DRUMMERS: Advice for a beginner

I agree that playing with some good headphones on is the best way to improve your timing, etc. Of course, music with drum machines are super-reliable, otherwise how do you know that the drummer you're playing along with doesn't have shit timing him/herself? Obviously, however, you can have no doubt if you are playing along to Stephen "Popcorn" Adler.

Booo! Realize that 80% of getting your drums to sound good on record is due to how their mic'd and eq'd.

How I started was to do the simplest beat: hi-hat or ride hit on 1234, kick kicked on 1, and snare snared on 3. Then just gradually change it, ie put another kick on 2, move the snare ahead to 2 1/2 etc.

Also, smoke cannabis.

getting a teacher is very important, even if it is just 30 minutes every two weeks.

get a teacher to find you a good book that covers basic snare and stick control technique (cant remember what i used) and for rock beats, i like Carmine Appice's Realistic Rock Drum Methods. It covers all the basics, and has a "disco" section too. if you are lucky, you will find a copy with a huge foldout poster of appice in all of his latin-fro glory behind a 25 piece silver sparkle drumkit from the 70s (he is the guy futzing around in the background of Rod Stewart's "D'ya think Im sexy" video).

after you have mastered those two, look for Stick Control, New Breed (Gary Chester), Ted Reed's Syncopation book and the Art of Bop Drumming (Riley). New Breed and Syncopation will require a teacher's help as they cant be played through like other books. New Breed can be especially abstract and complex (you might be playing a pattern between your right and left hand, and your right foot, while reading and playing parts on your left foor, while speaking quarter notes too). Art of Bop is one of the best drum books out there... there is a lot of text about approach and attitude, and you will learn some real independance. its not as hard as new breed, but just as essential (even if you never play in a jazz band ever).

lastly, if you have half an hour, practice, if you have one hour, practice for half an hour, fuck around for the rest, and always remember to work on things that you dont know how to do.

Dude, he's the guy that WROTE "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy"! One of the funniest/most cringe-inducing drum performances I've seen was at this joint where he and Ed Thigpen (Oscar Peterson's drummer) had both done clinics. They did a "duet" afterwards, which was mostly Thigpen gamely playing a nice little rock beat and Carmine Appice steamrolling over him with both bass drums. Ed was a good sport though. His head looks like a peanut.

Good advice about the pillow, and the John Riley books. They're some of the very few drum books that I've actually had the patience to really work through.

I have a teacher, and he gives me all the rudiments to work on. He went to some kind of music school, and he seems kind of old-school in his approach. We spend a lot of time on rudiments and seldom just let it rip. I've only gone about 5 times, so he may have a lesson progression in mind. He's French.

I have a practice pad that I bought a few weeks ago. I used to just use a pillow or my leg, so it's amazing how different the practice pad feels. I still struggle to find the bounce with every stroke. It's really odd how the bounce sometimes isn't there. Looking for the bounce seems really helpful, because I am forced to think about my grip and the angle of the sticks.

i stress all of this basics stuff not because i am some hard-ass classicist, but really because a lot of this will have to do with your physical health over the years. take care of your back and your wrists and you can play forever.

And your ears, of course.

5 lessons over a couple of months. I really am a beginner. I started messing around on a kit about 5 months ago.

I always use ear plugs when I play.

I would also add that paying attention to your sound is hugely important. You can get so many sounds of the snare drum, like rimshots with different lengths of the stick, playing in the center for a dead tone, near the edge for more ring, cross-sticks of different pitches, etc, and the same is true for everything on the set. I think experimenting with sound is one of the most fun parts of being a drummer, and being aware of your sound leads to control over it.

in 2 hours i am going to pick up my very first drum set. i have convinced myself +/- that i am not too old or too stupid. i finally have time and a basement and in 2 hours i will have some drums of my own, if this transaction doesn't somehow get screwed up. for a while i was looking for approval to go ahead and do this, but soon enough it became evident that i was just being a chicken. now i'm just going to finally see what i can teach myself in my oodles of spare time. this is one of the most self-indulgent things i have ever done in my life and i just have to get over that because i think it will be super fun and also good for my general health.

g'luck! Fun self-indulgence enriches life.

