Rockstar Psy
Veteran XV
Are you fucking serious? You are a musician & you cant figure out how to do a simple beat on a drumset. You play with a drummer & cant figure it out, I dont think you should be playing any instrument.
[drummers] tell me how to teach myself how to play.
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Quiksilver
Veteran X
I know a lot of people who can't play drums but have no problem on guitar or bass keeping time. It's not really a big deal.
Its hard to seperate whats goin on with my hands and feet, and for some people they just never bothered to learn since somebody else was doing it.
Once I'd been playing for a while (like a year) I went through some of these.
Derrick Pope: The Moeller Technique
Some of the stuff is very useful like the heel toe technique and the moeller technique. For a beginner I'd say start off by first trying simple beats that are consistent with all limbs, and then try to separate your hi hat hand and right foot on the bass pedal. It used to drive me crazy when every time I'd try to hit the pedal twice, I'd also hit the hi hat twice with my right hand.
Derrick Pope: The Moeller Technique
Some of the stuff is very useful like the heel toe technique and the moeller technique. For a beginner I'd say start off by first trying simple beats that are consistent with all limbs, and then try to separate your hi hat hand and right foot on the bass pedal. It used to drive me crazy when every time I'd try to hit the pedal twice, I'd also hit the hi hat twice with my right hand.
Perhaps he's the singer?
The easiest (and quietest) way to learn how to play the drums is to (seriously) play air drums. I'm not talking about crazy fills, just how to coordinate your hands and feet properly without driving your neighbors crazy. The nice thing about it is that you can do it basically anywhere. Just listen to a song on your ipod, and 'play along". You don't need to go crazy, just tap your foot on the floor and your hands on your thighs.
The easiest way is to pick a simple song (anything by AC/DC will do). Start by tapping your right foot along with the bass beat. Pay particular attention to the rythmn of it - some songs are a straight bass snare bass snare bass snare bass snare rythmn, others might be bass snare bass bass snare (you can hear this most easily in the opening to "Living after Midnight" by Judas priest).
After you've got your right foot going, try and play the snare part with your left hand. Don't worry about the fills or other stuff, just try and maintain a steady beat with your left and and right foot.
After you get that down, then the next part would be using your right hand to tap out the rythmn of the hihat (or cymbal, depending on the song). This is the tricky part, as depending on the drummer it could be fairly straight forward, IE:
bass/hat hat snare/hat bass/hat hat snare/hat (where when you hit each drum, you're hitting the hihat, with a hihat beat between them).
That is very rudimentary drumming.
Where it can become tricky is when the drummer uses the hihat in a slower rate than the beat - your natural tendency is to hit the hihat at the same time as the drums, or 2x for every drum beat. Usually your right hand is maintaining a steady metrodome beat of 2x faster than the drums, but drummers can mix it up by skipping/adding/shifting beats
Normal:
.hat....hat....hat....hat....hat....hat....hat....hat
bass............................bass........................
................snare...........................snare.......
Added:
.hat....hat....hat....hat....hat....hat....hat....hat
bass............................bass...bass...............
................snare...........................snare.......
Even harder:
.hat...........hat..............hat............hat........
bass............................bass...bass...............
................snare...........................snare.......
It's harder (at least to me) because I naturally want to hit the hihat for every beat, the double bass can trip you up. Even though it's less "notes" it's harder to coordinate properly.
This is all very basic stuff. I'm not a drummer (I am a guitarist), but I can play them, at least in a rudimentary way, and keep time.
Hope this helps.
May i suggest...
This is everything you'll need to know.
Start with that, then we can move on to the advanced shit.
This is everything you'll need to know.
Start with that, then we can move on to the advanced shit.
I learned the basic 4/4 beat as outlined above. And eventually got bored with that (in like 60 seconds) and started adding other stuff.
I also learned the four basic rudiments (rudiments are snare drum practices):
Single strokes: With sticks in either hand, alternate strokes on the snare drum like so: RLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLR. Focus on striking the very center of the snare with just the tip and letting it bounce off.
Triplets: Just like single strokes, only you're accenting a three-hit rhythm. So like this: RLR LRL RLR LRL RLR LRL RLR LRL. Count it out like this: 123123123123
Double Strokes: Hit twice with each hand, alternating, for a pattern like this: RRLLRRLLRRLLRRLLRRLL. Start slow! Don't go too fast, although it's tempting to do so. Want to force yourself to do it right? Accent the 2nd hit in each stroke, such as: RRLLRRLLRRLLRRLL
Perididdles: Combine single and double strokes, alternating, for a pattern such as: RLRRLRLLRLRRLRLLRLRRLRLL.
