New to the Drum World

John DM

Junior Member
I got a drumset about nine months ago, I can play okay, not very good to be honest. Me and some of my friends want to start a little band and get better.... I'm 14, I'm getting two books by metallica for their music and a teaching guide, but right now I'm using FastTrack Drums 1 to learn, and I don't seem to be making much progress. Wondering about any tips or things NOT TO DO. BTW, I live in southern wisconsin.

The band doesn't matter that much, well it'd be cool, but I'm 14. I have a starter's kit. Pulse. Two Toms, Floor Tom, Bass, and Snare, and the standard 3 pc cymbal set that came with it, it sounds real good for costing only $600. But I really want to get better. And so far it's been really frustrating not being able to do what I want to do with drums. Any tips to getting better, efficiently. If I can get really good at drums in the next 4-8 years, it would probably be my career. Otherwise, I work my way up in my dad's company. But I love drums and I love drumming.
 
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Welcome John. If your question has to do with percussion, you will find the answers here. Search these numerous threads and all knowledge will be bestowed upon you. Remember, Skill has to be developed. It takes time to learn. If it was easy, even I would have learned to play by now! I've been playing for 39 years and I still learn everyday.
 
Hey John DM! Welcome to the forum. This is the place to be to find lots of information on drumming. Like bobdadruma said, drumming can be a little frustrating in that not everything comes immediately. In fact it can take a bit of time to just figure out what exactly you want to learn to play. The good thing is along the way you can have a lot of fun, and playing with a band is just a great experience. Good luck with your metallica cover band and drumming endeavors, and keep us posted about your playing.
 
Work on good technique (it is paramount to being able to fully express yourself on the set) and grab a couple books like "Stick Control for the Snare Drummer" by George Lawrence Stone and "Modern Interpretations of Snare Drum Methods" by Buddy Rich. These will help you tone and apply your technique.
 
Welcome. We want pictures. Metallica is as good a place as any to start, with a band. Cool. Read the forum. Getting better? Get a teacher. Practice to a metronome. Use a practice pad. Practice rudiments. Learn to read. Get some drum books. Most important...have fun.
 
Welcome. We want pictures. Metallica is as good a place as any to start, with a band. Cool. Read the forum. Getting better? Get a teacher. Practice to a metronome. Use a practice pad. Practice rudiments. Learn to read. Get some drum books. Most important...have fun.

Well said, Harry.
Dont be frustated if you cant nail down Lars' playing as of now. Take it slow, be patient, and most of all- have FUN! You only get better by putting in time behind the kit, day after day, month after month, year after year, and in some cases- century after century. So glad to have another young drummer in for the ride. Take advise given here and avoid those other "sites", you re at the best site ever. All the luck to you, my friend!
 
Congratulations on starting your adventure. Everyone starts and ends in different places. Each one of us have a story to tell, and soon you will too. :)

My suggestions:
-Get a teacher
-Listen to as many styles as possible
-Jam as often as you can
-Lurk these forums as often as you can, you will gain a WEALTH of knowledge

Have fun!!! :)
 
Boy, Swissward resurrected a very old thread!
Well, he posted this thread 15 years ago and now John is 29. I wonder if he is out on the road playing drums are working for his Dad's company?
 
As far as things NOT TO DO, becoming entrenched in a belief that does not stand up to evidence just to protect ego or 'need to NOT go to effort' is the most destructive and wide spread pattern I have seen.
 
I got a drumset about nine months ago, I can play okay, not very good to be honest. Me and some of my friends want to start a little band and get better.... I'm 14, I'm getting two books by metallica for their music and a teaching guide, but right now I'm using FastTrack Drums 1 to learn, and I don't seem to be making much progress. Wondering about any tips or things NOT TO DO. BTW, I live in southern wisconsin.

