Drum Lessons for Beginners?

**Tainojim** · #21 (**permalink**) 10-18-2011, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaximusDukusErectus

Thats a fact BUTTER"rudiments can scare"...my son's last instructor overwhelmed my son..then age nine(now 10)with rudiments and reading sheet music....he picked up on reading what he was instructed to play but the rudiments really tore into his confidence when he started....blending worked and kept his attention.Reason I have an instructor is so I do not teach my son all my bad habits...so the teacher had better have all his T'S crossed and I's dotted....children..young adults and beginners are sponges...hard to go back and reteach improper clinical applications.Just my 2 cents and I am only going with my son's experience.

If drummers practice by themselves from the beginning, they tend to see alot of competition from other drummers. What helps in this case is getting another begginer to play along with the rudes. That's what I do with my kids in the hood. Some drumming siblings learn from other drumming sibblings at a much higher pace and that's when the competition between them gets them to the top. It's just fun for them. Something they don't learn from drumming instructors.

May 2 wooden knickles.
Jimi

nigelfrazer · #22 (**permalink**) 10-18-2011, 03:59 PM

So here are the areas I'm trying to focus on at the moment.

My single stroke and double stroke rolls, especailly leading with my weak (left) hand, I assumed it's pointless moving onto other stuff if I can't play an even sgle or dble roll to a metronome? Or am I being too anal? I'm practising paradiddles, singles, doubles & triplets to a click of around 120bpm which is where I seem to max out with being even & consistent.

Next is my bass pedal control plus using my left foot on the hi-hat as a pulse when I'm playing the ride or another piece on the kit. I am experimenting heel down, heel up etc and just can't find a technique that feels comfortable allows me to get that consistency and endurance especially if I get above 90bpm.

Any more thoughts of yours would be really helpful & very much appreciated, I like your approach of being yourself behind the instrument and allowing it to come out but I obviously just haven'e found that in me yet I suppose. My inspirations where John Bonham, Stewart Copeland, Brian Downey & Bob Siebenberg in his Supertramp days.

Many thanks.

**Tainojim** · #23 (**permalink**) 10-19-2011, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nigelfrazer

My inspirations where John Bonham, Stewart Copeland, Brian Downey & Bob Siebenberg in his Supertramp days.

Many thanks.

Right there I see a problem. This isn't drummer that inspire but drummers that are idol worshiped to be just like them.

As a teen I remember trying really hard to keep up with Mitch Mitchell. And that was jazz rock drumming. As a teen I realized that I had to be allot more experienced than that. (No pun intended) So for the mean time I played the songs with what I had already learned. Even though I felt a bit goofy playing the songs, but the audience loved it. As long as I kept up the tempo and timming to the songs.

That's when I realized that I was doing Idol Worship instead of seeking my own style. When I realized the entire picture of it all, and that my audience loved it, then I knew that I was my own idol drummer. My train of thought changed completely and was able to adapt my own drumming to anything I played from the heart.

So when it comes to drumming, ther is no exact science. Just put your heart and soul into it and be creative. Have fun learning and keep on drumming.

nigelfrazer · #24 (**permalink**) 10-19-2011, 05:11 PM

I may have worshipped Bonzo when I was a teenager but I I don't idol worship anybody these days, especially at 50yrs old, I'm well & truly over that stage of my life.

However, I'm still not quite sure what you're trying to tell me, are you saying I should forget the technical stuff and just play whatever my skill level allows me to play and work on improving that rather than trying to work on rudiments, sticking, notation, foot development etc etc etc?

Thanks,
Nigel.

MaximusDukusErectus · #25 (**permalink**) 10-20-2011, 07:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tainojim

As far as "Bad Drumming Habbits" go, there are'nt any. There are no unwritten laws about bad drumming habbits. If they pick their nose while drumming, then show them how to clean up after themselves.

Maybe a box of facial tissues would help.

