Yo, drummers! How'd you start learning/playing/rocking?

[DirtyMartiniii]

Our resident drummers have been generously sharing their insights on traditional v. matched grip drumming on another thread (sorry for the devolve, cosplusisin), and I thought I'd step up the questioning further if I could.

As a virgin drum-goddess-(soon-to-be-)in-training, I'm looking to steal mercilessly from your collective wisdom.

What recommendations (other than getting on the mic) might you give to a newbie drummer just starting out? For example, what would you recommend regarding

* Trad v. matched grip?

* First instrument/set-up? (Did you jump in on a kit? A snare? The dreaded drum pad?)

* Essentials? (lessons, beats, skills to hone)

* Resources? (websites, books, mags, videos, etc)

* Habits to get into from the beginning?

* Things you wish you had done differently?

* Advice on how to go from to in 5 easy steps?

(No need to answer all, of course -- just supplying suggestions.)

Grazie!

PS -- As I mentioned to Gina elsewhere, I'd like to be able to play rock and a variety of world styles. But mostly I'd just like to not suck and/or not kill anyone with a stray stick between the eyes.

[Donna]

Hey there
I would go with whichever grip feels most comfortable for you - there is no right or wrong way. Sit at the kit and just "go to town" using both methods. One will feel more "natural" and that should be your grip. I feel you get more power with matched grip and more finesse with traditional grip, but I'm sure there would be others who feel differently.
Being a girl, I had to fight for my first drum kit and didn't get it until I was 16 - I pretty much air drummed and hit pots and pans, until I convinced my parents I was serious. You'd be surprised how innovative you can be with Farberware. Get yourself a set of sticks - and there's dozens of those - again, pick them up, try them out, and go with what feels good in your hands - and hit whatever you can, until you decide if you want a kit. You can get a pretty decent starter kit for around $500 - I worked in a drum store and saw some pretty amazing used kits come in, as well.
Foreverdrumming.com is a really good website - they have a lot of information, where you can buy pretty much anything that may interest you - they even have The Police Greatest Hits, where they transcribe all the songs and give you full drum charts. I would recommend, if you are serious, taking a few lessons. You can really learn a lot from others and I always tried to chat up people who were better than me, so I could learn new things. Even if you can't do it like them, that's ok - you'll adapt it to your style and, who knows, you may develop a really great style of your own.
Finally, the best advice I can give is to just have fun. I'm certainly not going to be quitting my day job anytime soon, but the drums are an excellent way to decompress in a constructive way - and they sound so damn awesome!!
Good luck to you!
D

[Skip]

DirtyMartiniii -

I've been playing for 20 years and I've been lucky enough to
mentor a handful of young drummers- I'm excited for you!
The one thing I like to tell young drummers is that you'll never stop learning, so take your time, don't get discouraged and yes, HAVE FUN- because above everything else, playing the drums is fun!

I think Donna offered some good advice regarding traditional v. matched grip--try them both and go with what's comfortable to you.

Even if you do end up with a kit right away- I think "the dreaded" practice pad is a great thing to have ( I'm fond of the RealFeel practice pads myself). It's a great way to practice your grip and your rudiments. I shied away from rudiments when I started out, but soon learned how useful they can be.

Best of luck!
Skip

[howardhughes]

I would suggest buying the book Buddy rich's modern interpretation of snare drum rudiments.

It starts at the very beginning with grips and very slow rolls etc.

practice with a metronome.

Relax when you are playing.

Obvioulsy. listen to all your police and Klark Kent records and play along with them.

Enjoy your drums

[adam1516]

Hi,

I have some Roland digital drums, been playing a couple of years now, I think I'm pretty good now - I practice EVERY day without fail.

I don't really think there are a set-in-stone list of things you should follow - apart from your natural flair and instincts! As far as having lessons goes, I'm not sure - they are expensive - and painstakingingly frustrating.

Certainly learn the basics - you can download stacks of rudiments off the internet.

The 5 easy steps you mention - no such thing if you want to become an accomplished player - hours and hours of practice, patience, DO NOT expect to become Stewart Copeland overnight!!

I wouldn't recommend fashioning your style on Stew's playing anyway - I'm not even sure it's possible!!

If you are dead set on normal drums, acoustic, then go for it, but I have to say the Roland drums are brilliant - albeit expensive.

[heidi11681]

[quote="DirtyMartiniii"]Our resident drummers have been generously sharing their insights on traditional v. matched grip drumming on another thread (sorry for the devolve, cosplusisin), and I thought I'd step up the questioning further if I could.

As a virgin drum-goddess-(soon-to-be-)in-training, I'm looking to steal mercilessly from your collective wisdom.

