The Best Pad Layout For Realistic Finger Drumming

What is the best pad layout for finger drumming? This is a constant source of debate in the finger drumming community, and every artist will have their own take and pad layout of choice. In the video lesson above, I'll explain my own answer and the logic behind it.

I started finger drumming after 5 years of playing an acoustic drum kit, so I already had a drumming background. I was used to playing with drum sticks, and the essential principle of playing a drum kit is: hand isolation.

Hand isolation means that a drummer is using their limbs separately but together to play different parts of the groove, so each limb is playing one element of the rhythm, and they combine to form the complete compound rhythm.

This is what makes a drum kit so versatile and capable of playing so many different styles of music, whether it's rock, funk, metal, or jazz. The ability to isolate your limbs means you can play a huge variety of drum grooves on the same drum kit.

With finger drumming, we want to achieve the same result. Setting up the pads for maximum versatility is exactly what we want, so we can play the pads just like a real drummer on a drum kit.

The Dragon Finger Drums pad layout is all about hand isolation, and it's set up to allow each hand to play different parts of the groove (such as the pulse vs. the backbeat).

With this hand isolation layout, a finger drummer can play almost all the same things that an acoustic drummer could play!

This is why this layout is so powerful: it's extremely versatile. If you can play any kind of drums with just one layout on your pads, entire worlds of musical expression open up, and you can easily take your finger drumming skills to a really high level.

If you want to get a full walkthrough of my exact pad layout (plus how to set up your own pads with a free drum software), then don't miss out on my free Finger Drumming Starter Course.

This free course has everything you need to get set up for realistic finger drumming, and it's the perfect introduction to playing the pads like a real drummer.