Where to start on drums

[kayagum]

So I did it- I found and bought a set of Roland TD3 VDrums for pretty cheap... partially to serve as practice drums for my current band project, more importantly to actually learn how to drum myself.

No way I'll ever be an ace drummer, but I've known for a long time that I should learn how to keep at least a basic beat.

So my questions:

(a) if I wanted to teach myself, are there any books/methods/websites that people would recommend or swear by? Think Mel Bay, only better.

(b) if I wanted to take lessons, what should I look for in a drum instructor?

(c) is it a crime to learn how to drum without learning jazz drumming?

(d) has anyone learned to drum just by playing along recordings? If so, which bands/artists seem to be helpful?

Any advice is welcome- it's fun to be an absolute newbie at something.

PS I grew up playing classical piano, and currently play guitar (fingerpicking electric and acoustic) and bass, so I'm not starting from scratch musically.

[CurtZHP]

The drummer in the band I used to play in learned by air-drumming to Steward Copeland. I sh-t you not!

Was he the tightest drummer on the planet? Not by a long shot; but he could certainly do what I think you're wanting to do.

[Snarl 12/8]

Cool thought exercise.

I couldn't drum for effing shit until my dad held my hands and drummed using my hands. Suddenly my muscles figured it out and I could keep basic time. After that, I took a couple years of lessons at a local music store. That was fucking agony. I would look at the dots in the book and practice along and then I'd go in and the guy would tell me I practiced all wrong. I would cry. I didn't get serious (practicing every day) until the day my dad let me quit taking lessons. Then I drummed to Kiss, a Ska record, Haircut 100, Bow Wow Wow, Copeland, etc (my different phases). It helped having my dad in his office next to me yelling out "You turned the beat around that time." etc. Basically, I'm mostly self taught at this point. Drumming along to stuff is the absolute best way to learn, in my opinion. I wish I did more of it now. Keep in mind, if you can hear the drums that you're playing along to, you're probably doing it wrong. If your timing is correct you should be right on top of whoever's guiding you.

One more thing. Pick up the Jojo Mayer DVD. Secret Weapons of the Modern Drummer (or some similar horrible name). I totally wish I'd started with that thing. He brilliantly breaks down the mechanics of striking the drum and basic rudiments. If you start off with what he's teaching there you won't get in your own way later. Plus, I think you'll have a more rewarding time with everything you try afterwards. That DVD convinced me to start playing traditional grip after almost 30 years of not.

Practice beats slow. It's harder than going fast.

Stream of consciousness enough for ya?

[Jitters]

JoJos DVD is great for technique, but it's not going to teach you any beats. I highly recomend 'Groove Essentials'. There is a package with a book (to learn to read drum notation and follow charts) a DVD (with visual instruction breaking down beats part by part) and play along MP3s with all the grooves (minus the drums to play along with) all in all it's the best one stop system I've seen, and if you actually make it all the way through you will be a MONSTER. Some of the stuff in the word beats is amazingly fun to play. You can skip the jazz section if you want.

[firby]

I am a jazz drummer and you can all go take the piss somewhere else.

Anyways, If you have not played much and you have no stick time, please take or barter a lesson. Just make sure that you are holding the sticks right and not playing like a frankenstein. Some people practice terrible technique into their limbs in the beginning and it sucks for them later. Also get that person to show you a basic rock beat and how to count through a fill. That will keep you busy for a few months.

Personally I believe that you need to have a decent single stroke and double stroke rolls, a buzz roll, Paradiddles in all their inversions. After that its just the application of what you want to do with it. Personally, I have had a bunch of teachers and I really liked the experience of studying music formally.

Definitely sit with headphones and play at a consistent volume and get really really locked in. Then stay locked in as long as you can.

Hang in there, it gets easier.

[kayagum]

I am a jazz drummer and you can all go take the piss somewhere else.

I wrote my jazz question more because I'm in awe of most jazz musicians (of any instrument, but especially drummers- I regularly go see a former Weather Report drummer play when he's in town) and I just can't see myself getting that good.

