Newbie looking for advice

[fred99]

Hi guys, I have been lurking the forums for quite some time now and congratulations to you all for the great community.

I am a newbie drummer, I am 27 and I have bought my first drum kit last january, I took no courses, anyway I have made a small video showing my progression from january, february and june 2008.

Here is the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kU1_G9hdDA

I would like some advices that could help me get better. Thanks guys and gals!

-fred

[ceckha]

take things slowly. i'm actually pretty impressed at your skills for being that new to it. i don't remember me getting that good that fast. you do good on incorporating double bass into your fills. but yeah, when you're working on something, start slow on it, and then build up speed. and everytime you mess up just slow it down again and just work back up to where you messed up. you'll be able to push yourself further every time. and thats mostly all i can think of to tell you. most drummers would probably tell you the same thing.

and i'm guessing by your set up you're into playing metal?

[zambizzi]

Welcome and congrats on starting your new adventure! I started when I was 28, just under 2 yrs. ago.

The best thing you can do to come along as quickly as possible is; find a teacher and start taking regular lessons. Practice the material you're shown and given everyday - you'll surprise yourself at how quickly you get into shape.

Good luck!

[fred99]

take things slowly. i'm actually pretty impressed at your skills for being that new to it. i don't remember me getting that good that fast. you do good on incorporating double bass into your fills. but yeah, when you're working on something, start slow on it, and then build up speed. and everytime you mess up just slow it down again and just work back up to where you messed up. you'll be able to push yourself further every time. and thats mostly all i can think of to tell you. most drummers would probably tell you the same thing.

and i'm guessing by your set up you're into playing metal?

Thanks! :) Yes I would like to play metal music once I get confortable with most of the basic fills, I still have a lot of work to do before playing in a band imho. ;)


Welcome and congrats on starting your new adventure! I started when I was 28, just under 2 yrs. ago.

The best thing you can do to come along as quickly as possible is; find a teacher and start taking regular lessons. Practice the material you're shown and given everyday - you'll surprise yourself at how quickly you get into shape.

Good luck!

Thanks for the advice Zambizzi I will take it into consideration and start making some phone calls soon to get 1h / week I guess.

-fred

[James_E]

Well, I'm impressed, especially at the January 2008. You only started in January 2008 and were doing that instantly. Nice job.

How much do you practice?

[ceckha]

anytime. and taking lessons is a good idea. you can go to the drum department at guitar center and ask them about a teacher and they will refer you to somebody.

[fred99]

Well, I'm impressed, especially at the January 2008. You only started in January 2008 and were doing that instantly. Nice job.

How much do you practice?

I have shooted the january clip roughly 2 weeks after I have bought the kit, so this was in fact after 2 weeks of practice.

I am trying to play everyday for at least 30 minutes, sometimes more, what's helping a lot is that I can play every day after 5 PM, also that I have installed the drum kit in a studio near my desk. Once everyone left the I can start playing :)

[Mystic]

Your skill is impressive for wut is it 6 months? That said, I think you should do what others have said and slow everything down so you can practice beats and fills properly, and I know how hard this can be because I lean toward the metal area as well and I don't wanna slow down, and also try to open your mind to some other genres like jazz mainly is what I focus my mind on. When you explore other genres you also expand your mind to different types of fills, I noticed you like those quadruplets, but you don't want every fill to sound the same, or you will have a lack of fill variety and a bored audience. At this point I think you are rdy for a teacher usually I think you should spend about a year with no teacher just to explore the drums and learn the basics of everything, but then you want to get a teacher to teach you techniques you would never figure out on your own. Remember to practice smart not hard, technique is a drummers best friend.
P.S. welcome to drummer world, there are many great drummers here and they are very helpful. Good Luck
-Mystic

[byronand]

Congratulations on doing so well so far!

Yes, get a good teacher. It's very hard to unlearn bad habits, and a teacher will help you to avoid that, as well as help you to focus your practicing so that you can progress smoothly.

From your video it looks like you're having fun, trying a lot of things all around the kit, which is great! It's a good way to get a feel for the drums. Fills and fast pedal blasts have their place and can be cool, but I'd suggest that you start working carefully on THE BEAT and THE GROOVE. Keep it simple.

