YOU ARE A DRUMMER

Music Theory III: Miscellaneous Terminology

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:33:11 -0800

This post explains some miscellaneous music terminology to help you communicate ideas with other musicians.

How to Use Drum Rudiments

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:51:44 -0800

Learning your rudiments are all well and good, but how does this help you on a drum set? For one, it gets your chops up to fighting strength. A 4/4 rock beat is like going back to preschool once you’ve mastered rudimental patterns. They also help you with limb independence, since you have to train your hands to work together in varying combinations at high speeds.

Finally, and this is the one you have to work at, they give you incredible tools for writing beats and playing solos. If you’ve got 20 rudiments under your belt, you have 20 weapons ready to unleash. By splitting up your hands across drums and adding in creative accents, you can play complex and funky beats with just these rudiments. Some rudiments, like the paradiddlediddle and six stroke roll, initiate with the same hand when played in succession. Others, like the paraddidle, flam tap, and flam accents, initiate with alternating hands. You can use the latter set of rudiments to switch hand dominance in the middle of successive “same hand” rudiments. For example, jam on some right-hand paradiddlediddles across the drums and use a single paradiddle to switch to left hand paradiddlediddles. Once you can move smoothly through rudiments strung together, you can play some seriously blistering beats. Add in tasteful rests and funky kick drum and you’ve got yourself a drum solo.

Free Drum Lessons: Paradiddles

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:42:21 -0800

This video explains the paradiddle drum rudiment. The sticking pattern is RLRR LRLL, with the first or second note often accented. Move this rudiment around the drums and play to get new beat ideas. This is a fun one!

Music Theory II: Rests

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 13:10:00 -0800

This video explains how rests are notated and how to count and play them. Check out the earlier post about basic music theory for more.

Music Theory I: Rhythm

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 10:22:51 -0800

This lesson explains the basics of rhythm music theory. Learn about time signatures, note rhythms, and counting terminology. Later videos cover rests and miscellaneous music terminology.

Joining A Band

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 12:37:00 -0800

I’d recommend joining a band as soon as you have some basic skills. You’ll probably get involved with other beginning musicians, and the songs might not be that great, but learning how that dynamic works will be crucial for your musical career later on. Just make sure your individual practice time doesn’t suffer.

Craigslist
I’ve found all of my jobs, houses, and bands on craigslist (no girlfriends yet, haha). Often bands in your area will post about a drummer slot they need to fill. Respond with your interest, experience, and links to you playing and wait for a response. Try to get involved with existing projects rather than guitarists wanting to jam, unless you’re an absolute beginner and just want to feel out what it’s like to write parts and play with someone else. If you do get involved with a new band, try to find one with existing songs or a vision for their sound rather than a group of friends who want to jam out. Always try to “trade up” and play with musicians who are better than you. This will be motivating and you’ll be in a great band.

Friends and Contacts
Once you start playing around, you’ll meet other musicians. Nurture these relationships by going to their shows and being generally affable. This will turn into offers to share bills, general support, and potentially hookups with bands that are looking for a drummer. In the music industry in general, personal relationships are as crucial as good songs and skills.

Start Your Own!
As a drummer, it’s a bit more challenging to start your own band than, say, a guitarist, but it’s still possible. Reach out to other musicians with an idea for a band (clear sound, approach, and ideas for instrumentation). It’s worth it to learn piano or guitar as well and try your hand at writing songs. There’s nothing quite like writing a song with your mediocre guitar and vocals and having a pro guitar player and singer turn it into something beautiful.

Auditioning
You’ll probably be asked to audition before an existing band brings you onboard. An audition is stressful for any kind of performative art. Do your homework by playing along to their songs (ask for mp3s/links), and just be confident that you’re as well-prepared as you can be. Try to relax and do your thing. Don’t try to showboat, don’t act like hot shit, and just be generally nice to get along with. They’re picking a new business partner/family member, so low-maintenance and responsibility is as important as chops. If you don’t get the gig, it could be because you didn’t click personally, they found a virtuoso musician to fill the spot, or maybe you just have different musical styles. Just make sure you’ve prepped as much as possible and let it go if they don’t ask you back. The worst thing is not getting it because you were ill-prepared. And if you are well-prepared, know that there’s nothing you could have done differently. Just keep practicing and looking for more bands.