The band doesn't matter that much, well it'd be cool, but I'm 14. I have a starter's kit. Pulse. Two Toms, Floor Tom, Bass, and Snare, and the standard 3 pc cymbal set that came with it, it sounds real good for costing only $600. But I really want to get better. And so far it's been really frustrating not being able to do what I want to do with drums. Any tips to getting better, efficiently. If I can get really good at drums in the next 4-8 years, it would probably be my career. Otherwise, I work my way up in my dad's company. But I love drums and I love drumming.
Most here are going to tell you to learn the rudiments first.
You should definitely learn the rudiments and be able to play them proficiently around the kit, but IMO that shouldn't be your only focus.
I would start (beside alloting some time for rudiments in your daily practice) with trying to play a super simple ACDC beat Hi hats bass snare, get comfortable with that, hell maybe even play along one of their tracks. (even if you don't like ACDC, I don't but it's just for the purpose of exercising with something other than plain rudiments). Once you can play that at the correct speed and with zero mistakes, then the fun begins! Keep playing that pattern but change bass drum hits, for example if the bass drum was was on the 1 in every bar do it on the 1 on the first bar, then on the 1 and 2 on the second bar. all while still keeping the hats on 1 ,2, 3, and 4 and snare on three. Once you can master that at the speed of the original song (even if he [the ACDC] drummer doesn't play it as busy) then you can add drum rolls and back to the beat, at this point we are not playing to cover the song, we are just practicing limb independence and coordination. Once all that becomes easier, try to keep all that going but alter the pattern of the hi hats so now it will be something like doing the hats in 1 2 3 and 4 with your right hand, but also adding your left and on 1 and 3 on the second bar, and still landing the snare hits correctly. all kinds of fun combinations can be had. I have never really taken the time to actually write the exercises i do, I just do them automatically so it may not be 100% accurate but you should at that point be able to figure out what you can and cannot play. Also slow the music down so you can hear what is going on, try to play the part at say 50% then add 5% every so often until you can nail that part at 100%, go faster than 100% as fast as you can play it cleanly, try that for a few rounds, then back to regular 100% speed. It will feel easy. If you are serious about being a drummer for a living you really need to be serious about becoming good, whatever it takes. so make your practice as fun as you can. It helps to have goals and document your progress. For example being able to nail the double bass in Fight Fire With Fire (Easy to me now, but it seemed impossible when I was 14). Get an instructor if you can, but inform him of your goals and hopefully he can tailor his lessons to achieve them.
 
The It Crowd Popcorn GIF
 
Congratulations on starting your adventure. Everyone starts and ends in different places. Each one of us have a story to tell, and soon you will too. :)

My suggestions:
-Get a teacher
-Listen to as many styles as possible
-Jam as often as you can
-Lurk these forums as often as you can, you will gain a WEALTH of knowledge

Have fun!!! :)
This is good advice. The most important thing you can do is study with a well qualified drum teacher. You can develop bad habits easily without someone to set you on the right path. I know there are many self-help courses of study out there, but none of them take the place of one-on-one studying with a great teacher.

Keep in mind that you're not going to become Lars Ulrich without hard work and practice. I would recommend working with a click track or metronome in the beginning to develop your timekeeping. That was one of the best things I ever did for myself, but I learned the hard way; by being shamed in a recording studio because I couldn't play with a click. If you start early, you'll develop good time quickly. Keep in mind, playing good time with a great feel for many styles of music will keep you working. Ninety-five per cent of bands out there would rather have a great timekeeper than a flashy technician.

Come here often and ask questions. There are lots of experienced pro players here who can help you.
 
Lol, I didn't want to spoil the joke too soon, but Swissward nearly got me yesterday with this bump. I was all excited "yay, new drummer!" and I even had this whole pretty synopsis about "how to get 'really good' in 8 years". I'm a little ashamed to disclose that it was dumb luck that I noticed the OP date at the last second (A rather effective prank actually).

Alas this was the OP's one and only post. A little melancholy, I imagine he instead went to work for his dad. So I fancy I could take my unpublished words of encouragement and send them back to him in a time machine. He'd prolly be hella good by now, lol.

No waste though, I'll just save it and post it for the next new member. I'll just change the numbers to fit their scenario, haha.

@Supergrobi that was very funny bro.😁
 
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