These four basics will get your brain working in the right direction. You've seen me play, Loop - I'm 95% self taught. I knew a drummer way back when who taught me exactly this stuff - the four basics and the basic rock beat - and then I took some lessons a few years ago that corrected some of my sticking technique. So just go bang on them and see what comes out.
Feet: Right foot on kick pedal. Left foot on hi-hat pedal.
Hands: Right hand hits hi-hat. Left hand hits snare. It sounds backwards but there's good reason for this.
Fingers: This is important! Lay a drumstick on a table. Pick it up about 1/4 the length of the stick away from the butt end, with your thumb and first finger. The stick should pivot in between your thumb and the first joint of the first finger. When you strike the snare, your thumb should be on the side of the stick - not on top. Most of the force of a stroke should come from the pivot of the stick in your hand as it reaches the drumhead. You should hold the stick loosely enough so that if you do a single stroke, the stick bounces off the drumhead and you can either let it strike the head again, or you can hold it off.
That's a lot. Focus on your sticking, the basic beat, and the four rudiments. Get back to us in a month. Follow the 5/5 rule: practice at least 5 days a week, for at least 5 minutes. You will be surprised how fast you get good!
I also learned the four basic rudiments (rudiments are snare drum practices):
Single strokes: With sticks in either hand, alternate strokes on the snare drum like so: RLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLR. Focus on striking the very center of the snare with just the tip and letting it bounce off.
Triplets: Just like single strokes, only you're accenting a three-hit rhythm. So like this: RLR LRL RLR LRL RLR LRL RLR LRL. Count it out like this: 123123123123
Double Strokes: Hit twice with each hand, alternating, for a pattern like this: RRLLRRLLRRLLRRLLRRLL. Start slow! Don't go too fast, although it's tempting to do so. Want to force yourself to do it right? Accent the 2nd hit in each stroke, such as: RRLLRRLLRRLLRRLL
Perididdles: Combine single and double strokes, alternating, for a pattern such as: RLRRLRLLRLRRLRLLRLRRLRLL.
These four basics will get your brain working in the right direction. You've seen me play, Loop - I'm 95% self taught. I knew a drummer way back when who taught me exactly this stuff - the four basics and the basic rock beat - and then I took some lessons a few years ago that corrected some of my sticking technique. So just go bang on them and see what comes out.
Feet: Right foot on kick pedal. Left foot on hi-hat pedal.
Hands: Right hand hits hi-hat. Left hand hits snare. It sounds backwards but there's good reason for this.
Fingers: This is important! Lay a drumstick on a table. Pick it up about 1/4 the length of the stick away from the butt end, with your thumb and first finger. The stick should pivot in between your thumb and the first joint of the first finger. When you strike the snare, your thumb should be on the side of the stick - not on top. Most of the force of a stroke should come from the pivot of the stick in your hand as it reaches the drumhead. You should hold the stick loosely enough so that if you do a single stroke, the stick bounces off the drumhead and you can either let it strike the head again, or you can hold it off.
That's a lot. Focus on your sticking, the basic beat, and the four rudiments. Get back to us in a month. Follow the 5/5 rule: practice at least 5 days a week, for at least 5 minutes. You will be surprised how fast you get good!
as for how to teach yourself?
well, come up with a beat, and lay it down.
When you're first starting out it's a good idea to get some one-on-one instruction to build solid technique. Also practice. A lot.
Thank you!
Awesome Post!+++++++ WILL READ AGAIN!!!
(yeah, cliched joke but whatev. thanks man.)
Hey loop, wakeup!
How's it going? Has your IQ dropped yet?
it's good so far. i managed to play a basic beat for about 10 seconds before fucking it up. I am just a tremendously uncoordinated person.
my younger daughter, on the other hand, is kicking ass. she got behind the kit and started wailing at stuff - and the grin on her face when she was done was killer.
so.... looks like i might have a drummer in my family after all.
i have a DECENT sense of rhythm - I've been a guitarist for what, 16 years now or so (christ that's half my life)....
it's the coordination part that's fucking me up.