PERCUSSION
PRACTICE PAD / PRACTICE PAL | Mark Shelton
My percussion journey began in fifth grade with a rent-to-own snare drum. Along with the drum, the big blue case included a few other necessary items: a pair of sticks, a stand, a method book, and an odd-shaped wooden thingamabob with a slice of rubber glued to one surface. The thingamabob was a practice pad. It was quickly placed into service!
Since fifth grade, I have added several practice pads to my collection of percussion gear. Seldom will you find me at a rehearsal, worship service, or performance without a practice pad. It is a very important tool for every percussionist. Do you own a practice pad? Are you interested in investing in another? Read on for a quick practice pad primer.
3 REASONS TO OWN A PRACTICE PAD 1. Volume Maintaining good relations with your family is a good-enough reason to invest in a practice pad. With a low-volume pad, you can chop out on an accent-infused solo at 1:35 a. m. without disturbing anyone’ s sleep. 2. Convenience Your instruments cannot be available for practice 24 / 7, but a practice pad is portable. Keep one handy and you can warm up offstage or work out a thorny lick while waiting in the carpool line. 3. Clarity When playing on a drum, even a slight bit of head-ring can obscure some details. Add the buzz of snares, and more fine points become inaudible. A practice pad does not allow the blurring effect and allows for better analysis of minutiae.
THE QUICK GUIDE TO PAD SELECTION It’ s a good idea to have a few( or several) practice pads so one is available when needed. How about one at home, a pad in the car, another in the office, and a small pad in your stick bag or mallet case? These practice tools
come in many shapes and sizes, along with various surface types. If you’ re shopping, I have a few suggestions for purchasing your primary pad( the one that lives at your home):
• Spring for a two-sided pad with a single surface on each side. It’ s easy to switch playing surfaces by simply flipping from one side to the other.
• A 12”-13” size provides plenty of striking area, and it will fit on a standard 14” snare drum or in the basket of a snare stand.
• One side should have a surface with enough rebound to simulate the head of a snare drum. This side should be the lowvolume surface.
• The surface of the opposite side should be significantly harder. This side will allow you to hear fine details in your playing. It’ s the truth-teller.
• Try before you buy. There are differences in sound and response. Go to the old-school music store and compare the pads.
• Although a practice pad can be placed on a desk, table, or even the floor for practicing, consider investing in an adjustable concert snare drum stand so you have the option to practice while sitting or standing.
If you dive deeper into the practice pad universe, you can find various versions beyond the basic single-surface type, such as multisurface, quad( marching tenor) cluster, kick drum, and marimba keyboard pads.
SKILL DEVELOPMENT & SKILL TRANSFER A large part of my percussion technique is rooted in single-surface stick skills. Many of those single-surface skills transfer to other percussion instruments, and most singlesurface skills can be practiced on a pad. Use a practice pad to learn:
• Rudiments
• Permutations
• Roll Endurance
• Positioning
• Embellishment Placement
The pad also comes in handy for:
• Sight reading
• Click Training
• Hand Percussion, e. g. Heel-Fingers technique on congas
• Four-Mallet Technique, e. g. Ripple Roll and Independent Roll Exercises
Bonus: If you play bodhran, you can place a practice pad perpendicular to the floor and quietly hone your skills.
Of course, a pad is useful for working on parts for ensemble music( or a solo).
The practice pad is your practice pal— it’ s a portable pal, a relatively quiet one, and ready to assist on your musical journey. Keep one handy and put it to frequent use.
© 2025 Mark Shelton Productions / Percussion For Worship
Mark Shelton Mark Shelton is a freelance musician, educational consultant, and content creator based in Dallas / Fort Worth. Mark’ s percussion work has been heard with North Carolina Symphony, Tin Roof Tango, Daystar Television, Gateway Worship, Stonebriar Church, Wichita Falls Orchestra, Victory Channel, Strata Big Band, TALEA, and Dallas Wind Symphony. www. marksheltonmusic. com www. percussionforworship. blogspot. com
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