What recommendations (other than getting on the mic) might you give to a newbie drummer just starting out? For example, what would you recommend regarding

* Trad v. matched grip?

* First instrument/set-up? (Did you jump in on a kit? A snare? The dreaded drum pad?)

* Essentials? (lessons, beats, skills to hone)

* Resources? (websites, books, mags, videos, etc)

* Habits to get into from the beginning?

* Things you wish you had done differently?

* Advice on how to go from to in 5 easy steps?

(No need to answer all, of course -- just supplying suggestions.)

Grazie!

PS -- As I mentioned to Gina elsewhere, I'd like to be able to play rock and a variety of world styles. But mostly I'd just like to not suck and/or not kill anyone with a stray stick between the eyes.[/quote]

I am actually planning on buying a drum set and learn how to play. I can't read notes for shit so i'm kinda glad you don't need to read notes to play the drums!!!

[Spec A!]

One major thing I feel you should do and will take you very far in drumming, plus will be a useful skill till you die- develop your ear! I spent countless years falling asleep to my favorite music (duh, The Police! and others too), memorizing and deconstructing the drum parts. I found that listening, just plain old listening with a great set of headphones will seriously help you in playing. Your skills on a kit will come in time, your dexterity, precision, coordination is all stuff that can be taught to anyone. Developing your ear is one of the harder things to do and will really help.

Of course, practice practice, practice! Having a practice pad is a good thing ( I like the kind that straps on the knee, very natural) and will help you build up your grip- which ever you choose. Getting at least a few personal one on one lessons in rudiments will be very beneficial too, even if you only take a few because the instructor will physically show you a few basics like the double stroke, paradiddle, rattamacue that you can take home and practice on the pad along to the same tempo as whatever you're listening too. It's hard for someone to tell you how to do it, or to read how to do it without actually walking you through the steps in person.

There's more but I gotta run- I'll post later!

[adam1516]

I agree with the comment about developing your ear, that is very important. However, I really don't agree that you can teach co-ordination or dextrous skills. You've either got the "internal clock" or you haven't - can make peeps aware of it, can't teach it, not in my view.

[DirtyMartiniii]

All that up there ^ (plus the left/right-hand thread) is why I love Copelandia.
Copelanders are fucking awesome.

Thanks for the tips and insights and candor, everyone. I know enough about drumming to know that I don't know shit. So it's really helpful to hear from people already in the trenches, especially to see where the similarities and differences in experience lie.

My first obstacle will be building up my left hand to not suck. But mainly I expect that my biggest challenge will be limb independence. I've got good rhythm and a decent ear (excellent point about ear development, Spec A!) and (despite my fears) I expect my dexterity will improve with practice, but getting each limb to not spaz should be interesting. I get along with guitars way better than pianos because each guitar hand has a different physical job -- easier to separate. I kinda wonder if using a trad grip might not help my brain separate the left and right hands under the same general principles.

Donna, I love the Farberware story. Think I can get away with Pyrex and Corningware? Or will the pitch be off?

Adam, what about the digitals do you prefer over acoustics?

Thank again for the tips, everyone. Please do keep 'em coming!

[adam1516]

Hi,

If I had the resources, and the place to play them, I would go for maybe a decent Yamaha kit, maybe Tama. Digital drums have some obvious advantages - no mics needed, virtually silent drumming with headphones, easy to record, programmable, etc, etc, very flexible, especially for gigging - just plug and play! Some disadvantages too - the cymbals and hi-hat are good, but just fall slightly short of the real thing - the snare and toms are fantastic, though. The great thing about the electronic kit is the fact you can plug in your CD player and play along to your fav tracks with the headphones on - and you can record directly to a PC with the right software. For sheer convenience and flexibilty, you can't beat them. Saying that, I don't think you could truly replicate the boom of a good acoustic kit.

You are quite correct to raise the issue of limb independence - the only way to achieve this is practice - then some more. You will get there if you have the natural ability. Rudiments are a basic building block that are often overlooked - practice them and your technique will get better and better.

