Considering switching to drums...

I

Ichiban

New Member
I don't think guitar is my thing. Little bit of background, I play bass primarily. I've been involved with music (playing bass and messing around with guitar, keys, and vocals) for eleven months and have already had a few gigs as a fill in on bass along with playing out regularly at open mics / public jam sessions.
But for the life of me, I cannot wrap my head around really playing guitar as a secondary instrument. I can play pretty much every kind of chord up and down the neck and construct neat little fills and solos over most types of basic chord progressions, but that's as far as my knowledge goes. I can't do intricate solos or riffs for the life of me, and when it comes to playing outside the beat (as guitars sometimes do) I can't do that either. My finger dexterity isn't great either but for some reason on a bass (4 or 5 string) it gets better, and even if my slap skills aren't all there yet, I enjoy learning on a bass more.
I'm much better at walking a bassline, locking in with a drummer, keeping time, playing around with the beat on bass, and doing anything bass / rhythm related than I am at doing stuff on guitar. Even my bass solos sound better because they're supposed to be grounded in rhythm. So I'm thinking that maybe my mind is just more rhythm oriented and it's time I give drums a shot. I could trade in one of my guitars for a drumkit, should I go for it? Does it sound like I'd enjoy it more? And another thing, how easy is it to build up leg-arm coordination and independence?
 
It sounds like you should definitely give drums a try!

Priority: get private drum lessons. Youtube tutorials are great, but when you're just starting out, having a private teacher there to correct your mistakes in real-time is invaluable.

Learn your Drum Rudiments. They're like scales for drummers.

Focus on your hand technique.

You don't necessarily need a drum kit YET. You can start with a snare drum and sticks. Heck, even a practice pad will do. That's how many people start.

One of the best ways to learn drum kit is to first become a good snare drum player. I played snare for 3 years before ever getting a drum kit. Those first few years of honing my technique really paid off.
 
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IBitePrettyHard said:
It sounds like you should definitely give drums a try!

Priority: get private drum lessons. Youtube tutorials are great, but when you're just starting out, having a private teacher there to correct your mistakes in real-time is invaluable.

Focus on TECHNIQUE.

Learn your Drum Rudiments. They're like scales for drummers.

You don't necessarily need a drum kit YET. You can start with a snare drum and sticks. Heck, even a practice pad will do. That's how many people start.
Click to expand...

Okay, I'll give it a shot. I actually know a few drummers from playing out who might be willing to give me a couple private lessons. I taught myself everything I know on bass so far but I guess it wouldn't hurt to get some private lessons for a new instrument.
 
Lessons with a teacher for sure. You can actually hurt yourself if your technique is poor with drums. You don't want to end up with carpel tunnel, or any other hand, wrist, forearm, or elbow problems. Posture is also important.

Get some drums, you will like it. You already think rhythmically, and being a bass player you already know how the two instruments work together. And regardless of how far you want to take it, hitting stuff is fun and quite therapeutic.
 
Guitar isn't your instrument but bass is-but now you want to try drums??Sounds good. Drums is therapeutic I use to beat on walls and peoples heads but now I beat on drum heads. No more anger management classes and no one has called the law on me in years LOL.
You can buy complete kits with everything for less than $400 if you want to take a leap of faith and give drums a try. Even if no good you still get to experience beating a head in-it "fills" so good. Getting a teacher a great idea or since you likely read music you can get books and start with that-rudiments is always good practice (with all your limbs) for all drummers at any stage of journey. Play da drum, be happy. Drummer's are the happiest people. See my moniker pic-I smile big cause I'm happy. Even MrInsanePolack's doggy has a big smile (see the pic)-they are both so happy.
 
Well hey man, welcome to Drummerworld.

If you think you wanna try drumming, by all means try drumming. Trade a guitar for a kit, and join the party.
 
I tried to learn guitar for ages until I realized that it was eating into playing the drums which is something I found more enjoyable and was better at playing. While I love the sound of guitar solos, I grew to hate learning to play the guitar and could only play blues scale in the same key.

When I first played the drums I found it a joyous way of expressing myself and great for stress. If you find yourself playing bass and hating guitar, but you wan't something to do instead of playing bass, then drums would be a great idea.
 
Ichiban said:
A) ... I've been involved with music (playing bass and messing around with guitar, keys, and vocals) for eleven months and have already had a few gigs as a fill in on bass along with playing out regularly at open mics / public jam sessions.
...

B) And another thing, how easy is it to build up leg-arm coordination and independence?
Click to expand...

Answer A: Wow...

Answer B: It depends on the level...what you hear 99per cent of drummers do: EXTREMELY EASY but can get awesome difficult if you want to be an advanced drummer...

IBitePrettyHard said:
C) Learn your Drum Rudiments. They're like scales for drummers.

D) You don't necessarily need a drum kit YET. You can start with a snare drum and sticks. Heck, even a practice pad will do. That's how many people start.
Click to expand...

Answer C: NO, RUDIMENTS are NOT like scales for drummers

Answer D: If you just want to give it a try I recommend you to get a cheap set if money is an issue, they cost new 200 Dollars, if you don´t like it they loose very little price reselling them, for getting a snare alone you rather get a drum pad or play on your bed

* I agree about getting a teacher (a really good one)!


Best regards!
 
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You have only been playing guitar 11 months. You are actually doing quite well, gigging and playing several instruments.

I don't think that you should sell your guitar. I suggest you get a pair of drum sticks and start learning. Just drum on your thighs or on a pillow or magazine. Drum along with recorded music also.
 
Try drums, yes, but make sure part of your motivation is learning from, watching other drummers. Also, maybe it's good to be song-or-artist-motivated, really liking your type of listening music, as much as technical drumming.
 
At the beginning when you're jamming watching other people, obviously you should go by the lessons you have learned on the drums. But it's a good idea to start jamming with the guitarist - getting in line with the guitarist as well as the bass player when doing your own original songs. This way you can play a bit of lead on the drums - being from a guitarists background can only help you with trying to do this. You never find any recorded lessons on how the drums can match the lead guitar instead of only supplying the backbeat.
 
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