My 6-year-old niece is apparently very skilled for her age. She watched Ringo in A Hard Day's Night for insipation almost daily.

that'd be inspiration

6 is the best age to get super into the beatles

Get some ear plugs asap.
I spent over ten years in bands and only got ear plugs when I noticed ringing in my ears, it was too late.

omg LL! drumming is SO MUCH fun. I wish I owned a drum set.

xp - already got some! i do need to find a rug or carpet or something.

that's why i want to do it -- it has always seemed like a lot of fun and i need to have more fun.

This is so rad. Fully behind this idea.

Congrats! You are in for several universes of fun.

Get some ear plugs asap.

this this this x1,000,000. I played along to records with headphones for years, and probably the only reason I don't have tinnitus now (somewhat miraculously) is because I finally started wearing earplugs about 20+ years ago. One added benefit (?) of this is that my playing got a lot louder (or so numerous bandmates/neighbors told me).

Although it can be hard to start an instrument at a late age, there are a couple of advantages -- 1) you've already heard and internalized a ton of music in your life, so you may understand things intuitively that a five year old doesn't, and (2) with an instrument like drums, being full-grown can help you physically.

The most important thing imo is to develop feel -- play very simply along with records, even just going "Right, Left" with the sticks in time. Maybe add a kick drum every other stroke when you feel comfortable. But keep it simple, don't tense up, and just try to get a feel and a flow (and don't feel bad if you can't, this will take a lot of practice!). Build your chops slowly -- don't try to play faster than you can play in time.

My favorite instructional book requires an almost zen-like tolerance for boredom -- it's called Stick Control. It's probably 70 or 80 years old, and it has an awesome introduction that you should read that explains how to develop your techinque (hands anyway).

And although Stick Control is all exercises to do with your hands, you can do them with your feet, with hands and feet alternating, with hands on different drums or cymbals, etc.

Yay, LL! This is so awesome.

awesome. let's start a no-wave band.

Ok! There is a mess of drums in my basement.

\(-_-)/

Pictures of drums, please.

it's just a pile of drums, i'm going to set it up now
i have the laptop down here in case i need help (i will need help)

put the thing on the other thing!

thonk thonk thonk thonk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6qqncHL6Ls

ok i got the bass drum and cymbals and snare on their feet

ok it's all set up!!!

ok ok ok ok
i'm excited
will return when i learn something

now let's hear the purdie shuffle

http://www.thewho.net/whotabs/images/drums/km_1975-whitekit-top.jpg

Pictures of drums, please.

most important thing for a beginning drummer: make sure your gong is placed properly!

i'm eating lunch now, and things are all set up with a blanket and carpet under the bass drum but i still need a better seat
the chair i've got down there is not going to work
the doggie seems interested

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7318/9052261870_323fb665af.jpg

also i did manage a basic 4/4 beat i think? i don't know what anything is called. it's the only thing i can do atm. no gong yet. funnest thing so far is establishing a somewhat steady beat and then doing a little fill and trying to get back to the beat
i'm AWFUL but hey it's my first day

That is awesome.

but i still need a better seat
the chair i've got down there is not going to work

Now that you're a drummer you get to sit on a THRONE!

oh one more thing while i'm eating - i've figured out where everything goes, but i'm not sure what the purpose is for the third thing down in this picture
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7338/9052256004_26e16861df.jpg

I’m 100 years old, I need a leg up!

Seeing is super important for me — I had a great time talking w him too. He was friendly and cool.

So cool that you got that perspective. I feel like motion is undervalued in drumming. Keith Moon, Art Blakey, Elvin Jones, and Milford Graves are probably the only drummers whose motion, for me, matched the sound perfectly. Like, yes, of course they're moving like that, because that how it sounds / of course it sounds like that, because that's how they're moving.

