Rhythm is a fundamental music skill, and practicing your rhythmic skills on something other than your main axe is a good idea. It’s pretty easy to learn the basic playing techniques for a small percussion instrument. Lots of musicians I’ve talked to about practice play the drum set, too, people like Serge van der Voo, Erin McKeown, and others. The benefit of playing a rhythm instrument is that when you play, rhythm is your main focus:
