DRUMMERS: Advice for a beginner

not really? at least not explicitly.

i mean, i feel pretty loose in general, and he encourages me to ~feel the groove~ so beyond that i'm not sure what kind of movements you mean. arm movements? leg movements? i know i do a weird thing with my head sometimes.

Arm movements, mostly. But that'll probably be addressed later. Never heard of a drummer/drum teacher try to dissuade a drummer from moving their head, so you're probably ok there (also helps with keeping shoulders loose).

yeah i don't think i'm there yet.
it's interesting to think about, though, because it's a very physical activity that also requires (for me) rather serious mental concentration as well. i think i am going to ask for a short warmup period/routine instead of diving directly in -- i do it at home and it kinda helps me get in the right mental place and maybe will help to release some energy so my brain doesn't fritz out.

This is probably bad advice for a drummer but dancers count in sets of 8, and I can just feel them now, I don't actually have to count the beats anymore. It takes time to get there, though.

― Tottenham Heelspur (in orbit), Tuesday, August 20, 2013 10:39 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This is the right idea, except that not everything can/should be counted in sets of 8. But a lot of stuff in drumming, especially at the beginner stages, certainly can be.

yes, feeling larger groups of phrases while still being able to subdivide when necessary.

Not a drummer but as a mediocre musician realizing he needs to improve his time am really enjoying the confirmation on the this thread of various things I am trying to do.

Just follow your drummer! (A drummer's advice to all musicians, obv.)

i have good news
i just looked at some random drum patterns in this book i got from the library and i got it. i understood what they wanted me to do. then i did it. so yes, i can play the two varieties of zydeco two-step.
also, i counted the whole song and made up a drum part for that song i posted up thread and then i wrote it down! and played it 3x.

tomorrow i will see if i wrote it down correctly, but if so, that is another little success to chart up.
at this time tomorrow i will be on my way to lesson #4.

my first drum teacher wrote his own lil' rock beat independence book that was really smart. basically it would take a one bar kick + snare pattern and then have you play that with 8th notes on the hi-hat, then quarter notes, then quarter notes on the upbeats, etc.

I feel like I am nearing basic literacy wrt reading! Teacher sent me home from my lesson on Friday with 4 basic beats to practice, and it turns out I can already do all of them -- I just didn't know what they looked like on paper.
When I looked at them, and then played them I was like "oh, this one?" and then I played it with ease. I played each one for 2 min, and then I did 1 + 2 (4 measures of 2, 2 of 2, repeat for 2 min) 2+3, etc. The only one that was a challenge to do in conjunction with the others was #4, and that's ok because I need something to work on for the next 2 weeks (no lesson next week.)

Also something he said buoyed my spirits a lot -- we were talking about what to do next and he was like "do you want to learn a new song or?" and I said no, I want to learn more basic stuff that goes into songs, technique, agility, etc. This was after I had proven that I could do the thing I was asked to do (play that stupid song, although I could only play it at 90% speed because it was stupid fast) Anyway he said I have to learn to be comfortable playing for longer periods of time, playing songs I don't like, etc if I am going to do a 45 min set and in the back of my mind, I was like "he thinks i could play play a set? with other people?" It was really gratifying to know that he doesn't see me as a tourist, that he is taking me seriously. I mean, I feel like I am finally able to take myself seriously, but hearing even a vague hint that someone else does too made me feel good. Also it was my birthday :)

So it seems like some wheels are turning. It feels shockingly good to be learning something!

Teacher sent me home from my lesson on Friday with 4 basic beats to practice

he just wrote them in my notebook, I had no idea what they sounded like

QUESTION

is this video of the drum part for cowgirl in the sand correct? it's not what i hear at all but i don't have a good ear for complicated parts (i can hear simple, well-recorded, or very repetitive ones ok though, i think, not 100% though because i've been wrong)

or is there another cowgirl in other sand?!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjAIN1pmWMc

Wow, no, that's totally (and kind of hilariously) wrong. Your ears did not deceive you.

ok phew
i'm not hearing impaired

not even sure that's supposed to be the cowgirl in the sand part, just seems to be an oddly labeled video

Things are going well, have been giving myself extra homework because I got a warmup book to learn some new patterns.

Two out of the ordinary things have happened:
1) I was doing one of the agility-increasing warmup patterns with one beat, and I thought I would expand to two beats on each one but I started to go faster and faster and got kinda dizzy? Is this normal? I felt like my arm was whizzing around completely out of my control, it was super weird. I stopped doing that but have been enjoying the book. Maybe someday that will start to feel normal.

2) The other two books I got out of the library have now been returned, but I just experienced the horror of having the librarian call me to tell me that there were three pages of notes in there. The horror of having someone see my notes! Ugh.

I am getting much much better at reading! I still need to look at a key sometimes, but it's getting better. That is my continuing good news. Counting is improving, slowly. Have been applying the pattern I already know to different drum parts, which is kinda fun?

sometimes notation is inconsistent.

Basic concepts/mnemonics:
1. it goes from low to high in terms of tone and physical location -- the things you play with your feet are at the bottom.
2. notes (circles) are drums, x's are cymbals (or things attached to cymbals - i.e. the hi-hat)
3. the snare drum is "c" (the 3rd space on the staff) because it is in the center of the kit. C is for center.

Not to be all sabetodo, but I already knew all that!

well then you shouldn't have to look! ;)

it's mostly to double check, i'm getting better! (but am obvs not fully literate yet)

Hey Chicagoans does anyone want to buy some Tama drums? Cheap cheap cheap! (Hardware questionable)

"loud noise!"

my hating loud noises (and practicing!) has held me back in learning to drum, no doubt about it, but on the plus side my bass drum looks like it's about to give birth to all the stuffed animals crammed into it.

i just successfully used my left foot for the first time
it was really exciting!

hey dan m do you have a crash cymbal/stand? i'd take that off your hands if you don't mind parting with it as part of the set.

lesson in 90 min, nerves are WAY better than they used to be. also my arm no longer feels like it's going to pinwheel off my body while i'm doing the warm up exercises. they're still pretty fun even though i haven't even made it past the first half of page 1.

i have finally finished my tasks for the day so i can update the world wide web on my progress:

* lesson was good, teacher is being tough/encouraging in the ways that i appreciate
* he had never seen the warmup book i bought but he said that it looks like a quality book (if a little difficult, i reminded him that i am still on pg 1 and have had this book for 3 weeks)
* i think i'm making a lot of progress psychologically -- i don't have that problem of extreme self-consciousness anymore. it's more of a medium grade at this point.
* teacher has me working on my 16th note speed and doing lesson 10 from syncopation for the modern drummer (i think it's called? i took a picture of the page from the book but not the cover)

in super emo news, the better i get, the more i love it. i think i'm going to get some more lights/decorations in the basement to make it more inviting once it starts getting dark at like 4pm.

question for those of you who currently play: what does your practice area look like? my teacher's practice space is way more decorated than i expected. that's why i ask. (also i enjoy decorating things)

"loud noise!"

my hating loud noises (and practicing!) has held me back in learning to drum, no doubt about it, but on the plus side my bass drum looks like it's about to give birth to all the stuffed animals crammed into it.

― Philip Nunez, Friday, August 30, 2013 9:52 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

then learn to play drums softly! It's an underrated skill. You can also use brushes and bundle sticks. Master all that and gig forever in unplugged settings.

Amen.

World's quietest and sloppiest lightning bolt cover band here I come!

I still haven't put anything in my bass drum. I like it being kinda loud, and no one has complained...yet.

In listening news: Every song I hear is now divided into 1 of 2 categories. Can I play it y/n. No inbetweenin.

I feel like I owe this thread an update, but there's not a whole lot to say, really.