Move
If you’ve got the skills to pay the bills and want to get involved in a serious project with serious career potential, you may have to move. Metropolitan centers have a wealth of musical talent, and you’re more likely to find a motivated and talented band there. Of course there are pockets of musicians in many smaller cities, but New York, San Francisco, Portland, and LA all have hundreds of good bands and thousands of…ok ones.

Free Drum Lessons: Double Stroke Rolls / Diddles

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 16:11:00 -0800

This drum lesson teaches the proper technique for open rolls - also known as double stroke rolls, diddles, or drags. Treat each note of the diddle as a distinct stroke with a distinct wrist movement. Don’t simply let the stick drop and hope the rebound will make the second note sound ok. Don’t pinch the sticks or play too loud. Start slow and focus on getting strong, consistent notes.

Learn to Play Drums: Traditional Grip Technique

Sat, 26 Nov 2011 11:31:00 -0800

This video lesson explains the traditional grip in the left hand. Hold the stick in the crotch of your left hand, wrap your fingers around to support the stick, and rotate your wrist as if you were opening a door.

Learn to Play Drums: Double Paradiddles

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 22:11:00 -0800

This video lesson shows the double paradiddle drum rudiment. The sticking is: Rlrlrr Lrlrll. Learn more by watching the other rudiment videos.

Learn to Play Drums Online: Paradiddlediddles

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 22:27:00 -0800

This video explains the paradiddlediddle rudiment. The sticking is: Rlrrll Lrllrr. Start slow and work your way up in tempo. Try playing them in 5- or 10-minute sessions without stopping to rest to build muscle memory and stamina.

This is the first in a series of free drum lesson videos. This...

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 22:00:00 -0800

This is the first in a series of free drum lesson videos. This one teaches you how you should be holding your drum sticks. Understand the basic approach to technique and making a stroke as well as learn a simple 8th-note exercise. How you’re holding drumsticks as a beginner makes a huge impact on how well you’ll be able to play the drums in the future.

You can refer to the earlier postings about technique to review the concepts discussed in the lesson:

Drum Technique I

Drum Technique II

Drum Technique III and Ergonomics

Learn to Play Drums Online: Technique II

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 13:41:00 -0800

This is a continuation of an earlier post about drumming technique.

USE A LOOSE GRIP
The death grip, while popular, lives up to its name by killing your speed and your sound. The stick bounces back from the head every time your strike it, and you need to learn to work with that rebound. If you don’t let the stick breathe, you’re working against the instrument instead of with it.

DON’T USE FINGERS
Take this advice with a grain of salt, as your fingers do have a role in drumming technique. But it’s a supporting role, not a lead. Your fingers should generally remain in contact with the stick the entire time, and your wrists do most of the work. Your forearm muscles are much, much stronger than your little hand muscles, so you’ll be able to play faster, longer, and avoid injury by letting your fingers support the stick instead of completely control its movement.

KEEP IDLE STICKS JUST ABOVE THE DRUM HEAD
The beginner’s tendency is to focus on the stick that’s actively playing a note and disregarding the idle one. Keep the stick you’re not actively using to make a stroke hovering just above the drum head. Don’t let it fly away. This way, when you’re ready to use it again, it’s starting from a neutral, and expected position. All you need to to is raise it and bring it down again, rather than find out where it is and guess how much force you need to bring it down again.

LET THE DOWNSTROKE TURN INTO THE UPSTROKE
Your body brings the stick down to the head, the head depresses, and when it tightens up again, it pushes the stick back up. Learn how to feel this rebound and turn it into your upstroke for the next beat. With tighter heads especially, like on marching drums, this will do much of the upstroke work for you. remember during the stroke that you have two external forces working for you: gravity on the way down and rebound on the way up. As you practice, learn to feel these forces and work with them naturally.

USE YOUR WRIST
I said it in the previous post about technique, but it’s worth repeating, because it’s the single most important concept for beginners to grasp. The motion of the drumstick comes from your wrist. Not your arms, not your fingers, but your wrist. It’s the part of your body most suited for the control, speed, and durability you need to play well.

Learn to Drum Online: Auxiliary Percussion Instruments I

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 15:02:00 -0800

You’ll probably build out your collection of toys as the need arises for a particular sound, but here’s an overview of some common ones. Don’t underestimate the power of non-drum kit instruments! They’ll add crucial texture to your beats and songs. As the drummer, it’ll probably fall on you to come up with all the percussion ideas, even if you don’t end up playing them live. If you’re playing in a band, get the rest of the group started on drum lessons now so they can pick up these kind of parts as they come along and play them well. Your singer better know how to tambo.

