Drumb Lessuns

[zed32]

With my super busy schedule these days, I haven't had time to play drums. My kit(s) have been in storage and I haven't even set them up in at least 3 years.

I've been casually looking around for drum lessons with the intention of learning new stuff and brushing up on skills, but mostly just to have some time to actually play. I've found some drummers in the area with some pretty impressive resumes, but holy shit are they a bunch of limp-wristed techie drummers who never look "comfortable" behind the kit in any of their videos.

I'm talking about guys who are claiming 20-30+ years of experience, masters degrees from Berklee and shit. Honestly they can play some pretty intricate stuff, but they gently tap the snare and just look so awkward and don't really play with AUTHORITY if you know what I mean. I'm not just talking about slamming on the snare and being heavy-handed in general, but just looking smooth and assertive behind the kit. These guys just don't have it.

Is this sort of the norm for people who teach drums?

[Greg_L]

Those kinds of technical drummers suck ass. I'd rather be a cromag basher than one of those paradiddling light tapping buttplugs.

[zed32]

Right...and it's not really the light tapping that annoys me, it's the lack of fluidity to their styles.

Here's an example...and I feel kind bad for throwing the guy under the bus, but this has been typical between the 4 other drum instructors' videos that I've seen.

Skip to 1:32-ish where the lame cover band is playing "Give It Away Now" by RHCP. Now that song, in its original form, is a super snare-heavy cromag basher type song. The way this guy plays it, it just sounds soft and weak and not fun. This is a guy who is claiming over 20 years of recording and touring experience. Even giving him the benefit of the doubt that its a small venue and maybe he doesn't want to ruin peoples' ears.....man, fuck those peoples' ears! I would still be cracking out the loudest rimshots possible and the show would probably much more enjoyable. Just sayin'...

[BBvideo=560,315]https://youtu.be/gzmG_OSsBdk?t=1m34s[/BBvideo]

[zed32]

And although I appreciate the guy's ability to play ghost notes.......there are no fucking ghost notes in Give It Away Now.

[Greg_L]

That kind of crap is pretty much what all drum teachers teach now, so just stick to what you know already. You were damn good. Surely it'll all come right back.

[WhiskeyJack]

paradiddling light tapping buttplugs.

[liv_rong]

Yeah, dude, you were good so fuck it, that stuff is not going to make you play like that. I know of drummers, my previous instructor being one, who can do all the fancy snare shit and still play the kit well with authority. I dont believe you need to start out learning only sticking techniques, rudimants and paraadidles but it doesnt hurt if you do know that shit, in fact it will only help. That Matt Gartska or Danny Walker I posted in the modern drum thread all rip and play hard and are both classically trained drummers. What Im saying is its not the methods used or material studied that make a drummer, its still the drummer. As far as ghost notes go, every time I see or hear a drummer doing it I assume its a classically trained drummer. Classically trained meaning spending a ton of time with snare/sticking work then applying that to the kit. A lot of times its just there but really quiet and its not even noticed and I dont think its a bad thing if its just floating in the space very quietly filling space, most listeners dont even notice that shit. For me Im almost always keeping my left hand going on the snare like that, but you cant always tell if Im laying into the kit. But that's just how I learned/taught myself.

Anyways, take lessons if you want but most likely its going to be a lot of reading and sticking work to a metronome. And if you cant read then it will be a lot of stick work to teach you to read and count. Then the kit stuff wil lget really complicated fast. When I did lessons a couple years ago it was snare work then a bit of kit stuff but since I already could play most basic beats we jumped right into syncopated stuff copy and pasting from the snare work and moving it around the kit. It was challenging. I wish I still took lessons but had to stop when we were doing the addition because life got busy, then we had another kid and now life is settled again but Id rather have that $120/month now for other things like new gear lol.

[Greg_L]

I really like threads like this. They are the reality check that I always need. I very often very frustratingly cycle back and forth between thinking I need to/should be better, and then I read a thread like this and/or see vids of "good" people and realize that I want no part of that frilly nonsense.

[Farview]

That is a good example of musicians that don't change their technique to match the music they are playing. There are too many guys like that. It comes from the mistaken notion that there is one one "correct" way to play, which is bullshit.

The upside to his style will be the fact that he won't need shoulder surgery by the time he's 50, like all of my metal drummer friends (I'm heading that way too), because that's what the bashing will get you.

[vomitHatSteve]

So I'm going to chime in some on the other side. It's true that there is no right way to play the drums, but still learn your theory.

I'm in a band with drummer who never took a lesson in his life, doesn't count, and hates metronomes. When he knows a song and is able to just bash on it, it sounds great; but it's really hard to record with him or work on new ideas without that common theory language.

