Learning to drum
Discussion
Personally I would vote self taught all the way as you pick up your own style. When I started I bought a 'teach yourself' book and used it to death. Only problem I had was that I never bothered to watch any drummers and ended up teaching myself to play open handed rather than cross armed.
Also get jamming with some mates as soon as you can as playing on your todd is no fun at all.
By the way, I'm guessing from the name your a Pearl Jam fan? Listen to Dave Abruzzese on Vs, Vitalogy and any live stuff you can get your hands on, the man is a god
Also get jamming with some mates as soon as you can as playing on your todd is no fun at all.
By the way, I'm guessing from the name your a Pearl Jam fan? Listen to Dave Abruzzese on Vs, Vitalogy and any live stuff you can get your hands on, the man is a god
Certainly advise on getting jamming asap as drumming can be a lonely experience without other instruments around you. But I would get lessons to start with, if only to get a sense of rhythm and counting, it makes inventing drum runs much easier. Following lessons to get started just play and enjoy!
Also, consider kit, I have a full acoustic kit for gigging and stuff but also an electric on that can be played through headphones for practicing at home. If you have never played an acoustic kit before you will be amazed at how loud it sounds in an enclosed room... As will your neighbours!!!!!!
Also, consider kit, I have a full acoustic kit for gigging and stuff but also an electric on that can be played through headphones for practicing at home. If you have never played an acoustic kit before you will be amazed at how loud it sounds in an enclosed room... As will your neighbours!!!!!!
As a self taught drummer, I would suggest just messing around on the kit yourself and find your own style. Once you're confident enough to hold a good beat with the odd fill, get together with some mates and start jamming.
Another good resource is youtube - lots of drumming lessons on there, and also watching how other drummers do stuf can often give you hints and ideas.
With regard to drumming lessons, I had about a few lessons with a proper teacher, and IMHO it was money down the drain. I was hoping he could teach me some new tricks but he just spent a lot of the time going over stuff I alteady knew.
Another good resource is youtube - lots of drumming lessons on there, and also watching how other drummers do stuf can often give you hints and ideas.
With regard to drumming lessons, I had about a few lessons with a proper teacher, and IMHO it was money down the drain. I was hoping he could teach me some new tricks but he just spent a lot of the time going over stuff I alteady knew.
I learned to play at an early age without lessons or books. I just listened to drummers I liked, watched how they played and then tried to emulate the skills and sounds I heard. Eventually you string it all together to make your own sound.
One of the things that's really become clear to me of late is the requirement to keep it simple. You're 'giving it some extra juice' but when you listen back to a recording, it sounds waaaaaay too busy. More important is the relationship between you and a bass-player, as you form the 'core' around which the rest of the music is played.
All the above advice is good, learn your rudiments, practice loads and experiment; there is no right or wrong! Above all, have fun.
Drumming rocks.
One of the things that's really become clear to me of late is the requirement to keep it simple. You're 'giving it some extra juice' but when you listen back to a recording, it sounds waaaaaay too busy. More important is the relationship between you and a bass-player, as you form the 'core' around which the rest of the music is played.
All the above advice is good, learn your rudiments, practice loads and experiment; there is no right or wrong! Above all, have fun.
Drumming rocks.
Funk said:
I learned to play at an early age without lessons or books. I just listened to drummers I liked, watched how they played and then tried to emulate the skills and sounds I heard. Eventually you string it all together to make your own sound.
One of the things that's really become clear to me of late is the requirement to keep it simple. You're 'giving it some extra juice' but when you listen back to a recording, it sounds waaaaaay too busy. More important is the relationship between you and a bass-player, as you form the 'core' around which the rest of the music is played.
All the above advice is good, learn your rudiments, practice loads and experiment; there is no right or wrong! Above all, have fun.
Drumming rocks.
One of the things that's really become clear to me of late is the requirement to keep it simple. You're 'giving it some extra juice' but when you listen back to a recording, it sounds waaaaaay too busy. More important is the relationship between you and a bass-player, as you form the 'core' around which the rest of the music is played.
All the above advice is good, learn your rudiments, practice loads and experiment; there is no right or wrong! Above all, have fun.
Drumming rocks.
Fully agree with the above. I think you'll make better progress with your own kit than just taking lessons. You can always have a lesson or two to get you going if you are a complate beginner. A 2nd hand kit can be suprisingly cheap. Just play along to the music you like and remember that it's more important to have good timing and control than to be flash. It's also a great way of unwinding after a crappy day.
kiwisr said:
Kibosh said:
I'm typing this with an extremely sore shoulder from too much practise.....so warm up and warm down properly too!!
It sounds like your technique is wrong, the power should be coming from the wrist.All the power should come from the wrist, and even then it's not all about power!
Cuban said:
Depending on your budget, a Roland V drum kit has to be the perfect way to start.
Good luck.
V-drums?! Christ, not for a beginner! Even I thought long and hard about V-Drums (and didn't go for them in the end). Get a reasonable acoustic kit - you can't beat 'em (well, yeah, I suppose you can, that's the idea... Good luck.
).
Funk said:
Cuban said:
Depending on your budget, a Roland V drum kit has to be the perfect way to start.
Good luck.
V-drums?! Christ, not for a beginner! Even I thought long and hard about V-Drums (and didn't go for them in the end). Get a reasonable acoustic kit - you can't beat 'em (well, yeah, I suppose you can, that's the idea... Good luck.
).later, I drove my family and neighbours insane, so yes, I think V drums are the perfect way to start.
Not talking about diving in and getting a TD-20K, but the HD-1 is a great little kit to find your feet.
evenflow said:
What would I be looking at for one of those? Presumably you plug headphones into it? Does it allow you to plug in an MP3 player and play along?
Cheers
They are around £400 and indeed, you use headphones so only you hear what you play and yes, you can Cheers
plug in your ipod, cd player etc and play along.
Full details can be found here: http://www.roland.com/products/en/HD-1/index.html
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