- • Loud = bigger motion, same relaxation. Soft = smaller motion, same intent.
- • Count bars out loud on the first tries.
- • The soft bars are the hard ones - keep them crisp, not mushy.
Watch out for
- • Speeding up in loud bars, dragging in soft bars
- • Soft bars losing rhythmic clarity
- • The difference being too subtle - make it obvious
Record your take
Aim for ~60s. Put the phone ~1m away, facing the front plate. You'll get Rafa's feedback within a minute of submitting.
Up next after this: 3-1 - The groove