Today I’m going to show you some exercises for increasing your speed around the drum-set.
First a little background on the subject. For many years I spent the vast majority of my practice time working on hand technique. This has its advantages. Almost everything you play on the drum-set involves your hands. So practicing stick technique is a very good use of your practice time, and getting your hands together is a usually a prerequisite for playing things of a technical nature on the drums. You improve every aspect of your playing by increasing your hand technique. This includes your speed around the drums.
However, if you really want to fly around the kit, you also need to practice moving around the drum-set quickly and efficiently. Otherwise you will eventually reach a brick wall, and will be limited in the things you can play around the set.
The first thing you need to do, assuming you already have good hand technique, is to set your drums up in a way that you can reach everything easily. Set all the toms as close to you as possible. Set them as low as possible.
Set them as close to each other as possible as well, which will reduce the distance you need to cross between each tom.
You also want to set them pretty flat and avoid angling them towards you too much. This enables you to hit them with a flat bead on the head, instead of poking the tip of the stick into the head. This way you’ll get a better bounce of the head and let the stick do most of the work.
The following exercises involve short bursts of notes. This is an effective way of increasing speed and busting through those proverbial brick walls.
I’ve also put each exercise in a musical context. I learned many years ago that this was not only a more fun and creative way of practicing technique, it was also very practical. When you practice these type of exercises within a musical context, they will automatically come out in your playing when you are playing in a band or soloing.
For this group of exercises. I’ve also avoided crossover stickings. While crossover stickings can be useful, and look cool, they’re usually not the most efficient way to get around the drum-set.
Practice each exercise slowly at first, gradually increasing speed. Keep your muscles relaxed at all times, which is one of the keys to developing speed.
Practice with a metronome, and write down your top speed so you can track your progress.
Speed Exercises Around The Drum-Set
Play a groove or beat in the style notated leading up to the fill. Repeat many times.
1. Uptempo Jazz 
2. Rock
3. Rock
4. Uptempo Jazz
5. Rock
6. Uptempo Jazz
These exercises will definitely increase your speed around the set if you practice them diligently for a week or two. These are just to get you started.
You should also create your own exercises based on the music you’re playing and the motion you’re trying to improve around the drum-set. To increase speed, it’s good to focus on exercises that are simple, and easy to repeat over and over.
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