I suggest that you find ONE song with a very simple beat that you like a lot, and play along with it over-and-over again, trying to play it perfectly. After a lot of practice with it, you should record yourself playing along with the song, and listen critically to how you're doing. It might take you 20 or 30 takes (or more) over several weeks to really nail it start-to-finish, but it will be a good exercise; you'll learn a lot about beat, groove, precision, tempo, etc....

Excellent advice from Kenny Aronoff:
http://www.drummerworld.com/Videos/kennyaronoffmakingabeat.html

Excellent book for any performing artist:
http://www.amazon.com/Effortless-Mastery-Liberating-Master-Musician/dp/156224003X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1214324437&sr=1-1

Great general advice from guitarist Ken Brown, Menlo Park, California, USA

1. Don't take it too seriously. This is the number one rule for a reason. The moment you begin to take the process seriously, it will become work for you. It will be difficult to get started. Each time after that, it will get more difficult. Learning has a cost. Learning anything requires you to spend attention (focus) on that thing. If the process grows increasingly draining, you will eventually not be able to afford it. Treat what you are learning as Play. Don't take it seriously.

2. Be fed; don't feed.

What is the number one cure experts recommend for burn-out?
Take up a hobby. Wait! How can doing more things make you less burnt-out? Simple. The hobby feeds the soul. It gives back more than you give to it. Work - and much of life - is the other way around. When you play, watch the way you feel during and afterward. If you feel more stressed, less patient, more anxious, or in any way upset, you are feeding yourself to what you are learning, not being fed by it.

3. Take small steps.

People ask me, "How do you do that? It looks so hard." Some people will try it once and say, "I can't do that", "I suck", or "It's too hard for me." Of course it's too hard! You are comparing yourself to someone who has been doing this for months or years. It's your first time! Don't expect to be as good as they are. Expect to drop the ball over and over. Take small steps! If you had given up so easily when you first learned to walk, you would still be crawling today.

4. Practice, but not too much.

If you never practice, you won't get any better. You need to play every day. However, if you don't feel like it for a week, that's okay. Skip it. If you force yourself when you don't feel like playing, it will quit being play.
It will become a duty. See number one.

5. When you are tired, stop.
This step may seem obvious, but it is often missed. In a "No pain, no gain" culture, many people will think they are getting more if they push till it hurts. It doesn't work that way. When you have had enough, stop.

6. Find a "reset" and use it.
No matter how difficult the thing you want to learn, there will be some small part of it that you can do now. Find that part. If you are learning to juggle, toss one ball from hand to hand. If you are learning a language, count from one to five, or say hello and good-bye. If you are learning algebra, do a very simple proof. This easy step is your "reset". Each time you start, start with your reset. As you play you will get tired and make more mistakes. You will try more difficult things. What's going to happen is that, after a while, you won't do as well. You'll feel a bit frustrated. Don't stop now! If you stop when you feel frustrated or upset, your unconscious mind will only remember that learning this stuff is upsetting. Do your reset. Do it for a moment or two until you relax. When you feel confident again, then stop.

7. Smile. Strange as it might sound, most people forget to smile when they are learning things. They get "serious" and make "serious faces". Try to smile every once in a while, as you play. If you find smiling is easy, you are doing it right.

8. Keep breathing. It's easy, when you are nervous, to hold your breath or to breathe a bit shallow. Watch for this. If you are not breathing easily while you play, something inside will start to get nervous. Slow down! Go back to doing something a bit simpler and focus on your breathing.

9. Ignore company. If anyone comes to watch you play, ignore them. This is about you. If you focus on someone else or what they think, you will start making mistakes.

10. Check your energy. If you understand inner energy, watch yours. If you don't, just ignore this step. Your energy lives, comfortably, down in your center. When you get nervous it will tend to rise until it is up around your throat (the "heart in the throat" feeling). Relax. Let it come back to where it belongs. Do simpler steps until it is. Periodically re-check where your energy is.

11. Congratulate; don't criticize. Probably when you do something right, even complicated things, you take it for granted. When you make a mistake, you criticize yourself. Turn that around. Every time you do something right, congratulate yourself. When you screw up, remember that you are learning. You are supposed to make mistakes. Take it in stride.

