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i didn't read every word of this thread, but as a drummer of 23 years, i know we need more drummers. nobody wants to play drums. they all want to sing and play guitar.

that being said, i don't really play drums anymore. i sing and play guitar. but i turned a really good guitar player into a drummer for gay baby because there are never any around that aren't already in 100 other bands.

if you're a good musician to start with, you'll do just fine with a lot of practice.

i think.

probably.

we'll see.

lemur68 wrote:

TRIFECTA wrote:If they are married to each other, it's fucking better!!! Tequila nights!! All lesbians need some schtick once in awhile. Cock never hurt a lesbian. Make sure you don't perform to good, you may just get one to turn straight. Pull a fleetwood mac.

This is the best advice ever for drumming

TRIFECTA : Marsupialized :: Lenny Kravitz : Jimi Hendrix

Except kravitz is a Honkey coated in black skin. (POSER)

From my experience, a lot of the better drum beats I've written have been less of a result of me trying to duplicate someone else's rhythm and more focused on harnessing my own. After you learn the basics and play with people, the real challenge is to accentuate your own sense of timing rather than reverting to what every other shitty drummer considers good.

For the record, that doesn't mean you have a free ride to play bullshit or off-tempo... just trying to reiterate trusting your gut and natural sense of rhythm. That is, if you're halfway decent naturally. If you're not, good luck friend, rhythm is a hard thing to "learn".

Kennymk2 wrote:From my experience, a lot of the better drum beats I've written have been less of a result of me trying to duplicate someone else's rhythm and more focused on harnessing my own. After you learn the basics and play with people, the real challenge is to accentuate your own sense of timing rather than reverting to what every other shitty drummer considers good.

For the record, that doesn't mean you have a free ride to play bullshit or off-tempo... just trying to reiterate trusting your gut and natural sense of rhythm. That is, if you're halfway decent naturally. If you're not, good luck friend, rhythm is a hard thing to "learn".

I've got a sense of rhythm. I can keep a beat with hit hat and snare
or kick drum and snare...i just need to do all at once.
Thanks for the words of encouragment everyone.
I appreciate it.
Keep the advice coming

drumbum.com has a large amount of lessons/tips. I haven't browsed through it very thoroughly, but I'm sure there's some helpful information there.

I'm going to reiterate what's already been suggested. Practice with a metronome. Learn some rudiments.

Whenever you're bored or in class or at work and not doing anything, play drums with your hands on a flat surface, or on your body. I know it sounds a bit odd, but I've gotten in almost as much practice doing this as playing on an actual set. Sure it's not the same, but you can work on being able to simultaneously (and rhythmically) use your feet and hands at the same time, which you mentioned you need to work on.

learn, as early as you can, the two most important aspects of drumming. 1) tempo/rythmn and 2)intensity/accents.

if you play too soft, the drums will not sound their best. if you play too hard on everything, the cymbals will sound like ass. mostly it's good to play damn hard on the shell drums, but cymbals generally sound like shit when you hit them super hard.

if you don't start (early on) playing along with other things, either a metronome or a recording of a song or a live band member, and you spend too much time playing alone and all by yourself, it's easy to fall into bad habits like speeding up when you switch your right hand from hihat to ride, or speeding up during or just after fills. because you're going to be playing with bandmates, you should be alright, especially if they have a strong sense of tempo consistency.

those are suggestions more of stuff to keep in the back of your mind for the moment, so you'll be ready to have it in the front of your mind in 3 or 6 or 12 months.

and then there's this thing, I don't fully understand but I've witnessed it in multiple drummers... tempo and intensity are supposed to be *separate* things. for some reason, many drummers will play harder when they should be playing faster, or will hit softer when they play faster, or will play faster when the song gets louder... none of these are particularly good things. if you can learn to control your tempo and intensity independently of each other, that's a good thing and will basically get you gigs playing drums in better bands for years to come or whatever.

these are the things that five years from now have the potential to be the "roadblock" type stuff. the kinda thing where people say "they're a good band, but the drummer has a problem with XYZ".

practicing rudiments is something that has made many great drummers I know into really great drummers. but they're also not necessary if you wanna be a sloppy rock drummer. if you wanna play prog, or jazz, or super punk rock, or metal, they're great. for straight-up "rock", you can do it with or without the ability to play 16th note two-stroke rolls. if you've got the attention span and discipline to practice rudiments, go for it. it will certainly not hurt you.

I never practiced rudiments very much. very little, really. I don't regret it. I like to spend my drum time behind the kit doing (usually) one of three things, not by some plan or whatever but it's just what I've noticed I like to do.

1) playing music as part of a group
2) doing whatever the hell comes to mind
3) playing something brutal to leave myself exhausted

#2 is great for being creative and coming up with new ideas and finding new and challenging things. #3 is great for building stamina and endurance. #1 is great for... um... that's why drumming rules.

Lately I've been playing along to records trying to work on tempo consistency and just feeling out the elusive "pocket." I should probably work on rudiments and the like, but I do not.

It's great to jam to rock records or whatever you like; but I am finding the importance/fun of playing to things that are completely quantized. Keeps it way more fun that listening to a metronome. Download yourself some Gnarls Barkley, Fun Lovin' Criminals, or whatever and go to town. I was shocked that I could hear how much more solid my timing was after only a week of heavy practice.

It's weird, I have more fun playing drums than any other instrument; but worthwhile practicing (not just the noodling equivalent) is just painful. The trick is to keep it as fun as possible to keep my attention for as long as possible.

fedaykin13 wrote:
I think where I may run into my first bit of trouble is the whole
playing hi-hat, snare, and bass drum
the sort of chewing gum and rubbing your belly at the same time

I can keep a beat doing 2 of the 3 but not all three yet.

Excuse me if this sounds condescending but it doesn't sound like anyone's answered this yet and it's pretty effing important.

Everyone who sees my electronic kit for the first time wants me to show them how to play a beat. About 50% can do it within five minutes. I think it just comes to some people naturally. Here's what I tell them:

Start playing the high-hat, slowly, and counting four in your head. Hit the bass drum on one and the snare on three. Some people find this impossible. If/once they can do this I tell them to play the bass drum on one and two the second time around.

At this point start again with just the high-hat and then try to forget it altogether. Let your hand go into automatic mode. Then you're free to add and subtract the bass drum wherever you see fit. Try to put it not only on various beats but inbetween them.


I've noticed some people find it easier to play the bass drum on every beat and then use the snare to make it sound funky. This is fun but probably not the best way to learn.

If you really want to improve your timing, it helps a lot to find a member of the Village People to jam with.

scott wrote:I never practiced rudiments very much. very little, really.

I practice rudiments every day, and I don't regret it. I actually love it - it's a great way to quickly sink into a state of semi-trance, and (on a practice pad) it's a quiet way to...practise.

I don't really see how you confidently bring two/three/six stroke rolls or paradiddles or whatever into your playing without practising them?

I find it's enormously helpful in terms of limb independence too, and (obviously) it's great for playing fancy fills.