Can I learn drums?

patlang12

patlang12

New member
I am thinking about buying a drum set. It would be nice to have one for when people come over and also because I think I want to learn drums. I have played guitar for a few years and I am an ok rythym player. When I get on a drum set (only a few times) I can keep an easy beat, but I often have trouble doing anything interesting with the kick. If I try to I can't keep the beat. Is this something that I can learn? I think I really want to get into drums, but if I am doomed from the start then I probably won't.
 
patlang12 said:
I am thinking about buying a drum set. It would be nice to have one for when people come over and also because I think I want to learn drums. I have played guitar for a few years and I am an ok rythym player. When I get on a drum set (only a few times) I can keep an easy beat, but I often have trouble doing anything interesting with the kick. If I try to I can't keep the beat. Is this something that I can learn? I think I really want to get into drums, but if I am doomed from the start then I probably won't.
Click to expand...

I'm sure the 'mechanics' can be learned...
Back when I used to teach, there was usually a point in time where it was up to the student to apply what he/she had learned... You can take them to the door, but they're the ones who have to figure out how to walk through it....
I had a few that struggled with exactly what you are fighting with... They would go home and practice just straight quarter or half notes with their kick foot, but as soon as they had to start up with eighth notes with the right hand... poof they lost it...
But...
A couple of them just would, all of a sudden, "get it"... It was like a light would switch on and they would fall right into the groove...

Just keep at it... It can be done...

:)
 
If you can naturally play an easy beat, chances are you'll learn quickly enough. The first year I took lessons I wanted to quit all the time. After countless mornings waking up and "just getting" that thing I was working on, I today feel like a very competent drummer.

Don't go crazy on your first kit. Buy anything used and playable. Make sure the snare drum is in good working order! Tuning makes more of a difference than quality -of-drum when it comes to learning how to play. Buy used cymbals too. When you're ready you can sell them with your first junky kit and do a real upgrade. All you NEED to learn on is a bass drum with a good pedal, a snare drum (with stand), HiHats and either a crash or ride. If you just get a crash, I recommend getting an 18" or something kind of heavy so you can ride it too. Most used kits will come with toms too.

Most importantly, take at least one lesson with a professional so you learn proper stick technique from the get go. You'll really limit yourself down the road with poor techinque/grip.

Good luck and wear protection (for your ears).
 
Having a drumset is awesome. But you can also learn to play the drums with only your hands or a pair of sticks - you don't have to wait. :cool: If you can work out the patterns they will apply to the kit also. Pick up a pad and some sticks and learn all of your rudiments.
 
dude....

dude... you sound l;ike me a month ago...I picked up a yamaha dtxpress drum set and it is sweeeeeeeet! you can turn it down!!! or up!! or play one of fifty different kits. techno, world, funk, punk, rock, latin, its all there. It's so cool to play drums along with a guy on an acoustic without an amp.

The serious drum crowd will say this unit sucks, but they are comparing it to 7,000 dollar units.....the dtexpress is around 1000.

You can also pick it up and carry it (once it is folded upo a little)

buy one...u won't regret it

no i dont work 4 yamaha!!
 
oh yeah....and don't worry...you totally will get it...its really easy to play drums ok......its just hard to play well...but who cares ok id fine 4 me!!!!
 
I don't think I want to get an electric set. I have been looking at some cheap acoustics sets that I could make sound good with good heads and tuning. I am also trying to find one that comes with some free cymbols that I could use until I get better ones. I know that the cymbols that come with the drums will most likely suck, but thats ok for now.
 
