Learning drums

mikeh said:
I suspect you have already "taught yourself" some version of match grip. Candidly, in the absence of a teacher, you would likely do better with matched grip.
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Yes, matched and traditional was what I was thinking.

I have the kit! Been banging away on it for the last hour, going through the presets. Sounds really good. I'm out of shape too, my back is already feeling the workout (hence why I'm here typing taking a break).

Definitely in need of practice, having a hard time disconnecting my right/primary hand from my right/primary kick foot. I'll going to start doing some of the rudiment exercises, throwing in a kick. My snare technique isn't that bad, guess creativity makes up for my lack of experience. I have a long ways to go, but at least I have the tool to get there.

And yes, I naturally prefer a matched grip. I'm actually pretty fast for sitting at a kit for the first time in a year, so there's no need to fix what aint broke.
 
Get a good teacher!

Hope you're enjoying your e-drums. The best advice I could offer you is to find a great teacher up there in Smallbany.

You mentioned your back hurting... good posture is essential!!! A good teacher can get you seated properly so you don't injure yourself while playing. It will also greatly increase your balance and ability to play.

A good teacher can also help you with good sticking techniques, how to hold the sticks, how to strike the drums, when to use wrists or switch to fingers for speed, etc. Especially with electronic drums, which give you the same sound whether you're striking the drums properly or not.

There's a great deal to be learned from videos, but a video can't see what you're doing and help you correct things. So get a good teacher, and hang out with some good local drummers, they can really help too.

Also:

Subscribe to Modern Drummer! There's a wealth of info each month that is invaluable to any and every drummer.

One more huge piece of advice - practice to a metronome at least as often as you practice without one. One of the greatest advantages to electronic drums is the built in click tracks and sequences to help you lock into a groove.

All the best, Rez
 
Seems to be this prevailing theme that paying for some lessons is worth the money. I'm in agreement. In the coming weeks I'm going to contiinue to practice but will start looking into local instruction.

In a week's time I've improved some but realize more and more my limitations (and it's frsutrating! :p ).

My back hurts after about 30 minutes because it's a foreign position and use of my body. This has lessened quite a bit in a week. My posture and stance at the kit is proper and the set itself is laid out for the most efficient playing/comfort. I got those basics down using some common sense. lol

I may want to look into using different drum sticks. These Vic Firth generic POS I have now just don't feel right.
 
While back pain can in part be caused by new "body mechanics" (using muscle groups you don't normally use) which may be a temporary pain - there is a very good chance that the height of your throne is not proper. While different drummers use different heights, the basic rule of thumb is - your upper leg should be paralell to the ground. Also, it is normally best that all playing surfaces be located within easy reach so you do have stretch to get at anything (while sitting low and having the set high may look cool, it is not ergomonicly correct).

Speaking of stretching - since playing drums can be more physically "demanding" than most other instruments" it is best to do some like stretching and other warm up activities to get the muscles & joints loose and to get the blood flowing (perhaps when you paly guitar you do some scales, etcs. to limber up your hands - same concept).

Regarding sticks. There are 4 basic sized sticks (from lightest to heaviest)- 7A, 5A, 5B & 2B - everything else is a variance of those 4 basic sizes. When I taugh (or when I worked in a drum shop) I normally recommended either a 5A or 5B to start. I personally think a 5A is about the heaviest stick to be used with rubber pads.
 
I love em too, I went used and got a lot more drum than I could new. didn't play much for the fist few years they were around, it was ok, then for the past 2 or so, been into it more. Once I tried to record live drums, I could never go back to the machine. I did learn from the machine, tho. I now practice them and try to record some. Jammed once at the jamfest and it was very very awesome.
 
Mike, the sticks I have are 5A's so I guess I'm 'stuck'.

My positioning is fine (everything's easily within reach and my upper leg is parallel to the ground). Just working muscles I didn't know I had.

John, I'm looking to do as you did - learn then when I finally have a secure place to play a real set I'll get something acoustic. How do these travel? Do you break it all down or just take the legs off and fold in the rest?
 