TAMBOURINE
Tambourines come from the Middle East and are made up of a wooden ring of varying size, metal discs that jangle called zils, and often a head across one side. In rock music, they’re often shaken back and forth with one hand and struck with the heel of the other to accent beats. There are also drum-mounted tambourines that are stuck with a drum stick and hi-hat-mounted ones called “hat tricks” that jangle with a close of the hi-hat. Non-rock techniques include balancing the tambourine upright with one thumb in the thumb hole, the head facing out, and playing the head and zils with your fingers, and the thumb roll, where you hold the tambourine flat, wet your thumb, and run it across the head, creating a stuttering movement that vibrates the zils.

FINGER CYMBAL
Finger cymbals are two thick, tiny cymbals with straps. To play, you pinch the straps in each hand so the cymbals dangle flat and bring the edge of one cymbal to strike the top of the other, creating a brassy ring like a small bell.

WOODBLOCK
Another rock staple, the woodblock is (often) drum-mounted and is a mostly solid wood block with a sound hole carved out of one half. Hitting the thinner side with the edge of your stick will create a woody “clock” sound.

COWBELL
Use carefully, as the cowbell is one of the loudest aux instruments. You can get a lot of tones out of a cowbell, and they come in all sizes. Hold it in your palm with the hole facing out. Hitting the edge with the edge of your stick and minimal contact from your hand will create a loud metal clunk. Hitting different parts of the cowbell and experimenting with palm muffling will create different tones that you can you by themselves or together to create more nuanced beats. These also come with drum mounts, which afford less control over tone, but will let you rock the fuck out a la “Don’t Fear The Reaper.” Christopher Walken wasn’t all wrong when he asked for more cowbell, as a well-mixed and well-placed cowbell can be oh so sweet.

TRIANGLE
Triangles come in many sizes as well. They’re made of a single metal rod bent to make a triangle that doesn’t quite connect with itself. It should have a string or strap on one corner for you to hold. Add a simple hardware clamp or rod of some kind to the strap so it can rest between your thumb and pointer finger, giving you the ability to muffle the triangle with your fingers. Mixing muffled and open hits with the metal beater will allow you to create tasty triangle grooves. These can also be hung on your set and are sold with stands to allow you to hit it with a stick. You lose control over muffling, but it’s easier to work into a kit beat.

SHAKERS
“Shakers” is a general term for all the instruments that rattle when you shake them. There are too many variations on this to count, but common ones are egg shakers and plastic or metal tubular shakers. Lots of rock songs actually have shakers down in the mix to add a slushy quality to the beat. Experiment with different tones and beats to add interesting color to your songs. Different containers, coarse or fine filling, and “world” shakers with nuts and shells all have unique tones. Shakers can also be used for acoustic versions of your electric songs to give a steady beat in lieu of your ride or hi-hat.

ZILBEL
The Zilbel is a thick, small cymbal make by Zildjian. It’s a pretty loud and specific sound, so hear one before you buy one, and make sure your song needs it. I’ve heard it in metal beats and as a special “dong!” effect. I’ve only ever used it when doing a cover of Velvet Underground’s “Here Comes the Sun” as a replacement for the finger cymbals.

SLEIGH BELLS
A christmas song necessity. Any song becomes a christmas song with the steady chug of sleigh bells. Hold them in your fist like a gear-shift, “upside-down,” with bells below the handle. Hit the butt of the handle with your other fist to make the bells jingle.

Learn to Drum Online: Technique III and Ergonomics

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 09:28:00 -0800

This is the third in a series of posts about drum technique. Read part 1 and part 2 here.

Pay attention to your body when you play, as it will tell you if you’re doing something wrong. There was a period of 6 months or so when my forearms started hurting as if they had carpal tunnel. I wrote it off as “maybe I’m just practicing too much.” After bringing it up with a trusted instructor, he said that I was doing something wrong and I should be able to play all day, every day without pain. After revising my technique, my pain went completely away!

WRIST AND FINGER MOVEMENT
The stick should be treated as a new bone on your arm. You should let your larger wrist muscles do the heavy lifting. If you rely on your fingers too much, you’ll find they’ll tire, cramp and create shooting pains. Use your fingers for support and added control at high speeds, but use your wrists to play. This was what was causing me pain with heavier sticks after a couple hours of practicing at high speeds.

POSTURE
Any tips you find from office desk posture can be applied to the drums as well. Play with a straight back and a reliable drum throne to reduce long-term complications from sitting too much. Exercise like running and weight training will also increase the strength of your core and make this easier.