Ok, I have been looking at a few sets. I have been doing a lot of searching and reading old posts about beginner drum sets. A few of the sets I considered were: Mapex Voyager http://shop.store.yahoo.com/yhst-20930115034260/mavosedr.html
Yamaha rydeen http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/444622/
sonor 503 http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_id/114034

In one thread someone recommened the maxpex voyagers for a recording set. I was probably not going to use these for recording, but if I can get something good enough without spending much that would be nice. They said that because this set was small (another plus for me) it is better fro recording unless you are recording metal. (which I probably won't be) I have read that the rydeens are good beginner sets that can sound really good.
The sonor 503's are cheaper than those other two sets so I could get some nice cymbols sooner. I heard that the toms on those sets really sing nicely so I was considering them too. The types of music I like to play right now are blues, rock, and jazz, but this could change so I wan't to make sure the set if somewhat versitile. The mapex voyagers sound like they might be very good (I heard a soundclip of them from another member), but I don't know where to try them so... Well if anybody else has some more informtion about the drums I mentioned please tell me. Also if you have any other recommendations please let me know. Thanks a lot!
 
You will be fine once you start to play on a regular basis.

As for the kit... I got a Yamaha Stage Custom set about 4 years ago when I was learning and I think it sounds great. I think you should get some decent cymbals though. if you have crappy cymbals you will sound like poop no matter how quality your drums are. Just my opinon.

-bradly
 
I just realized that the yamaha kit and the gretsch are the same price right now because I just got a new mf catalouge and in it the gretsch is $50 cheaper. I know that cheap cymbols will sound bad, but I don't think that will discourage me because I already am a musician. I plan on getting better cymbols, but I could need to wait until I could afford it.
 
also does anybody know of something that lowers the volume of drums, but doesn't change the sound too much. I know that I saw something before that claimed to do this and was only around $30. I know that the sound won't stay exactly the same, but maybe I can find one that sounds close?
 
ok the name of those things are silent ones. Has anybody used them? They got mixed reviews on musicians friend.
 
We got a Tama Stagestar for the music room and it's a decent starter set for the price and has a small footprint. Not too loud either. The cymbals are junk but a couple of used Sabian Manhattans did the trick.
 
I got a used kit years ago and included cymbals and seat. What I didn't know, that now I'm glad about, is that the heads weren't too bad. I haven't changed them yet, but it looks like a big pain to do it, a lot more than changing strings....

It takes time for sure, and it can drive you nuts trying to figure it out, but you can only go so fast, it has to be part of you over time, and all the stuff that seems impossible starts to just happen.

Then one day, you sit there, run thru different beats, and tempos and dynamics and 45 minutes go by and you think it was like, 10 and you're all heated up and had to take off your fleece if it's winter and you feel like you worked out a bit and it's awesome.

Then one day you go jam somewhere and you sit in and someone thinks you're actually a drummer! That day will blow your mind. It did for me - the Jamfest! (2004) Then you'll really start playing, buying books, dvd's, metronome and pad and start to read....

Then you'll try to play on a jam on your multi-track and it won't sound like total crap and it will be coooool. check out mine, not great, not a song, but some jams. See link.

Good luck, have a blast!
 
patlang12 said:
also does anybody know of something that lowers the volume of drums, but doesn't change the sound too much. I know that I saw something before that claimed to do this and was only around $30. I know that the sound won't stay exactly the same, but maybe I can find one that sounds close?
Click to expand...
I use rags, and sometimes those giant thick rubber mouse pads. Although now that I'm a little better, I only put the fat mouse pad on the snare, sometimes half off of it. But you will want to dampen, mute, muffle them a bit, they sell all kind of fancy stuff, but just play around w/ stuff first to see how it changes the sound, they gave me an 'O' ring and it took me like, years to even notice the change in the sound. but hey, I just got a super cheapo piccolo snare for $29 and it's tuned higher and the ring stopped the ringing a lot, big diff. there, not as much w/ my larger older low tuned snare....

I also have those cheap shotgun/leafblower red head set ear protectors. But even better, I got the vic firth iso cans, so I can mic and hear inside them, they are working great for me.
 
OK thanks. Anybody have any suggestions of cheap drum sets to look into? Any opinions on the ones I mentioned earlier?
 
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