Beginner Books And Advice

[ITDSCryptopsy]

Hey, I've just signed up and i'm looking for some advice after I got my first kit a couple of months ago.

I have time to sort out books and DVD's etc because I'm in the process of making space in the garage and I won't be able to practice properly until then. Can anyone point me in the direction of must have books or videos?

After asking friends who play, I have these so far:

Dave Lombardo's Power Grooves
Absolute Beginners Drums One and Two
Double Bass Drumming Encyclopedia
Drums For Dummies
Accents And Rebounds and Stick Control by George Lawrence Stone

Any beginner drum advice would be appreciated too.

Maybe I should mention ultimately I want to be able to play death metal, or thats what I'm aiming for. Guys like Kollias, Lars Ulrich, Flo Mounier, Gar Samuelson and Nick Menza inspired me to pick up the sticks, if that's any help.

Thanks in advance.

[Class A Drummer]

Get a teacher. Absolute first thing you should do right now.

Pick up "Groove Essentials" by Tommy Igoe.

[rmandelbaum]

I agree Get a good teacher and you can avoid a bunch of bad habits. It will also speed up your learning a lot.

[ITDSCryptopsy]

Thanks for the suggestions, i'll pick up Tommy Igoe's DVD this week sometime.

We happen to have a fantastic teacher locally according to people who I have asked, so that's a good start, I'll book in with him too.

I'm not sure if I should dtich the Absolute Beginners series, because I'm always sceptical about these things, if you know what I mean, they're in the same category as the ' BE THE BEST DRUMMER EVER IN FIVE MINUTES ' type of book.

Should I leave these and carry on with more reputable material?

[jeffwj]

Thanks for the suggestions, i'll pick up Tommy Igoe's DVD this week sometime.

We happen to have a fantastic teacher locally according to people who I have asked, so that's a good start, I'll book in with him too.

I'm not sure if I should dtich the Absolute Beginners series, because I'm always sceptical about these things, if you know what I mean, they're in the same category as the ' BE THE BEST DRUMMER EVER IN FIVE MINUTES ' type of book.

Should I leave these and carry on with more reputable material?

I would let your drum teacher decide if the books are right for you. I'm not familiar with the Ultimate Beginner books. But as a teacher, I am very picky about the beginning books that I use with my students. I have spent a good amount of time searching for the books that have the right information introduced at the right pace. It sounds like your local teacher is very good. He/she should be able to set you on the right path.

Jeff

[ITDSCryptopsy]

I would let your drum teacher decide if the books are right for you. I'm not familiar with the Ultimate Beginner books. But as a teacher, I am very picky about the beginning books that I use with my students. I have spent a good amount of time searching for the books that have the right information introduced at the right pace. It sounds like your local teacher is very good. He/she should be able to set you on the right path.

Jeff


Thanks, i'll make sure to show them to him.

[rendezvous_drummer]

few things you need mate:

- A good, dependable teacher
- Syncopation by Ted Reed
- Stick Control by Stone
- Master Studies by Morello
- New Breed by Chester
- Groove Essentials by Igoe

But more than anything, not only do you need to get a good teacher, you need to play with people, which is the most important thing imo.

[Pat Petrillo]

I would DEFINITELY suggest a teacher who will have some materials for beginners that might not be covered in books, "stepping stones" that can connect the materials in books in a logical manner..

New Breed is not, in my opinion, a beginners book, but the others I would recommend are


Ultimate Realistic Rock Book / CD by Carmine Appice: Just some good old basic 8th note rock grooves, that get into 16th grooves as well.

Hal Leonard has a series of style related books that are cool. They teach the groove to classic songs with a play along CD..

http://www.halleonard.com/item_detail.jsp?itemid=700707&location=Percussion&catcode=10&refer=new&order=1&filter=2w

Any reading book that progresses logically from beginning to intermediate rhythms. Syncopation sort of does that, but there may be others out there that are better. One comes to mind: Gary Rosensweig: Reading Rhythms

Groove Essentials would be good once the basics are established.

I would humbly recommend "Hands, Grooves, & Fills" Book/DVD, because it will teach ALL the Rudiments and how to put them together into combinations, along with some hand technique exercises....Although the grooves are mostly for intermediate players, the play along tracks are fun and useful, as any teacher could simply write "easier grooves" to substitute for the grooves I wrote, and student can have fun.

Hope that helps..!

[Just Drums]

There are dozens...if not hundreds of these types of beginner books. Accents and Rebounds is not a beginner book. Before that, you should try Stick Control, Stone's first book. And even that, Stick Control is not for the weary.

Appice's Realistic Rock is a good one. Dowd's A Funky Primer is good. Morgenstein's Drumset Musician is good. And of course Pat's Hands, Grooves, and Fills is a good package.

[caddywumpus]

Get a good teacher, first and foremost. They will probably have books that they are comfortable teaching out of and see results from. Make sure that your immediate drumming goals line up with what they teach (don't let them push rock beats on you if you want to learn jazz, etc...).

Make sure you learn how to read and proper technique...it will make the long road ahead of you so much easier and more enjoyable.

[rendezvous_drummer]

When I first started to take my drumming seriously, New Breed did wonders for my reading skills. I sat down with the book and counted out the patterns and it really helped me. I know it's not as simple as say "1001 drum grooves" or "fast track drums", but it gets the job done and beginners can still use the book.

With this being said, it's good to study from books, but what's important is how you study the books, what your technique is when applying the exercises to the kit. Say in Syncopation, one line is for the snare where the other line is for bass, or ride cymbal or the hats. Adding in accents and switching them up.