"MY BAD Drumming habits"I am too slack and uneducated with my rudes!My goal is to get my son to pick up the good habits Tan....me playing Aerosmith's"Big Ten inch"and other blues'y tunes really expose MY LACK of proper education

**Tainojim** · #26 (**permalink**) 10-25-2011, 03:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nigelfrazer

I may have worshipped Bonzo when I was a teenager but I I don't idol worship anybody these days, especially at 50yrs old, I'm well & truly over that stage of my life.

However, I'm still not quite sure what you're trying to tell me, are you saying I should forget the technical stuff and just play whatever my skill level allows me to play and work on improving that rather than trying to work on rudiments, sticking, notation, foot development etc etc etc?

Thanks,
Nigel.

The Idol Worship Slang is, only a figure of speach. Born in the 50's and in NYC that's the way us old timers talk. It means that these drummers that we all love so much from the back days, paved the way for the rest of us. It like carying the torch in a tournament.

Never forget the technocalities of drumming. We all need to know where we've been to be able to move ahead. That's where the skills come from.

Sometimes we need to goof around on the kit. Sometimes we learn some really cool riffs just by doing that. It's ear catching.

**Tainojim** · #27 (**permalink**) 10-25-2011, 03:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaximusDukusErectus

"MY BAD Drumming habits"I am too slack and uneducated with my rudes!My goal is to get my son to pick up the good habits Tan....me playing Aerosmith's"Big Ten inch"and other blues'y tunes really expose MY LACK of proper education

I didn't take drum lessons growing up. We were so poor, I couldn't afford to pay attention.

Also the information highway wasn't around. We had the Henay. What's a Henway? "Oh", around 3-4 pounds.

DansDrumLessons · #28 (**permalink**) 10-28-2011, 04:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nigelfrazer

So here are the areas I'm trying to focus on at the moment.

My single stroke and double stroke rolls, especailly leading with my weak (left) hand, I assumed it's pointless moving onto other stuff if I can't play an even sgle or dble roll to a metronome? Or am I being too anal? I'm practising paradiddles, singles, doubles & triplets to a click of around 120bpm which is where I seem to max out with being even & consistent.

Next is my bass pedal control plus using my left foot on the hi-hat as a pulse when I'm playing the ride or another piece on the kit. I am experimenting heel down, heel up etc and just can't find a technique that feels comfortable allows me to get that consistency and endurance especially if I get above 90bpm.

Any more thoughts of yours would be really helpful & very much appreciated, I like your approach of being yourself behind the instrument and allowing it to come out but I obviously just haven'e found that in me yet I suppose. My inspirations where John Bonham, Stewart Copeland, Brian Downey & Bob Siebenberg in his Supertramp days.

Many thanks.

Hi Nigel,

I think you may be rushing a bit, learning rudiments and getting them up to speed comfortable does take a while.

I remember when i went to DrumTech in London for the whole of 2001 my double strokes where pretty slow and they only got to a nice speed, with an even flow, by daily practice on a pad.
There were 5 drummers sharing our flat and we all practiced for around 4 hours a day, various rudiments, and more importantly as many dynamics as possible, it just takes time to develop but with practice it will happen.

With bass drum technique - choose a pattern with 2 notes and 8th note apart and 2 notes a 16th and perhaps a 32nd and just keep playing it - not all drummers are the same - you may end up comfortable with a mixture of techniques but the more your body internalizes the groove or rudiments, the more muscle memory plays it's part making you a better player - If you're practicing 2 hours a day i'd say do that for 6 months and you will be great!

I hope some of that helps

**Tainojim** · #29 (**permalink**) 10-29-2011, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nigelfrazer

So here are the areas I'm trying to focus on at the moment.

My single stroke and double stroke rolls, especailly leading with my weak (left) hand, I assumed it's pointless moving onto other stuff if I can't play an even sgle or dble roll to a metronome? Or am I being too anal? I'm practising paradiddles.

Since we are both old timers, follow Jim Chapin on YouTube.

Jim Chapin feels like dancing with the Moeller -...

**Der Trommler** · #30 (**permalink**) 10-30-2011, 03:41 PM

As with so many things in life, you are only as good as your basic skills. Remember that even accomplished drummers practice and warm up with rudiments and rudimentary patterns. Dan is spot on.