MOVING EQUIPMENT
All musical equipment can be heavy. If you play with a rock band, the amps will probably be heavier than you think, so move them with two people. Also, don’t pack your hardware bag too full. It’s better to split your stand into two bags than risk injury. I’ve had both a hernia and a thrown-out back from moving equipment, and I wouldn’t recommend either. Thrown out disks can require a lifetime of spinal cortisone shots or surgery, and hernias require pelvic surgery to fix; so just take the extra care to lighten your load and save yourself the trouble. Also, like my dad says, don’t forget to lift with your legs and not your back.

EARPLUGS
You will lose your hearing without earplugs. It may take ten, or twenty, or forty years, but it will happen. After 14 years of playing, I’ve lost many high frequencies due to only intermittent earplug use. I know older drummers who are completely deaf on one or both ears. Many musicians have tinnitus, a constant ringing in the ears. Wearing earplugs can be a pain, and you have to relearn how to listen, but it’ll save your most precious resource as a musician - your ears. I recommend going to an ear specialist and getting musicians’ earplugs for about $100. They’re molded to the shape of your ear, making them easy to take in and out, and they have a frequency response that lets you hear vocal ranges better.

Learn to Play Drums Online: Practice II

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 12:18:00 -0800

Read the first post about drum technique here.

Almost as important as practice frequency is practice technique. Learning to play drums will happen much more quickly if you spend your time wisely. I knew someone who practiced at least twice as much as me, but he didn’t fix his mistakes, he didn’t focus, and he never got much better. He got more consistent, but he was consistently playing incorrectly.

USE A METRONOME
ABSOLUTELY always use a metronome. You may think you have great timing, but you’d better lose that ego and make the metronome your new god (or maybe it can just channel your current one). Warm up at slow tempos and increase over the duration of your practice session. Slow it back down and do it again. Your control over tempo will improve, and eventually, you’ll be able to play around the beat at will. Maybe a song sounds great if you lay just behind the beat. A lesser drummer might start dragging the tempo, but you, as a master of the met, will always know where that beat lies. The beat is not a mystery. It’s not a hazy approximation that you search for during a song. It’s an absolute, mathematical constant, and once you know it intimately, you’ll be able to mold it to your will.

LISTEN
You’re using a metronome every day. Fantastic! But are you really listening to it? Are you focusing on placing your strokes exactly on and in-between the met clicks, or are you using the met to drag you alone while you diddle out some lazy beats? You need to be an active participant in your learning process, and for drumming this means opening up your ears and working with the metronome and not for it.

PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR TECHNIQUE
Just as you modify your strokes to match the beat, you also need to be aware of your technique as your music and proficiency evolves. You may find different non-productive tendencies arise as you try to play new rudiments or new tempos. By focusing on how you’re playing as much as what you’re playing, you’ll avoid the trap of becoming really good at playing drums poorly.

USE GOOD EQUIPMENT
Don’t practice with broken drumsticks, a busted pad, an angled drum throne, a hi-hat stand that keeps slipping, or a kick pedal that’s lost its spring. You’ll get in the habit of compensating for your equipment’s deficiencies, and that will hurt you in the long run. Replace the drumsticks (and make sure they match in sound and weight), and use as universal an equipment setup as you can.

Read the third post about proper drum technique here.

Learn to Play Drums Online: Technique I

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 20:17:00 -0700

Drum technique is also personal to a degree, but there are definitely wrong ways to do it. The end result is the important part; how you get there is less so. No matter how you hold and use your sticks, you should strive to make a consistent, resonant sound and you should make that sound with as little effort as possible. You can go for style points later and get all sweaty after your set because you’re working so hard (too hard), but to start you need to know how to control your playing efficiently. Everything else is just show. I say “just” show, but putting on a good visual performance is also important for a drummer. That part just needs to come after a mastery of the sounds and technique.

My favorite drummer is Steve Gadd, mostly for his technique and then for his interpretation. Other drummers play faster than him (like Buddy Rich), but honestly: fast is easy. Gadd’s beat from Paul Simon’s “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover,” for example, couldn’t be played without good, fast chops. But that beat isn’t an opportunity to show off a drummer’s chops, it’s a tastefully crafted complement to the song. There’s nothing wrong with a little ego-tastic soloing, but the better technique you have, the easier it will be to play.

