Patience, dedication and hard work are all called for to learn to play the drum or any other musical instrument. It takes years of practice learning the drum, despite the fact that many professionals make it look easy. However, even the great drummers had to start somewhere and learn to play, and if you want to be a drummer, you should persevere and learning the drum online can be one of the easiest ways to master the instrument. The following tips can help you.
Reading Drum Notation
Many people learn to play drums without first learning how to read sheet music. However, you should not take this course of action, because it usually limits your ability to experiment with various music styles and beats. By experimenting with different musical genres, you can improve your technical acumen and level of skill. The good news is that reading sheet music is not difficult. To begin, you need to comprehend sheet music terms like tempo. In simple terms, "tempo" denotes the pace at which music or drums are played.
Sheet music uses five horizontal lines, along which the music notes are placed, as well as one note and number to show the tempo. The time signature consists of two numbers, and each beat's worth is indicated by the number on the top, while the number of beats per bar is shown by the lower number; the time signature is an important drum notation to understand. To prepare physically and mentally to play the drum, get into the habit of reading the drum notes a little ahead of the ones you are playing at the moment, which are indicated by drum keys.
Develop Good Rhythm
Rhythm can mean the difference between superb and substandard music. Drummers must develop an excellent sense of rhythm in order to ensure that all other aspects of the music remain properly synchronized. It should be noted that music which lacks rhythm is merely noise. Unfortunately, no shortcut to good rhythm development exists for drummers. Thus, you must repeatedly practice until you get the hang of it. For example, you may set a tempo on your metronome and then try to play at the pre-set tempo. You should, however, avoid the temptation to set a rapid tempo in the beginning. Instead, begin slowly and then gradually increase the tempo as you build confidence in your drum-playing skill. You may also try to play along to pre-recorded music. This helps you cultivate a sharp sense of rhythm and timing.
Improve Your Technique
Today's drummers use both their hands and feet to play the drums, although in the past most drums were played only by hand. The heel up and the heel down techniques of drumming are two widely used examples of drumming techniques involving the feet that you will need to master.
The heel-up method involves application of the entire leg's weight to the foot pedal in order to strike the drum. It is a wise practice to keep the heel of your feet one to two inches above the floor. On the other hand, the heel-down method entails application of force to the foot pedal of your drum by using the muscles of your calf and ankle joints.
It can be difficult for beginners to master the heel down technique, and to do so you will need to keep your feet constantly in contact with the surface of the foot pedal. Staying relaxed and practicing as much as possible is the key to success, although you should also have your feet in an ergonomically correct and natural position.
Get a Practice Kit
Improving and sharpening your drum-playing skills demands practice. However, drums produce lots of noise. Thus, you may find irate neighbors at your door if you live in a block of apartments. One way to avoid this is buying a practice pad kit. Unlike actual drums, practice pad kits contain rubber-covered wooden blocks. This enables them to be played much more quietly, and you may practice often without disturbing your neighbors. You may also purchase sound-off pads to put on top of your drums.
Practice is definitely the key to learning the drum and becoming skilled, although it is admittedly not the easiest instrument to learn. Reading and understanding drum notation, followed by developing good rhythm is the way to go, and this will improve your overall technique. A practice pad kit will allow you to get in as much practice as you need without driving the neighbors crazy.
Reading Drum Notation
Many people learn to play drums without first learning how to read sheet music. However, you should not take this course of action, because it usually limits your ability to experiment with various music styles and beats. By experimenting with different musical genres, you can improve your technical acumen and level of skill. The good news is that reading sheet music is not difficult. To begin, you need to comprehend sheet music terms like tempo. In simple terms, "tempo" denotes the pace at which music or drums are played.
Sheet music uses five horizontal lines, along which the music notes are placed, as well as one note and number to show the tempo. The time signature consists of two numbers, and each beat's worth is indicated by the number on the top, while the number of beats per bar is shown by the lower number; the time signature is an important drum notation to understand. To prepare physically and mentally to play the drum, get into the habit of reading the drum notes a little ahead of the ones you are playing at the moment, which are indicated by drum keys.
Develop Good Rhythm
Rhythm can mean the difference between superb and substandard music. Drummers must develop an excellent sense of rhythm in order to ensure that all other aspects of the music remain properly synchronized. It should be noted that music which lacks rhythm is merely noise. Unfortunately, no shortcut to good rhythm development exists for drummers. Thus, you must repeatedly practice until you get the hang of it. For example, you may set a tempo on your metronome and then try to play at the pre-set tempo. You should, however, avoid the temptation to set a rapid tempo in the beginning. Instead, begin slowly and then gradually increase the tempo as you build confidence in your drum-playing skill. You may also try to play along to pre-recorded music. This helps you cultivate a sharp sense of rhythm and timing.
Improve Your Technique
Today's drummers use both their hands and feet to play the drums, although in the past most drums were played only by hand. The heel up and the heel down techniques of drumming are two widely used examples of drumming techniques involving the feet that you will need to master.
The heel-up method involves application of the entire leg's weight to the foot pedal in order to strike the drum. It is a wise practice to keep the heel of your feet one to two inches above the floor. On the other hand, the heel-down method entails application of force to the foot pedal of your drum by using the muscles of your calf and ankle joints.
It can be difficult for beginners to master the heel down technique, and to do so you will need to keep your feet constantly in contact with the surface of the foot pedal. Staying relaxed and practicing as much as possible is the key to success, although you should also have your feet in an ergonomically correct and natural position.
Get a Practice Kit
Improving and sharpening your drum-playing skills demands practice. However, drums produce lots of noise. Thus, you may find irate neighbors at your door if you live in a block of apartments. One way to avoid this is buying a practice pad kit. Unlike actual drums, practice pad kits contain rubber-covered wooden blocks. This enables them to be played much more quietly, and you may practice often without disturbing your neighbors. You may also purchase sound-off pads to put on top of your drums.
Practice is definitely the key to learning the drum and becoming skilled, although it is admittedly not the easiest instrument to learn. Reading and understanding drum notation, followed by developing good rhythm is the way to go, and this will improve your overall technique. A practice pad kit will allow you to get in as much practice as you need without driving the neighbors crazy.
About the Author:
Daniel Sears is an expert in drum playing for several years, who is giving is experience, reviews and knowledge through is own website blog. if you want to know more about it, you can visit is drum site. if you want get more info and reviews about learning the drum, you can go visit is learning the drum reviews, videos and articles pages.
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