But I remember when I got heavily into PJ Harvey's Rid Of Me, I had this incredibly clear picture of how I imagined the drummer moved, with a loose, flowing, swinging quality, but without sacrificing the agitation. When I saw the band live in 1993, I was stunned: I have never, before or since, seen a drummer move so painfully stiffly. It was the exact polar opposite of what I imagined his movements to be based on what I was hearing.

heh this reminds me of this show about 11 years ago where Zach Hill played solo, and there were about 40-50 people up front, many of them drummers, watching his hands. Meanwhile I was standing behind Zach w/my friend/drum teacher because the thing that is really technically impressive about Zach Hill is his kick drum technique, so we were watching his feet. At one point, a few other friends, who were also drummers, migrated to where we were -- probably wondering why Weasel was standing in back, rather than in front, and being the very loquacious "avant-garde" dude he was, he must be onto something here that the majority of people hadn't picked up on yet.

ha! i did that once when the necks played here and i sat behind tony buck. i was like lol i see everything i need to see, envy me you fools. they're coming back soon, gotta remember to check the date...

tarfumes otm about movement. i wrote a big post and it got eaten by my terrible internet service but the tl;dr was that the difference in what he played was partially his interpretation of his parts and also just how he plays vs how i play. it never fails to amaze me how a person's voice becomes rendered in drums! i love it.

how's everyone doing? i spent my 7th birthday as a drummer up to my neck in work-related drama and didn't realize it had passed because, for the most part, my musical life has ground to a complete halt. i'm glad i got some good time in there while i could, glad i started when i did even if it was like 20-30 years later than it should have been. i had 6.5 good years! am i intermediate yet?

i bought an electronic drum kit just as the pandemic hit and have been playing along with records every day. i'd say i'm 1000x the drummer i was even just last year. still a long way to go. also i need to stop playing along to records instead of practicing the actual exercises my instructor gives me

Yes!! Same only I have my drums in my basement and they’re not electronic. I’m so much better than I was even last year. Still do my 18 min practice pad warmup routine. I could use some new exercises but I’m not sure I have the mental bandwidth to learn anything.

What is your routine?

5 min single stroke on both hands (l then r) and then 8-1 strokes on each hand for 1 min each
8L-8R for 1 min
7L-7R for 1 min
Etc down to singles again

It takes 18 min total but really 20 bc I take little breaks

I was once as good of a drummer as I wanted or needed to be, but I haven't played in maybe a decade. Yet some lizard part of my brain thinks that it's a bit like riding a bicycle, and that if I started up again I would be fine in a week or so, calluses aside. I wonder ...

lol you said the same thing last year!
I used to play drums in bands, but have not played drums in ... 10 years? 15 years? But I sort of feel like with a week of practice I could get back up to speed. It's like riding a bike, but with calluses.

― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, June 15, 2019 6:56 PM (one year ago)

Ha, so add some time to it!

i don't believe you need calluses btw -- my tender tiny ladyhands are soft and smooth. Muscle strength in fingers/hands/wrists/forearms absolutely but calluses not required imo/ime

If you look at the dates of those two posts you will see that my time is impeccable. Nailed it within less than a week!

and yeah i am 100% positive you could sit down to play no problem if you had played in the past

it was timely because i bump on my birthday every year ;)

the only reason i posted late this week was bc work hijacked my birthday
i take my development extremely seriously!

happy birthday!

thanks!
i'm 7
i feel like i am getting old! that is why i asked if i get to graduate to low-intermediate at this point

or maybe i have to wait til i'm 12 or 13 to go to junior high

i mean i am kidding about asking permission
mostly i am curious where other drummers were at 7

for old time's sake, my original post itt
look at me now

in 2 hours i am going to pick up my very first drum set. i have convinced myself +/- that i am not too old or too stupid. i finally have time and a basement and in 2 hours i will have some drums of my own, if this transaction doesn't somehow get screwed up. for a while i was looking for approval to go ahead and do this, but soon enough it became evident that i was just being a chicken. now i'm just going to finally see what i can teach myself in my oodles of spare time. this is one of the most self-indulgent things i have ever done in my life and i just have to get over that because i think it will be super fun and also good for my general health.

― free your spirit pig (La Lechera), Saturday, June 15, 2013 9:22 AM (seven years ago)