12. Slowly get more complicated. If you always do a few simple things and then stop, you will eventually get bored. Try more difficult things sometimes. Start with your reset. Get a bit more complicated. Play with a few different things each time. Then, go back to the easier things. Finally, do your reset and stop.

Ken Brown Guitar Studio

[mikei]

I started at just under 35 years of age. I just turned 38, and I am having way more fun than I thought I would.

After 2 to 3 years, you start to "feel" comfortable. At least for me, that is when it all started coming together.

Have fun, but even more important than that, buy lots of gear!

[drummer girl09]

I'm not sure if any one mentioned this, but I suggest you get a mp3 or Ipod or something, and play with your tunes. Put it on shuffle, and try to play what comes up. It has helped me a lot over my two years. It gives you new ideas for fills, and still it helps you with your timing. Most bands use metronomes to record with, so when you play with them, you are using the metronome too....it's more fun though. So yeah....that's my tip...lol

[Construct]

The funny thing is I don't care for Joey Jordison, yet i recognized the beat at the beginning right away. Ouch.

Anyways, practice practice.

[fred99]

Congratulations on doing so well so far!

Yes, get a good teacher. It's very hard to unlearn bad habits, and a teacher will help you to avoid that, as well as help you to focus your practicing so that you can progress smoothly.(...)


Thanks Byronand, I wanted advices and your post has plenty! :)

I started at just under 35 years of age. I just turned 38, and I am having way more fun than I thought I would.

After 2 to 3 years, you start to "feel" comfortable. At least for me, that is when it all started coming together.

Have fun, but even more important than that, buy lots of gear!

Hey Mikei! It will be fun to watch this video after 3 years of practice ;) but why buy lots of gear ??

I'm not sure if any one mentioned this, but I suggest you get a mp3 or Ipod or something, and play with your tunes. Put it on shuffle, and try to play what comes up. It has helped me a lot over my two years. It gives you new ideas for fills, and still it helps you with your timing. Most bands use metronomes to record with, so when you play with them, you are using the metronome too....it's more fun though. So yeah....that's my tip...lol

Thanks Drummergirl! I am already doing this with my ipod, I didn't show it in the video because it's kind of boring to watch when you dont hear the music ;)

The funny thing is I don't care for Joey Jordison, yet i recognized the beat at the beginning right away. Ouch.

Anyways, practice practice.

I don't like slipknot, if I was playing a beat that was like one of their song it's pure coincidence.

thanks all!

-fred

[jotte]

Hey!

You are welcome to vistit Learningdrum for free tutorials for drummers.
Start Learningdrum Free Education For Drummers (http://www.learningdrum.com/drumeducation.html)


I would suggest to start with the tutorials of basic bassdrum and hihat techniques.
You find them at:

Choose module: Technique, in the left menu
Choose chapter: Bassdrum or Hihat, in the top menu
Choose scene: # 1 to # 5, in the bottom menu.

If you have any questions about the Learningdrum education, you are welcome
to post them in the Learningdrum Drums And Percussion Community Forum (http://www.learningdrum.com/forum_eng/index.php)

All the best

/ Jotte

[FourOnSix]

It seems like your biggest weakness is on the technical aspect. You're feel is pretty good, and you have good ideas, but to get those ideas to transition more smoothly from your head to your sticks, you're either gonna need to start watching a lot of technique videos and DVDs, or start taking lessons. Either route you go, make sure you don't halfway learn techniques. Make sure you learn what ever you learn completely before moving on. Good luck, and good drummin' so far.

[Benjaminbois]

wow, i am very impressed how far you have come in just 6 months.
I can see you really love double bass eh? the only advice I can give which hasnt already been said is dont get lazy with your double bass pedal! make sure you practice doing those quads with just one foot too.

[Tylerdrums109]

Dude your playing is very good for the time u have been playing....and thats a great thing! i took to drums pretty quickly as well and from my experience use the momentum u have in you learning and ur naturally ability to speed up your progress even faster...first i recommend getting ur hands on copies of these dvd's and books

1. JoJo Mayer's weapons for the modern drummer (for your hand technique)
2. Tommy Igoe's groove essentials
3. Stick Control

Use these and practice hard while learning ur favorite bands' music and with ur already natural ability u will go far in no time at all...oh and get a practice pad if u dont have one and work on those rudiments!!!