The basics points are:

HOLD DELICATELY, WITH CONTROL
Don’t squeeze the life out of your sticks. Don’t hold them like a club or hammer. Hold them more like a knife you use to perform delicate cuts and maneuvers. All your fingers should stay in contact with the stick during the stroke.This means no thumb-pointer finger pinching, that “technique” whereby your last three fingers get splayed out like they’re having a cup of tea. You lose all control this way. It’s a fine line between having a fulcrum in your grip that gives you control and lets the stick breathe.

USE YOUR WRIST
Think of the stick as an extension of your arm, like an extra bone. You should start by thinking of it as fused to your fingers and let only your wrist move the sticks (this isn’t an absolute rule, but a starting point). You can try placing your pointer finger on top of the stick in matched grip to force your wrist to do all the work. This is how your wrist should feel once your fingers are in their usual position.

Read the second post about drum technique here.

Learn to Play Drums Online: Choosing Your Drumsticks

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 14:29:00 -0700

Your sticks are an extension of your body, so take care when settling on a pair. They certainly won’t make or break you (unless they’re poorly made and quickly broken), but you’d better be comfortable with them. A pair should match in weight and in sound when similarly used. Part of your practice involves listening to your strokes and evening out inconsistencies in their sound, and mismatched sticks make this impossible. You can also modify your sticks with tape on the ends to give extra weight and durability or grips on the butts to reduce slipping. I don’t like modifications like these, but many drummers do. Below are some short reviews of several popular stick sizes and brands.

VIC FIRTH
My favorite drumstick manufacturer. Their sticks are balanced, light, smooth, and feel the best in my hand. I’m able to exercise maximum control over how they move and sound. 5As are a good choice for rock drummer, while the thinner 7As are good for jazz drummers or if you want a lighter sound. I like to use Ralph Hardimans for warming up, as their thickness and weight (they’re intended for marching snares) work like a batting donut. Once I move to the 5As, I’m flying! Also the SD1 General is a great go-to stick for first-timers learning the basics of concert snare.

PRO MARK
Another popular rock brand. The fulcrum is farther forward than Vic Firths, adding more weight up front and resulting in a louder sound. You have to work harder on the upstrokes, though, making fast rudiments take more effort and control. If you just want to rock out with your woodblock out, these might be a good fit.

ZILDJIAN
Cymbal maker Zildjian also has a line of sticks, but I find them to be too flimsy and awkward, despite their lighter weight. They make top-tier cymbals, though; and they give away shirts like crazy. Maybe skip the sticks.

These are only one man’s opinions; you should go with a stick that feels and sounds good to you.

Learn to Play Drums Online: Practice

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 20:34:00 -0700

If you want to learn to play the drums, the best thing you can do for yourself is to practice, regularly. You can take lessons for years but if you don’t put in the time to practice, you’ll never, ever get better. Malcolm Gladwell referred to the “10,000 hour rule” in his 2008 book Outliers, stating that a requirement for success in any field is to perform a task repeatedly for 10,000 hours. As a well-rehearsed drummer, I can say that that’s about when I went from being just “ok” to being really proficient and on par with other professionals.

That said, maintaining your practice schedule is just as important, as my drumming chops have diminished greatly since I entered the workforce. In school, it’s easy to manage a musical schedule, but afterwards you need work - HARD - to make time. Here are some ideas to help you become the best drummer you can be. Some or all may be helpful, so try them out and see what works for you. If you find yourself stopping, try a different tactic.

STICK TO A REGULAR SCHEDULE
This is the most obvious approach to keeping up your discipline. It didn’t work well for me, but for people with an especially busy schedule, it’s the way they make sure it happens. If you need to, put it in your calendar, sync to your phone, set an alarm, etc.

DOUBLE UP
I’ve done a lot of my practicing in front of a TV. I’d just be sitting doing nothing anyway, so why not lay down some phat beatz while I’m at it? Maybe it’s not TV for you. Maybe it’s smoking, reading, using a treadmill, waiting for your project to render/compile/upload. You should always be moving those wrists.

DON’T TAKE LONG-TERM BREAKS
Often times life changes bring about new schedules and priorities. This is fine, normal, and often really, really challenging. Family, relationships, kids, work, moving, can all consume your time in ways you never imagined, and you may find your sticks start to collect dust. You need to keep drumming. More often than not, it will actually relieve stress, not create more. By practicing with a band, even once a week during hectic, crazy times in my life, I kept my sanity, my practice momentum, and it gave me consistency I didn’t really have elsewhere.