Counting beats

[stevo]

After playing for many years, and apparently, just getting by in regards to substance, I realize now my main problem is I've never really developed the ability to count the beats when I'm listening and playing. Therefore, when learning new music, I am not always hitting a roll, or finishing the roll on time.
What would you recommend I do to start practicing counting beats?
I am learning about the time signatures and all, but need to start somewhere.

Thanks.

[beatsMcGee]

do you have a drum instructor? if you can afford it id highly reccomend.. then get Funky Primer.. its a good book for learning simple beats and how to count 8th note groves.

[Supersteve]

Here is a chart to help you maybee


Quaters-1234
8th-1n2n3n4n
16th-1ana2ana3ana4

[chris--byrne]

http://www.onlinedrumlessons.com/main/lessons-reading-counting.htm
This is a great site for learning the basics of reading musicn and counting. I'd recommend that you get a good teacher if you don't already have one, as that really helps you to develop your ability to read and count.

I started to read music and count by sitting down and talking myself through simple rudiments.I.e. parradiddles

This is the form I tend to practice them in (/ = a bar line):
4:4 RLRR LRLL / RLRR LRLL RLRR

So we can see the time signature is 4:4 which means one beat is a quater note, and there are 4 of these in each bar.

The strokes in bold black are 8th notes (count 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &) so 8 of these make one bar of 4:4. The strokes in bold red are 16th notes (1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4e & a) so 16 of these fill a bar in 4:4 time. But because we already have 4 8th notes in this bar we can only have 8 16th notes.

So we would count 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & / 1 & 2 & 3 e & a 4e & a

And there you have it!!

I applied this to many other simple rudiments in different time signatures such as three stroke ruffs in 3:4, and slowly began to couint more complicated beats. It feels very confusing at first but you'll find you start to pick it up quickly, if you stick with it.

Messing around with a metronome can also be very helpful, fo getting used to counting different notes in differnet time signatures.

Hope I have helped and good luck.

[Ufipman!]

A long time ago, I think in one of his video lessons, I heard Bruford say something like "as a drummer you always gotta know where 1 is". That's so true. You definitely don't want to be guessing or your fills will be useless when you don't come back on "1".
Learn note values and practice your snare drum reading but also try finding a song you like and just count the down beats, if your in 4/4 it's 1,2,3,4...or in 6/8 it's 1,2,3,4,5,6. Basically it's just the "pulse" of the tune.
Find a song like Solsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel. We know it's in 7 and so count the downbeats 1,2,3,4,5,6,7. Or Money by Pink Floyd , that beginning bass line is also in 7. With fills and such it gets harder to keep your counting going, but always be able to "feel" the pulse of the tune and always know where "1" is.

[Class A Drummer]

After playing for many years, and apparently, just getting by in regards to substance, I realize now my main problem is I've never really developed the ability to count the beats when I'm listening and playing. Therefore, when learning new music, I am not always hitting a roll, or finishing the roll on time.
What would you recommend I do to start practicing counting beats?
I am learning about the time signatures and all, but need to start somewhere.

Thanks.
i kinda use to have the same problem. When i first started jazz, i would play where someone in the jazz band would solo for 4 bars, then i would do the same. That would happen 3 or 4 times in a row. i was horrible. I eventually was able to feel when to stop playing the 4 bars. And you know how i did this? Practice. its all about feeling it man.

[sumwatt]

I just started recently and had my first sit-down with a drum teacher. I also have a problem counting and I've found that I have to actually count by starting with larger counts. For whatever reason, if I count eighths on the hh from the start I always screw up. So I started counting "1...2...3...4..." and then slowly added "1.2.3.4.2.2.3.4.3.2.3.4.4.2.3.4" then down to "1an2an3an4[and so on]"

[chris--byrne]

i kinda use to have the same problem. When i first started jazz, i would play where someone in the jazz band would solo for 4 bars, then i would do the same. That would happen 3 or 4 times in a row. i was horrible. I eventually was able to feel when to stop playing the 4 bars. And you know how i did this? Practice. its all about feeling it man.

You didn't need to wait until you could feel when to finish the break, you could have counted it through in your head (I'm guessing you were in 4:4 time so you would just count 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 - 1 done!!) , or used a metronome to do it. If you had a metrome that emphisies the 'One' it's even easier. But youm are right after some practice you do begin to feel when you need to bring your 4 bar break to a close.

[Class A Drummer]

You didn't need to wait until you could feel when to finish the break, you could have counted it through in your head (I'm guessing you were in 4:4 time so you would just count 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 - 1 done!!) , or used a metronome to do it. If you had a metrome that emphisies the 'One' it's even easier. But youm are right after some practice you do begin to feel when you need to bring your 4 bar break to a close.
i know you should be able to count "1234" in your head, but it kinda messed me up lol.

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

i know you should be able to count "1234" in your head, but it kinda messed me up lol.

You said it, not me.

[Scatman]

Bruford is right man
You can never go wrong when you know where one is