[roscoenyc]

After an Allstars concert I complemented Ringo on his daughter Lee's drumming.
He said "I give 'em one lesson. Never play the drums, only play songs"

[RodC]

Just make sure that you are holding the sticks right and not playing like a frankenstein. Some people practice terrible technique into their limbs in the beginning and it sucks for them l

+1000 you can also save yourself some physical damage and pain

Personally I believe that you need to have a decent single stroke and double stroke rolls, a buzz roll, Paradiddles in all their inversions

Also get the essental Book:
Stick Control: For the Snare Drummer by George Lawrence Stone.

(use it for more than the snare, but in the begining use to develop stick control)

[JohnDavisNYC]

Jojo's DVD is amazing for stick technique. He is an encyclopedia of drumming techniques.

As far as learning beats goes, if you have a good ear and watch some youtube videos of anyone playing drums, the physical co-ordination will come. As with any instrument, if you can hear it in your head, you'll figure out how to play it. Picking up Jojo's DVD will help you make sure you are hitting the drums right and now developing any bad habits that will hinder or injure you.

John

[mrclean]

The advice to get a formal lesson or few is good - to get some basics down and then branch out on your own as well.

-- Play along to music
-- Do not be afraid to hit the drum. Try to get some time behind a real kit to understand that hitting the drum in different ways will affect the tone.
-- Practice keeping a steady beat.
-- I think the Roland unit you have has a rhythm coach - use it.

Also, Roland has some video stuff out - worth a look. I get a laugh sometimes but there is plenty good about it. See here:

Roland V-Drum Lessons

I have a TD-9 set and love it for practice and home demos. The neighbors love it too!

[CurtZHP]

My biggest problem is keeping control of my right foot (kick drum). I have a tendency to hit it at the same time I'm hitting the snare. Drives me nuts!

[firby]

In all things drummer coordination wise can _generally_ be practiced through with the following methodology.

If you can't play it:

Slow it down till you can play it cleanly then gradually speed it up.

Drop out parts like drop the ride cymbal out until the feet/snare are working, add parts in slowly then gradually speed it up.

Focus mentally on the part that is lacking most of the time. If the snare is off then focus and look at the snare.

Realize that every time you hit a drum or whatever you are practicing complex reflexes into you psyche. You are becoming. So, pay a little reverence all of the time you are playing make sure you are playing good, be on your game, you will improve quicker.

Allright then. The other thing is to play with music both recorded and live. The art of drumming really becomes an art of persuasion when you get a bunch more live players in the mix .... this is especially true with younger/inexperienced players.

[chris harris]

My biggest problem is keeping control of my right foot (kick drum). I have a tendency to hit it at the same time I'm hitting the snare. Drives me nuts!

Separating that subconscious link between your limbs is probably the first real "breakthrough" moment you can have when learning to play drums.

[TheGreatOne]

So my questions:

(a) if I wanted to teach myself, are there any books/methods/websites that people would recommend or swear by? Think Mel Bay, only better.

Mel Bay, only better? I gotta laugh a little at that. Mel Bay has been a good start for more beginning guitarists than we could probably calculate.

But good luck with the drumming!

K

[percussion boy]

(b) if I wanted to take lessons, what should I look for in a drum instructor?

Whether the teacher is live or on dvd, it helps to learn from someone who's doing what you wish you could do.

That way, you can start in learning a groove you ENJOY, from someone who's playing that groove with a technique that works. As you get a little vocabulary of several grooves you like under your belt, you will naturally start to experiment and come up with variations.

The above tends to be a more fertile way to learn than trying to develop some kind of general "technique" by practicing endless combinations of bass drum patterns, fills, and so on, from some thick book. Unfortunately, that is how a lot of drum teaching is. There's a lot of fetishizing among many drum teachers of the whole marching band tradition (rolls, rudiments, stick technique, etc.) . . . but that stuff, while useful, doesn't lead directly to learning how to coordinate your limbs to make a pleasing groove on the drumset.

So again . . . start by finding someone who makes the noise you wish you were making . . . then find out how they do it, one beat at a time.

If you can't find a real human, roll the dice on some dvds and expect to watch them over and over.

*For specific suggestions, it would help to know what style you want to learn.

PS -- The Jojo Mayer dvd set is very helpful as a sort of encyclopedia of drum techniques. It cleared up questions I had about the jazz left hand grip. It's also fun to watch Jojo shred. But as someone else said above, this isn't gonna be a primer. Also be aware you may find it overwhelming, encyclopedias are like that.