[rammer24]

It is possible to know and teach good technique and still play with balls. I teach rudiments and shit, but I spend most of the time with my students teaching them what THEY want to learn and I'm always aware that the last thing you want to do is bore someone. Guys that are all about technique and nothing else shouldn't be teaching. They make 99% of their teaching all about themselves, and not about the student.

It's probably the same in every profession. For example, as a personal trainer, I make sure that my clients have fun, I change stuff up for them, and I don't spend all my time starting every sentence wirth "I" and "me", unlike most trainers who make everything all about THEIR experience and THEIR knowledge, etc....(Kind of like what I just did with this post )

[Minerman]

I've been thinking of starting a thread like this to help me along my drumming journey by asking you accomplished drummers a few things...

Just about everything is new to me, & I'm doing ok, I can play things now I couldn't a few months ago, but I've still got a long way to go...

I'm learning that for different songs I play along to, there are usually a couple/few techniques I have to learn in order to play the song halfway decent...One in particular is "Runnin' With The Devil" by Van Halen...It's actually a pretty straight-forward song, but the kick pattern throws me off, so I know I need to work on my kick to get up to speed with what's played in the song...

When coming up with drum parts for your songs, do you play everything exactly the same everytime you play, or do you improvise??? I'm mainly talking about fills & accents...

I know there a millions of tutorials, but are there any particular ones that you guys like & recommend???

[rammer24]

When coming up with drum parts for your songs, do you play everything exactly the same everytime you play, or do you improvise??? I'm mainly talking about fills & accents...

I play the same beat every time because I'm locking in with the bass. But fills, ghost notes, and general feel will be different every time. Kind of like a rythm guitar part. You'll play the same chords and main parts, but you might throw in a slide here, a hammer off there, etc....

[Minerman]

I play the same beat every time because I'm locking in with the bass. But fills, ghost notes, and general feel will be different every time. Kind of like a rythm guitar part. You'll play the same chords and main parts, but you might throw in a slide here, a hammer off there, etc....

Ok man, thanks!!! I get it you play the same beat pretty much 99% of the time, & that I need to lock with the bass too dude...You answered something I've been wondering about for months now, using a guitar for reference to make it easier for me to understand what you're explaining is great man!!!

I have trouble getting my head around things sometimes, & I need things to be told/explained to me like I'm a kid...

[liv_rong]

When I record I'll play fills and stuff different and when I get a good take I'm done but the beat is pretty much the same. In my band I do everything the same everytime that way it's just semiconductors nature and I don't have to think much about it. I may throw in something extra here or there but for the most part it's the same.

[Greg_L]

I actually think I've gotten worse over the years. I don't know how I feel about it. I think I'd rather go for the easy beat and play it consistently well instead of doing something a bit flashier but much harder to do. I'd rather just bang out something easy without putting any thought into it instead of sitting there trying to come up with some great part. It's part laziness and part just not having any drummer vocabulary. On the plus side, I'm good live. I just play the same thing the same way every time and I never screw anything up.

[Minerman]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the help/suggestions!!!

I really don't wanna be a flashy drummer at all, my opinion on that is always try to play what the song needs, which for me would be pretty basic stuff...I can't sit here & say I don't wanna learn a few nice tricks, I'd be lying if I did, but I'm not gonna go off the deep end, most of my songs are pretty basic...

Something else I'm wondering about is how you guys keep your fills/accents from being the same thing over & over???

And of course, whenever the song is worked out, one needs to really know the song, instead of just guessing what goes where...It's the same thing as guitar riffs/bass/everything, you need to know what you're gonna play/record & have it nailed before ever hitting the record button...

[Greg_L]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the help/suggestions!!!

I really don't wanna be a flashy drummer at all, my opinion on that is always try to play what the song needs,

That truly will serve you better than knowing a bunch of flash.

Something else I'm wondering about is how you guys keep your fills/accents from being the same thing over & over???

I don't. Lol. My stuff is exactly the same thing over and over.

[rammer24]

Something else I'm wondering about is how you guys keep your fills/accents from being the same thing over & over???

That's where having a pretty good "vocabulary" comes in. But, even the simplest roll can be varied. You can hit a snare 3 times for a fill. You can also hit the snare only twice and hit a tom for the third hit. You can also just hit the snare once and two toms once each. You can also do the same fill but not hit the snare at all and do it on your toms. You know what I mean? All the same roll, but different voicings.

[zed32]

Really my main goal in taking lessons would be to actually get some seat time behind a kit. Right now, I can't set up drums in the spot where I live, so I really have no other option if I want to play.

Also, I wanna learn the reverse triplet paradiddlyflamdamndoodlydee so I can apply it to Ramones songs.