[GinaSuperCat]

Just a few random things (LOL its really long, sorry--take anything useful disregard what isn't

You can choose to be a studied, properly trained drummer...lessons are highly advisable since technique can be corrected before it becomes a bad hard-to-break habit...this will likely involve starting with just the snare/pad...rudiments until you literally know them backward and forward...even development of both hands, etc...metronomes, different tempos, and dynamics...before even seeing the kit (I've taken lessons from 5 different people so far and this was by and large the approach...instructors vary of course...some will start you on the kit, take the fact that its a hobby for you into consideration, and just get you whaching away on the drums after some basics in technique)

If George Stone's "Stick Control for the Snare Drummer" and the 40 PAS rudiments aren't quite your bag or how you want to approach this, then you can just start with the kit, plug some tunes into an mp3 player (say like White Stripes or the Strokes, where parts are easy to pick out of standard rock beats) and start playing--have fun! Dave Grohl says he learned to play by beating pillows to 2112...no wonder he hits so damn hard

You can augment either approach, or do so completely on your own as a third option, with instructional videos (you'd be surprised how many are in Netflix, if you subscribe to that) like Tommy Igoe's Groove Essentials, Steve Smith's Drumset Technique/History of the US Beat, Greg Bissonette's, etc. Mel Bay's Drummer's Cookbook is a classic for rock beats (reading music is required)...you can find drum tabs on the web (although copyright disputes are dwindling those resources)...rent dvd...watch...play

Great drummers have resulted from both self-taught and formal training...just be careful of one thing if going the self taught route...if I remember correctly Tory Castellano (from the Donnas) really hurt herself bad because of the self-taught grip she used (tendonitis/surgery)...

Just a suggestion (I know some will disagree, so I submit the following with all respect): don't really even bother worrying about "talent" [whatever that may be] unless you want to be the "best drummer in the world"...don't even concern yourself with whether you "have it" or not...I've seen this completely discourage those who just need to work a bit harder than others to completely just give up if progress is slow-going, thinking 'well, I just ain't 'got it'"...Several famous drummers have given the public impression that they were just naturally talented and didn't practice (Buddy Rich would say he didnt practice when really he practiced his ass off)...keep at it, you will get better than before! If this one-time absolutely clumsy-string bean of a 6 year old could keep at ballet (another area where the predominant theory is its all about 'talent') for a decade until she was 'graceful' to the point where people would ask out of the blue if she was a dancer or a model...only later become a drummer, then anyone can do it at least respectably if you keep at it! Some people may be more-so inclined, or what have you, so what...it's really not even worth thinking about

Be totally patient with yourself...if you keep trying it will get easier...and if something remains difficult, slow down from 77rpm to 33 Steve Smith was completely befuddled by one of Buddy Rich's signature moves and he slowed down to tape to a crawl, saw what that flurry of arms was really doing, and learned it at a snail's pace...it's tempting to try and go fast, but learning slow is the key...speed comes with time...

If you go for an acoustic kit (my personal love, although electronic are the bomb, too) protect your ears...acoustic drums are F'IN LOUD, everyone knows that, but even louder than you think once you get going...I use noise cancellation headphones to protect my hearing and close myself in the room...the cat's are strangely ok with it, hubby too LOL...but I do tend to whack away pretty loudly Earplugs, at least--please!!

Don't be intimidated when you start...I was so worried about sounding bad and uncoordinated...which I DID lol...that I was too tenative...short-cut any self-doubt and just go for it, forgive yourself, be patient, and you will rock, goddess to be!

You already play hand drums so you are probably far ahead of most of these ideas but I submit them *in case* they are of use to you!

[BongoBoy]

I agree with Spec A and listen to a lot of music.

I very, very simple but great tip that helped me when I started is to be able to "hum" or sing the drum part before you try to play it. If you cannot "hum" the drum beat vocally then you can't play it. It sounds very rudimentary but it's true. People who can't hold a beat can't sing a solid beat.

I found listening to Copeland will really help...his drumming stands out and is very easy to pick out.

Listen for each drum and then take a simple beat and practice ,practice.

Anything you are learning needs to be slowed down to practice...if you can't seem to get it...slow it down more. It doesn't matter how stupid and slow it is. You will find as the days go by you will magically get faster and faster.

A lot of us worked on rudiments after we had learned to drum. Learn the basics, it may seem boring but in 12 months you will be glad you got a solid foundation.

I am still practicing my grip from "matched" to traditional. I think traditional is better overall. It works for every type of music and I find the grip put the left hand stick in a better postion... for me it's building up the "power" in my left hand with traditional that has been difficult.

So I use both.

I would learn the basics on my own and when you can hold a few solid beats and have a feel for the kit, then I would start lessons. No need to have a guy showing you how to hold sticks when you can't play anything at all, but thats just my opinion.

Good Luck - Cheers.

[DirtyMartini]

Once again I must praise the lovely people of Copelandia.

You all have given me lots of things to think about and work on.

Thank you!

[adam1516]

Just one more tip I would give you Martini - have fun!!!!

[DirtyMartini]

Thanks, Adam. I promise to have fun as soon as I get past the initial stages of sucking.