Measurement of skill level

Chermen

Member
I play on drums several years and last time I began to think about: - how I can measure my level as drummer? And I found some ways to do that. One of them is - to measure the highest speed of rudiments.
So, the question is: what speed of each rudiment is a good factor of skill level?
 
I think you haven't really thought this through. Just being able to do rudiments stupid fast doesn't constitute a "good" drummer. That may be so in marching line but applied to the drum set there is much more at work than rudiments.

There really isn't a way to judge "skill level" in any meaningful way. Skill is a VERY ambiguous concept. Although, if one had to choose a way of measuring skill then the ability to play MUSIC with a BAND is going to be the best indicator. Even in that context, it is a debatable subject.

Who is the better drummer? Levon Helm or Thomas Lang? Steve Jordan or Dave Weckl?

There is no point in trying to gage skill level. The only thing that matters is being the best at playing MUSIC that you can possibly be. Being a musician that happens to use drum set as his/her medium is the idea.
 
Not to be negative and rain on your parade, but a measurement of the "highest speed of rudiments" doesn't indicate skill at a drum set, only the skill at rudiments.

Thousands people join marching bands and obtain great skill at doing rudiments at high speed, but many of them can not play a simple beat on a drum set because it's just not what they do.

Measurement of skill level is a rather esoteric question, because there is no real answer. It would entirely depend on one's objective. What would might a good measurement for a heavy metal drummer would be not as useful to a jazz drummer, and what might be a measurement for a jazz drummer might not the best indicator for someone who wants to know a little bit about every style.

A better indicator is how well can you play with other musicians in the style(s) of music you aspire to play?

If you join a band, or get hired for a gig or session, no one is going to care how fast you can or can't play some rudiments per se. They are going to care if you can play well enough for the task at hand.

Not to say rudiments aren't important, as they are the building blocks of so many things that going into playing with a band. And heck, you never know when you might actually be asked to play some rudiment rolls with in the context of a song.
 
confining the discussion to rudiments, if you go to the vic firth rudiments site:

http://www.vicfirth.com/education/rudiments.php

they have all the rudiments fully explained and demonstrated. they also have speed ranges for each one ranked bronze, silver, gold, platinum, and diamond, where bronze is the slowest speed and diamond is the fastest. i suppose it means that if you can play a rudiment at the bronze speed, that's good, but if you can play it at the diamond speed, then you're a superstar.
 
To elyRIO and DrumEatDrum

Certainly “the ability to play MUSIC with a BAND” is the most important factor.
Might be you don’t understand what I said. I mean, what highest speed of rudiments, is only just a one of many others factors. I think you can’t measure the level of yours “ability to play MUSIC with a BAND”, so I spoke about measurable skills.
 
Have you recorded yourself? If not - do so and listen to it.
How do you like yourself? Does it groove? Does it have structure? Is it creative? Is it tight? How does it sound compared to drummers you like? Ask yourself those questions, and decide how good you are.
Even better would be a recording with a band session, rehearsal or gig. If you don't have a band, or never had a band - you now know what to do in order to become a good drummer ;).
 
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