Pinky - while I don't think sticks too much heavier than 5A should be used on electronics - that certainly is not gospel. If you get a chance - go to a local music store/drum shop and hold several sticks (if you're using 5A - perhaps a 5B may be just the subtle change you need). I use 5Bs (or a variance thereof) on my e-kit, but I have learned to alter my technique slightly to avoid the added stress that a heavier stick can cause.

Most stick manufactures have charts (a good drum shop should have these charts in a 3 ring binder) that shows the length and weight of each stick. although there are several dozen different midels of sticks the difference is often only a few milimeters or a few grams of weight from the 4 basic sizes I previously indicated.

Regarding transport - while I've seen many people move an electronic kit en masses (rack and all) I personnaly think it is better to reover the pads (often a single fiber tom case can hold most if not all pads (perhaps with some sheets of foam for protection). The tack can normally be folded up (rather than taking all the tubes apart)

Certainly e-drums are not as duable as accoustics for moving (and are more subseptable to dust, moisture, etc) however, as a guitarist, you already understand the needed cautions for electronic instruments.
 
Thanks Mike.

I tried the 7A nylon tips on the same kit at Guitar Center yesterday and they made all the difference. The pads are so sensitive I don't need a heavy stick, so I went with a slightly slimmer and lighter variety and it's already helping.

Hopefully I won't ever need to use this kit for gigging, electronics definitely require special care. Good advice about adding extra protection when moving the pads.
 
Just reporting back in. I took the first step in leaving a voice message with a local drum instructor. If I don't hear anything by Friday I'm calling back.

I'm progressing in some areas of playing, but still have nagging 'habits' that I need some extra help working out. I'm on the verge of a breakthrough, hoping a few dozen lessons will get me there.
 
i am considerable new to the drums, but heres soem advice. I am a huge fan of Danny Carey and Mike Portnoy (unfortunately, I've never heard any of Neil Peart's work). Don't trust my advice on drum sets, ive only played cheap $150 ones... but I know cymbals pretty well. Peart and Portnoy use Sabian, Carey uses Paiste. Paiste Signatures are pretty expensive, buit sound incredible. ALso, Neil Peart's line of signature Sabian cymbals, Paragon, are also really awesome. GO to a store and try them both out. Paiste Signature, Sabian Paragon.
 
Pinky,

As a drummer for twenty some years I really think that you should go a take a couple of lessons. Tell them that you want to get your hands and feet together and have them scope out potential problems. They will likely fix you with rudiment practice and although you may hate it for a while in one year you will be very happy that you did the work. You will absolutely cripple yourself if you practice playing with your pinkys sticking out like you are drinking tea or something like that. You can save yourself alot of potential damage by going a getting a few lessons and practicing the right way, right now. I studied percussion at college and taught younger kids on the weekends to make money.

It is so important to get your technique right. Only about 1/4 of the drummers have good technique. Not suprising is the fact that every great drummer you talked about has great technique.

There is more than matched grip versus traditional grip. A lot of those guys you are talking about are actually playing french grip. French grip is like matched grip but with the thumbs on top and the knuckles turned away. The really smoking chops from guys like weckl and that ilk is generally french grip. Speed comes from the smallest muscle groups and power starts at the wrists and works its way back to bigger muscle groups like the elbow and the shoulder. French grip is where the really viscious speed generally comes from.

I would reccomend playing with pretty big sticks and playing pretty light and letting the stick do most of the work. That will help you to get a good loose grip going where the fingers are part of the deal.


It sounds like you have the makings of a good drummer as you already have a musical mind. So good luck. Other things that I would reccomend are:

1. If you back hurts you are doing something wrong. It's either how you work your pedals, how your drums are setup, how low/high your drum throne is or your general posture while playing.

2. Be sure that your snare drum is an inch or two above your right knee so that you can still fire off the rimshots.

3. Practice rudiments until they are a reflex. If you can play paradiddles at blazing speed that's fine. But if you can play them at blazing speed and recite your name and address and read aloud at the same time then you have it.
 
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