Drummer´s First Song.

Ajax

Ajax

Senior Member
Cast ye mind´s back...what was the time frame from when you first picked up sticks to actually being able to "accurately" play along to your first song?

Random jamming along doesn't count...
 
I was in a band within four months of buying my first kit. First gig three months after that. 20 songs, all originals. Its rock and roll not rocket science. Just play.
 
mikel said:
I was in a band within four months of buying my first kit. First gig three months after that. 20 songs, all originals. Its rock and roll not rocket science. Just play.
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Alright, Mozart. :p

I don't really have any intention of joining a band I just want to set myself realistic goals...curious as to what other people´s experiences were.
 
I played bits and pieces of different songs from a book called "Play Drums Today". But the first song I ever sat down and played all the way through was "Let's Go" by The Cars.
 
Ajax said:
Alright, Mozart. :p

I don't really have any intention of joining a band I just want to set myself realistic goals...curious as to what other people´s experiences were.
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Hey, not at all. I am an ok drummer, nothing special. I was only passing on my experience, nothing to do with bigging myself up.

I just feel that lots of new drummers think they have to woodshed for years before they are capable of playing with others. Not so in my experience, you learn more and have loads more fun playing with others. Gigs just follow.
 
mikel said:
Hey, not at all. I am an ok drummer, nothing special. I was only passing on my experience, nothing to do with bigging myself up.

I just feel that lots of new drummers think they have to woodshed for years before they are capable of playing with others. Not so in my experience, you learn more and have loads more fun playing with others. Gigs just follow.
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haha, I didn't mean it like that...that mozart jab was only in response to your "it´s not rocket science" comment. I know you have to just play...but right now I´m just a little frustrated at myself only being able to play random fragments of songs so I was just wondering how long it took others to "get it together" so to speak.
 
I learned Eye of the Tiger with sheet music I got off of the internet. Within 4 months of getting my first set.
 
i honestly have no idea

i started playing music with my friend before i could truly play any songs. the first songs i played all the way through were our own.

that being said i think that learning covers was one of the best things i could do to learn how to write effective drum parts
 
Hi Ajax, you ask some very good questions. Well, it’s been over thirty-five plus years now but I believe it was between three to four months with headphones and the stereo. Learning my first song in a band setting about eight months and the song was Luckenbach, Texas by Waylon Jennings. Easy 4/4 with a simple intro and an easy start stop in the song.
 
Ajax said:
I was just wondering how long it took others to "get it together" so to speak.
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You might be the type that's perpetually dissatisfied with their own performance.

I'm at two years and do not have it together. Every day I record myself in the morning, cringe at how horrible the result is, and by the evening I've improved a lot. This happens every day.

I attempt to record drums to the music I write, and the results aren't as good as I like, or I need more takes than I would like, or I want to redo it the following week because I've improved in one discipline or another. It's a perpetuity paid for by practicing.

At two-years in, you'll be able to do stuff that you can only dream about now, but will still be dissatisfied with your performance.
 
I had my first jam as a drummer within about 6 weeks of starting, with a bass player and a guitarist.

We played Honky Tonk Women. And that's when I realised that I needed a cowbell.

Everything else we jammed, I listened carefully to the song, and then decided that what it needed was the money beat as a perfect accompaniment.
 
Since my playing has been pretty fragmented, it's hard to say how long it took to learn my first song, but the first ones I played were Tom Petty - I Won't Back Down and Eye of The Tiger.

There were so many songs I wanted to play but had no chance of realistically paying them so I finally decided to find something super easy with a moderate tempo, a few easy fills but mostly just the beat for 3 to 4 minutes. Being able to play a song all the way through really helped my confidence and now I am moving on to the next level.
 
Ajax said:
I don't really have any intention of joining a band ...
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Why not, Ajax?

It's the fastest way to learn. If you know your bandmates are arriving in 2 hours' time, that's a real incentive to learn the song that you all decided would be the next to add to the repertoire.

It's also the most fun you can have with your drums.

Hell, it's the most fun thing you can do with your clothes on!
 
I think I had my first band practice with some friends about 3 months after getting a drumset (and about 6 months after starting some lessons). I'm pretty sure the first song we attempted was Wild Thing.
 
I was learning songs long before I had a kit. I would tap my feet and slap my thighs along to records and the radio. Probably the first songs I learned were "Can't Get Enough" and "Rock and Roll Never Forgets".
 
I can't recall an exact timeline. It wasn't too long, but it wasn't a hard song either. "Just Like Me" by Paul Revere and the Raiders. It was probably Hal Blaine playing he drums. But I remember it being the first one I could play all the way through, and it was probably within a few months of starting. I learned it by ear. My drum teacher was teaching me to read music, but he also taught me to listen to the parts and pick them out.
 
KamaK said:
You might be the type that's perpetually dissatisfied with their own performance.

I'm at two years and do not have it together. Every day I record myself in the morning, cringe at how horrible the result is, and by the evening I've improved a lot. This happens every day.

I attempt to record drums to the music I write, and the results aren't as good as I like, or I need more takes than I would like, or I want to redo it the following week because I've improved in one discipline or another. It's a perpetuity paid for by practicing.

At two-years in, you'll be able to do stuff that you can only dream about now, but will still be dissatisfied with your performance.
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Not really "dissatisfied"...just...I don't know, lol. So I always jam along to songs as part of my practice together with the technical stuff. I feel I can successfully jam along to 90s hip hip tracks that use jazzy drum backbeats- simple, clean, consistent, 0 fills.

However, I really want to learn a deftones track that I sent to my instructor but he´s just making me practice 3 beat modules that bore my arse off. I know it´s a necessary step but I´m just impatient. I can play along to the Deftones track I want to learn but there are some parts in the song that are murky over the drums and I can not hear what the drum parts are (no video or footage online) so i need some help with it.



JustJames said:
Why not, Ajax?

It's the fastest way to learn. If you know your bandmates are arriving in 2 hours' time, that's a real incentive to learn the song that you all decided would be the next to add to the repertoire.

It's also the most fun you can have with your drums.

Hell, it's the most fun thing you can do with your clothes on!
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Maybe so but...I don't think I´d have the nerve to play with people who can actually play their instrument.

lsits said:
I was learning songs long before I had a kit. I would tap my feet and slap my thighs along to records and the radio..
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But to be fair, you´re weird if you´re NOT an air drummer, to be honest. Regardless if you started learning the drums or not.
 
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