Drum Improvisation vs Practising Drums: How Both Make You a Better Musician

Rob Bishop
Aug 21, 2025
2 min read

When you think about it, music is a language.

Practising is like learning the grammar, repeating words, and building your vocabulary.

It’s not always glamorous, but it gives you the foundations.

Drum improvising is the conversation. It’s what happens when you stop worrying

about the rules and just speak. The more vocabulary you’ve learned, the more

colourful and engaging your musical “conversations” can become.

The goal isn’t to choose one or the other, ideally it’s to let them work together.

Practise gives you the tools. Jamming helps you discover your voice.

Why Practising Matters

Every great musician has spent hours repeating the basics. Practising is where:

You build muscle memory so your hands and feet know what to do without thinking.
You develop timing and control, essential if you want to groove with other musicians.
You prepare for structured goals like exams, grades, or gigs.

Think of practice as filling the toolbox. The more tools you have, the more options you’ll have when it’s time to create.

How Drum Improvisation Builds Confidence

Behind the Kit

Improvisation is where you actually use those tools. It’s where you sit down at the kit

and just play without pressure.

You experiment with new grooves and fills.
You train your ear to respond in the moment.
You start to sound like yourself, not just like an exam book.

Here's a short video of me improvising. In this clip I'm focusing on various syncopation while developing the 6 stroke roll.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/d9e380_8838091390c3411d9df295bf0cdb08f3/720p/mp4/file.mp4

Watching or hearing someone jam shows how practice turns into creativity. When improvising, we aren't worried about perfection, it’s about letting the ideas flow.

This is also where recording yourself is essential.

Finding the Balance

Too much practice without jamming, and you risk becoming stiff or robotic.

Too much jamming without practice, and you’ll run out of ideas or repeat the

same patterns.

The sweet spot is mixing the two:

Spend time each week drilling rudiments, grooves, and exam pieces.
Then give yourself time to just jam - no plan, no sheet music, just play.
Maybe hum a tune to yourself and imagine yourself creating a solo.

That’s where the real growth happens.

So next time you sit down at the kit, which will you start with - practice or jam?