1) practice schedule -- I have a little routine now. Warm up, practice whatever is expected of me from lesson (this part is like eating my lima beans most of of the time but it's getting less painful), do that 3 more times or until i can do it without thinking about it too hard, do something from my book, then play whatever i want for as long as i want.
-- i like having a plan bc it makes me feel like i'm getting something done (also i am the sort of person who likes executing plans)
-- i'm definitely getting a LOT (like LOT LOT LOT) more comfortable with the simple idea of doing this. i suppose this is what confidence feels like? no idea.
-- if i wait to do fun stuff til the end, i feel like i've earned it and it's extra fun bc of that

2) progress with things that were vexing me -- i've gotten a lot better at counting, but still not great at it. i'm definitely improving. this is going to sound pretty bad, but i don't think i've got a lot of experience engaging my brain and my body at the same time. (never played sports, perhaps because i couldn't think and handle a ball simultaneously) so when i manage to do it, it feels like a huge accomplishment. that's a nice feeling, i guess. i'll take it.

3) things i can do for sure -- i can totally play a bunch of (easy, short) songs, i can make up my own parts to songs and remember what they are, i can rotate between various bass drum parts while maintaining steady arms, i guess there are probably other things i can do but i don't feel like anyone really cares to read a list of things i can do (not even me)

4) fun level remains EXTREMELY HIGH. if i save the fun stuff for the end, practice always ends on a high/fun note and i look forward to the next time i sit down there. today i did two loads of laundry while i practiced. it ruled.

that's all. not much else to say right now. i guess it's worth noting that i am really really glad i decided to give this a try and persevered.

Right on!

^^ so glad to read this update

LL your posts always make me feel inspired & like learning anything is possible! In this case, the drums.

aw thanks. it has been really fun being a student and just giving myself over to the learning process. it has definitely come in handy when talking with students about practicing!
ABLearning

Really impressed with your stick-to-itiveness. No pun intended. I know lots of people who have tried to pick up instruments, and few who have stuck it out long enough to start to feel good about it. Keep on keepin on.

I was always really, really bad at the delayed gratification of not fucking around until you finish your practice. I could sit in a practice room for five hours straight, but I couldn't get the veggies out of the way before dessert.

Oh, see that's the part I'm kind of enjoying -- I love eating veggies. I'm actually worried about what's going to happen to me when I don't have a supervisor anymore. I think I only have 5 or 6 lessons remaining, and I kinda want to ask my teacher for a maintenance plan or something. Is that out of line? Is that asking him to put himself out of a job? That's not what I mean to do -- I want to come back when I'm ready to learn some more advanced things, but I need to work on some other skills too, like playing with real life people, before I'm ready for that.

I was always really, really bad at the delayed gratification of not fucking around until you finish your practice. I could sit in a practice room for five hours straight, but I couldn't get the veggies out of the way before dessert.

― #fomo that's the motto (Hurting 2), Sunday, September 15, 2013 9:41 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Me too. Always went straight to playing along with records, usually rushing through (or skipping) lesson stuff. Looking back, though, playing with records was just as (maybe more) arduous and rewarding than slogging through rudiments.

I don't think it's wrong to ask a teacher for a maintenance plan; he'd likely appreciate the fact that you want to woodshed before coming back for more complicated stuff to work on.

xp

i could possibly do a drum lesson w/you on the afternoon of 9/28?

ok!
it's on my calendar. we can coordinate via email!!

also woodshed?

Oh, ha, it means practicing a lot.

haha -- i chickened out on dropping that vocab in my lesson today but i do have an announcement. i have been introduced to ghost notes. they seem so cool and fun!

yesss! ghost notes are the key

definitely helps with stick control - has your teacher covered double/triple strokes and stick bounce yet, or are you doing ghost notes prior to that?

What are ghost notes? Are those like grace notes, or something else?

i actually had to look it up! it seems like they are similar -- similar method as the grace note in a flam, but closer to a standard non-accented stroke?

ok now i have discovered the existence of the double and triple flam paradiddle and want to see what i can do with them