I started on drums and moved to guitar when I was 16. Hard to say if it helped, though getting into a groove came naturally. Otherwise they are completely different skills. I switched because I wanted to do something "musical", with actual notes and chords. It turned out that my fingers worked and I had a good ear, so I learned quickly.
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Lyrical Poetry, Poetic Lyrics
- Thread starter Synesthesia
- Start date
Layla Nahar
New member
glynb said:Layla, I don't think being a percussionist will give you much advantage when it comes to playing guitar really - i've been playing guitar many years but put me on a drum kit and I'm useless.
I don't play kit, so I'm not holding sticks, but actually using my fingers (not as a group of 4, but individually) so I think that gives me more finger strength than a kit drum player, who I guess would have a lot of forearm and torso strength
I think playing any instrument is helpful when learning another instrument.
As a percussionist you already have a strong sense of rhythem and two way coordination - which can only help when learning guitar.
In addition, since you are coming from a rhythem background you will likely become a fine rhythem player - and any guitar player worth thier salt will agree that being a good rhythem player is very important.
Lastly, the guitar will improve your percussion chops, since you will gain a beter understanding of playing persussion in a more "melodic" way.
As a percussionist you already have a strong sense of rhythem and two way coordination - which can only help when learning guitar.
In addition, since you are coming from a rhythem background you will likely become a fine rhythem player - and any guitar player worth thier salt will agree that being a good rhythem player is very important.
Lastly, the guitar will improve your percussion chops, since you will gain a beter understanding of playing persussion in a more "melodic" way.
Layla - I've been playing guitar about 35 years and took up mandolin about 3 years ago. I think part of my problem has been that I've always approached the guitar as a means to writing rather than as a musician would. As a result I don't have the proficiency that 35 years worth of playing should have provided.
I only did limited hand drumming, but I would think it's advantageous in learning to play any stringed instrument or keyboard. The thing I've noticed in friends that play tabla is their wriist and hand strength. They have no problem in playing clean barre chords on guitar right off.
As far as practice, I spend about 1 hour per day on practice such as scales, runs, etc. and then about 2 hours rehearsing orginal material and covers. Then, I spend about 3 hours per day concentrating on writng. Currently I'm doing a lot of transcription work to pay the bills, so my time spent on any one activity has a way of overlapping into another. I write and play a lot of bluegrass and fiddle tunes, so the speed is one of the few things I've got fairly nailed. Too bad there isn't more of a market for those kinds of songs.
I only did limited hand drumming, but I would think it's advantageous in learning to play any stringed instrument or keyboard. The thing I've noticed in friends that play tabla is their wriist and hand strength. They have no problem in playing clean barre chords on guitar right off.
As far as practice, I spend about 1 hour per day on practice such as scales, runs, etc. and then about 2 hours rehearsing orginal material and covers. Then, I spend about 3 hours per day concentrating on writng. Currently I'm doing a lot of transcription work to pay the bills, so my time spent on any one activity has a way of overlapping into another. I write and play a lot of bluegrass and fiddle tunes, so the speed is one of the few things I've got fairly nailed. Too bad there isn't more of a market for those kinds of songs.