99.9% (our educated guess) of people have a weaker hand, and most drummers spend their entire drumming lives trying to improve it. Jack Thomas found himself with no choice after a workplace accident took his dominant arm. An open-handed player, he was drumming again just one week later so he wouldn’t skip a beat. He did whatever it took to get his left hand up to speed.

In this lesson (recorded live), Jack goes over some of the tips that worked for him, how to conserve energy, and how to use rebound to your advantage.

Imagine if two-handed drummers played like Jack does with one hand. If you can develop your weaker hand this much – even playing like a one-handed drummer – imagine how much more you could do on the kit.

Lesson Index:
0:00 – SONG: “Reginald” by Etheria
4:55 – Introduction
11:46 – SONG: “Stolen Eyes” by Burn Away
18:46 – Left hand ‘paradiddle accents’
24:35 – Accepting rebound
30:40 – The importance of ghost notes
36:15 – One-handed rolls
40:37 – Relaxing your body
44:43 – SONG: “Tailspin” by Etheria
48:25 – Jack and Jared Falk duet

About Jack:
Jack has been drumming and playing bass for over 10 years. In 2015, he lost his right arm in a workplace accident but didn’t let that stop him. He now inspires others to overcome their own challenges and is a sought after motivational speaker. Jack currently plays with Burn Away and Etheria, can be heard on multiple recording sessions as drummer and producer, and works at Drumeo.

Special Thanks To:
Pearl Drums
Sabian Cymbals
Evans Drumheads
Sweetwater

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You probably know what it’s like to drop a stick in the middle of a song. It’s tough enough to keep going with just one arm while you use your other one to pick up a new stick.

Now imagine not having that second arm.

Well, that’s Jack Thomas’ reality. As a one-armed drummer, he’s had to find ways to continue doing what he loves while getting creative with how he approaches writing and playing parts.

Whether you have one arm or two, this video will teach you how to do more with less.

Here are some key takeaways from this lesson about overcoming limitations and challenging your creativity:

Composition

How can someone with only one arm replicate something played with two arms? You might need to drop a hi-hat hit to strike the snare, and the drums tend to take priority over the cymbals. It can also be tough to move to a cymbal after a one-handed roll, so instead of adding more tom hits, add extra bass drum hits (the linear technique) to give your hand extra time to get back to the crash. Jack also does ‘sweep fills’, hitting multiple drums with one motion.

Ergonomics

Every drummer should be comfortable and not strain. Jack keeps all of his cymbals on the left side of his kit because he’s missing his right arm. Experiment with gear placement, and if you find that it’s easier to execute grooves and fills with a different setup, that’s the one that’s right for you. Balance is important: how do you sit in the best position to be stable and do things as fluently as possible? Strengthen your core, make sure your seat is high enough, and keep your shoulders and back straight.

Technique

Many drummers complain about their ‘weak hand‘, but Jack can’t afford to have a weak hand! Practice and develop those skills by putting in the work. Jack uses the ‘hot stove technique’ – pulling back his stick quickly after each stroke – so that he has time to bring it back down quickly without straining (and means he can more easily accent notes with just one hand). If the song is really fast – especially if it’s punk or hardcore – he’ll hold the stick in the middle so one end hits the hi-hat and the other end hits the snare. And for cases where he doesn’t have to (or can’t) play a cymbal and snare simultaneously, he’ll add accents to cymbals to fill in the gaps and give the illusion of it. Also, don’t neglect your hi-hat pedal – it not only opens and closes the hats, but it’s there for you to keep time and add color to a groove.

Since losing his arm several years ago, Jack has had to change his approach so much that he’s created his own drumming identity, and suggests you do the same. “You are your own drummer. Many drummers struggle with wanting to be like their favorite drummer. You don’t need to be like that. Have your goals, but develop your own personality within drumming. Do what works for you. Figure out what you can do, don’t focus on what you can’t, and you’ll have a lot more fun.”

Jack Thomas has been drumming most of his life. When he was 17, he lost his right arm in a tragic workplace accident. Everything he’d worked toward up to this point had been with a goal of becoming a pro musician.

“Sorry, your arm is gone” is a life-changing phrase for anyone to hear, and a likely career-ending one for a drummer. But after just a few minutes of thinking he’d never play again, he realized that he could either let this overcome him, or he could do whatever he could to overcome it. So he learned how to play one-handed.

Jack challenges you to take your struggles and turn them into something you can overcome. If he can play “Duality” by Slipknot with just one arm, what’s your excuse?