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For all you drummers - Best way to learn to play?

T

TheNinja

Lifer
So I recently acquired a free electronic drum kit. It has a lot of different "drum sets" and a lot of songs without drums built into it so it's fun to play along. Now how do I learn to play? I already play guitar and bass and learned a lot of that through online tabs and chord charts. Are there such things as drum tabs? Is there anywhere on line for free online lessons?
 
It's funny, I highlighted the words "drum tabs" in your post, and did a Google search... guess what I found? 😉
 
there are such things as drum tabs, but i find them repetitive and boring and pretty much useless. if you listen to the song you will be able to figure out what they're playing.
 
Originally posted by: Pepsi90919
there are such things as drum tabs, but i find them repetitive and boring and pretty much useless. if you listen to the song you will be able to figure out what they're playing.
Click to expand...

so basically just probably grab some sticks, get under the headset and just try to play along?
 
honestly, its easier to play on an acoustic set, but since its free, go and grab your self a metronome, and start counting in your head, do you have any musical experience?
 
Originally posted by: Heller
honestly, its easier to play on an acoustic set, but since its free, go and grab your self a metronome, and start counting in your head, do you have any musical experience?
Click to expand...

ya, I currently play guitar and bass going on about 7 years. I played about 4 years of piano and 4 years of alto sax. this electronic set has a built in metronome, plus like 70 different "sets" and many songs that are missing drums that you can play along with. Seems pretty cool. They don't have the feel of real drums though.
 
I'd say try to play along the best that you can, with the simplest beat that you can do. Start off slow with just the hi-hat and snare. Once you get where you can hold a steady tempo, throw in the pedals. That is the way that I learned. As you progress, you can make up fills and do faster songs. As far as drum tabs are concerned, I find them useless. It's easier to just listen to a song and figure it out, rather than try to discern a drum tab.
 
To start, pick up some sticks and play. Learn some simple beats/songs. If you're going to use tabs, just use them to learn some basic beats. I think tabs are only a hinder when you get better. My thought is, if you're going to learn to read music, than learn on an actual music staff.

An even better place to get started would be to just find a local music store and take a lesson or two just to learn the basics. Even if you don't plan to keep taking lessons it would likely be a very good starting point.

Edit: I almost forgot, timing is much more important than speed! Once you get into it, if you can't play something smoothly at a slower speed don't try to play it faster. 90% of the drummers I have known can't seem to figure this out. If you don't have good timing, playing faster only makes it sound worse. I promise.
 
Practice practice practice.

Don't listen to Pepsi90919 above, drum tabs are invaluable. You will find in many songs there are subtleties that as a newbie you will miss. These are things like ghost notes on the snare, tom fills and variations in the hi-hat and symbols.

The only way to get good at drumming is to practice. A lot.
 
I learned how to play by mimicking the songs that I really loved. I have yet to take a lesson and consider myself an above average drummer (FWIW). That being said, I am preparing to take some lessons. There is nothing more valuable than training from a good teacher.

So, for you, that's how I would start. Play along to the songs that you love. Get the basic times down, etc. Don't try and do embellishments for a little bit until you can change times mid-beat and fluidly. Then learn flourishes etc. Then, when you feel as though you are making some good progress, start taking lessons.
 
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