![]() ![]() You can start to play simple songs and then get more and more advanced as you keep progressing. You can learn the basics of drums in the space of a few weeks. There are many instructional videos and books that you can get your hands on. With a few tips as well as the massive video content available today, being a self-taught drummer is not far from reach. It’s very inexpensive and works great! Here is the link to purchase it at can teach yourself drums if you have the dedication, discipline, and willingness to practice. Here is the metronome I personally use and recommend. Follow this process, and it really becomes a part of you eventually. Eventually, you should start practicing everything with a metronome. Try a very basic rock beat, then maybe paradiddles. The next thing to do is simply start practicing other things the same way. ![]() Again as you’re comfortable, move the metronome up about 10 notches at a time, gradually increasing the speed, as you did before.Īfter practicing this whole routine for a week or two, you should be pretty comfortable playing with a metronome. ![]() If you get off track at any point, stop playing and try just counting instead. As this becomes comfortable, start alternating hands, RLRL, till that’s comfortable. Now, as the metronome plays quarter notes, count 16th notes out loud, 1 e and a, 2 e and a, 3 e and a, 4 e and a. The last step in this basic exercise is to put the metronome on about quarter note=65-85. After you’re comfortable at this tempo, move the metronome up as you did before, about 10 notches at a time. This way the ears are trained to hear 8th notes against a quarter note pulse. Now the metronome is playing quarter notes, 1,2,3, 4. Count 8th notes along with the metronome, twice as fast as the metronome is playing. Next divide that speed in half, so 200 becomes 100. This is the first, and most basic exercise to be done with the metronome. Gradually work up your speed until you’re at a quarter note=200 on the metronome. Repeat this over and over until it’s comfortable, then move the speed up about 10 notches and repeat the process. If you get off track stop, and count quarter notes out loud with the metronome. Play these with one hand only as that’s the easiest. I recommend starting by playing quarter notes at a medium tempo that’s comfortable. Just like gradually increasing the speed, you have to go through various levels of difficulty to get comfortable with the metronome. The way I overcome this in my teaching is simply to make it as easy as possible. The metronome allows you to measure exactly how much you’re increasing the speed of a given exercise or musical passage, so you can work it gradually, a little at a time.Īnother reason it’s hard to get students to practice with a metronome is that it’s simply very difficult for them in the beginning. We simply weren’t ready to play it this fast yet. Now it’s incredible difficult because without knowing it we’ve doubled our speed. Then we decide to play it a little faster. We can play an exercise easily at one tempo. The same thing happens when we don’t practice with a metronome. Now I say to my personal trainer, or weight lifting partner, “Let’s increase the weight.” We don’t measure the weight we put on the bar bell in any way, so all of the sudden, without knowing it, we jump from 100 lbs to 300 lbs. Let’s say I can easily bench press 100 lbs. I usually use the analogy of weight lifting when trying to explain the scientific nature of this method of practicing. But none of these has ever proved as effective for developing your inner sense of time as practicing with a metronome. You can play along with a drum machine or other rhythm track. Yes there are other ways to develop your time. I’ve had to suppress a chuckle several times in my teaching when students have told me that they don’t like practicing with a metronome because it slows down and speeds up all the time! I’ve had to patiently explain that it’s not the metronome, it’s the student. Practicing with a metronome is simply the best way to develop your sense of time. The drummer simply has more control over this than anyone else in the group. If a drummer can’t keep time, it’s virtually impossible for a band to play together. If a trumpet player’s time in a band isn’t perfect, most people won’t notice. ![]() I explain to my students that when you’re playing drum-set in a group, you’re usually replacing the conductor. In many styles of music, including rock, pop, country, jazz, funk, blues, latin and marching music, the drums really drive the tune. Good time is important for all musicians but it’s especially crucial for drummers. The first is that they simply don’t understand the importance of good time for a percussionist and how practicing with a metronome will help them to develop it. I have always found in my teaching that it’s usually difficult to get students to practice with a metronome. ![]()
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