Amongst musicians, drummers are a unique breed. Their instrument is nothing like the guitar or piano in that there isn’t a flat out arrangement of notes to hit. Drumming doesn’t require knowledge of music theory. What it does require is rhythm and immense practice. Here is a list of other helpful things to keep in mind when starting out on the drums.

Before long you’ll realise that drumming requires a lot of wrist speed. Obviously you can acquire this from drumming a lot, but when you’re not on the kit you can still develop your speed. Drummers frequently have little drumming pads they practice rolls on when they’re away from their kit. You can do this while watching television on the couch. They’re designed to produce very little sound because the point of them is simply to work out your wrists. They’re portable and inexpensive.

Assuming you’re just beginning, start with the most basic beat. Always put the emphasis on learning it thoroughly instead of playing it quickly. There’s a tendency to want to play things quickly, especially at first. The beginner mistakenly correlates speed with success. Suppress the urge to play quickly and learn things well.

Going on Youtube will give you a few good ideas about the basics. Just search ‘beginner drum lessons’ and you’ll hear people playing a basic rock beat. They’ll give you some helpful tips too. It’ll never replace a real teacher, but it’s easy and free and there’s no harm in trying.

Almost all musicians are inspired to play by those they admire most. With this in mind, when you’re ready for something a little more advanced, listen carefully to your favourites. Many people listen casually to music, and this is fine. But for musicians it’s important to be an active listener, and not just simply enjoy the music, but put great attention into what the musicians on the other side are doing. Listen really, really hard! Put on a tune and just listen for the drums. Then play it again and listen to all the instruments. Then, just the drums.

After you’ve done this, try to mimic what you hear. Do it slowly. Extremely slowly. The odds are doing this will be very difficult at first, but try and get down a component of the playing. Gradually keep at it, still doing it very slowly, until you can play one aspect of what you hear. The most difficult thing about drums is playing different rhythms simultaneously. On the one hand, it means you’ll likely be able to play some of what you hear, but not all. When you’re combining two rhythms do it slowly as possible. This takes patience and persistence, but once you can do the two rhythms you’re in a good, good place! Once you can do it successfully, increase the speed. Gradually you’ll be changing rhythms and adding accents, but it begins with playing two patterns overtop of each other.

Good luck and have fun!

Author Bio: Long & McQuade is one of Canada’s biggest online music stores and offers a wide selection of drums, drum heads, drum sticks, guitars and accessories.

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