[Learn On] Drums

meatflower

I recently acquired a cheap drum kit to thrash on. I bought them on Craigslist. This is what I got:

Snare
Floor tom
Two toms (I don't know their individual names, one is slightly lower. They attach to the bass drum)
Bass drum
Crash/Ride cymbal (just one)
High hat
All the associated hardware, a throne, and sticks.

The guy said he bought them from CostCo for $350. They're made by "Paramount" though I did some searching, they don't have a website...probably just made in China. That's not really my concern though, I just need something to learn on. I only paid $150.

I got them to jam with some friends but I need to learn some basics. I'm gonna go over to Guitar Center tonight in search of a beginner's book/DVD to teach me the fundamentals. I was looking for some recommendations on specific titles that anyone has had success with or other tips.

Thanks.

jotate

I don't know any titles in specific, but get something that focuses on your strengths. If you're not a classically trained music person (i.e. you don't read music), make sure you get something that focuses on teaching you as a non-musician. Also, focus on something that has a lot of music that you can play along with.

My biggest problem with playing drums is that it's boring. You can't sit down and play a song. You have no melody, no notes, just rhythms. So you can do a lot of really quick stuff that'll be really cool, but that won't make you a better player. A huge part of playing the drums is having endurance and rhythm. Quick fills don't give you either of those things. So make sure you get something that will let you play along with music for a long period of time.

Oh, and when you play with head phones (you'll want head phones because you won't hear anything coming out of speakers no matter how loud), make sure you run the cord to them inside the back of your shirt. I was playing with some on a couple years ago, with the cord just draped behind me over my shoulder. I brought the stick up, brought it down with the cord on the wrong side, and I yanked my stereo right off the shelf. I broke the stereo *and* the headphones.

Don't get discouraged and practice as much as you can. Drummers and bass players are what bands can't find enough of. Drummers that aren't egotistical douche bags are the rarest gems of all.

meatflower

Doesn't seem to be a huge drum population on here (thank you for the response though), I guess I'll ask the employees for any specific recommendations.

I played the piano for 7 years and the violin for about 2 so I can read music, notation, and all that jazz. It's been a couple years so I'd need to brush up but it's not a hurdle or anything.

I hear you on the whole "boring alone" thing which is why I was even considering getting a DVD or something for some audio to play along with. I've also heard of people just putting a CD on and trying to jam with it or mimic the drumwork in the song. I suppose I could do that to learn certain songs but it probably wouldn't help my technique or timing by any means.

Bartholamue

jotate wrote: »

Don't get discouraged and practice as much as you can. Drummers and bass players are what bands can't find enough of. Drummers that aren't egotistical douche bags are the rarest gems of all.

And I'm one of them, heh.

Are you going to be serious about drumming? I would suggest lessons, but if that's not possible, then freedrumlessons.com and vicfirth.com are good choices too. Make sure you get a metronome as soon as you can, as it will help your timing a lot more than without it. I would suggest getting used to 4th/8th/16ths as soon as possible as well.
I've been pretty serious about drumming for the past six months, and the better you get, the more fun it'll be. I just put a DVD of a TV show while I play and my practice time goes a lot faster. I know that's not very good advice, but it works for me.

Spoom182

I've been playing for about six years, and when I started out, my teacher had me play through this book called Ted Reeds Syncopation or something. The cover is sorta blue and white and has some guy in a suit playing a snare drum. Anyways, it's pretty simple but is really good just for learning independence of your limbs and for reading, but it sounds like you've got the reading part down. Also, learn proper technique in holding the stick, I've heard about people getting carpal tunnel because of their poor technique, and you also can just play better if you hold the stick right. Hope this helps.

meatflower

That's very helpful (and even more so since it's $8 on Amazon). Thanks for the tip, I'm gonna order it.

I bought a basic book+DVD for $20 at Guitar Center. Just has some basic exercises but I'll probably get it all down within the week...just in time for Syncopation to arrive.

Gonna look into some lessons too, probably start at my community college.

Mr_Anonymous

All this is good stuff, but honestly I found just playing along to songs is the way to improve everything at once as well as being good fun. Once you have a bit of independence in your limbs make a playlist of songs with basic (but not boring) drum tracks and go nuts. Your hands will be sore, your kickdrum shin muscle will be killing you, and you'll likely come off the sessions pretty sweaty (pro tip: dress for the gym when you go to practice, although maybe not shorts), but you'll feel like a bloody rock star.

Every couple of weeks or so, change the songs, introduce songs with more complicated timings and keep going. Bear in mind you don't have to play the same fill as the drummer you're following as long as you keep in time - use your imagination and develop your own style. You'll get to a fairly proficient level quite quickly doing this, combined with that Syncopation book, and the odd lesson.

Good luck, the world needs more of us!

Scrublet

Be careful with playing songs, it's too easy to get used to playing along with stuff and not getting any experience with creating your own stuff. Especially when it comes to creating fills, one thing you can do is play four measures of a beat, then four measures of a fill that goes with the beat, then back to the beat, and repeat. Doing this by yourself forces you to try different things while staying in time, and this can be very useful.

Doing timing drills to get used to NOT playing on every beat (off-time, off-beat stuff) is also good.