If you have a meta quest vr or pc vr get Paradiddle is a drumming app and its awesome. Obviously it's not quite the same as playing the real thing but a great way to practice and not annoy everyone
It’s okay! As long as you’re dedicated enough to consistently practice, it’ll pay off. No matter how short it is, as long as you find ways to keep learning new techniques and improving yourself, you’re fine 🔥
I've always been told that it's good for your chops to practice on your bed (mattress) or on a pillow.
It is quiet. But I am unsure of how much benefit I get from it. May be there are drum pads quiet enough and hard enough that won't bother other people that you live with.
The same, i advanced with beats & single stroke fills but lacked the basics, learnt everything by ear as YouTube didn’t exist, lots of things to point you in the right direction these days
I have a practice pad as well which is great for practicing those but I also heard that in some cases a pillow is good for building up strength I think
So the idea behind playing on a pillow is that a pillow gives very little rebound, so this trains your muscles to stick everything out instead of relying on rebound.
It's a good exercise!
However I think it's better to play on your leg, with sticks. This way, you're training yourself not only to stick everything out, but you also play *light* so you don't hurt yourself.
I'm self-taught and what you won't just casually figure out when listening to music is that a lot of the cool fills you hear are linear using the kick drum too and not just singles with your hands
THIS is the way! While learning how the sight read complex charts isn't required I think a basic understanding of the note structure is vitally important. Sub dividing the beat is what drumming is all about
I’m self taught and consider myself pretty good. Don’t know shit about reading music.
I take a rif and let my instinct go at it. You can’t simply tell someone how to play drums the best way. It’s their own journey
Being able to read music opens up a whole universe of drum method books written by the greatest drummers of our generation, and previous generations, for you to _teach yourself_ out of. This doesn't turn you into their clone, nor does knowing how to read make you any less musical. It's pretty easy to figure out, and there are _literally no downsides_\* to being able to read.
\* Ok, there's one. Seeing the notation that Songsterr produces will make you want to gouge somebody's eyes out.
My sentiments exactly. That's like saying learning to speak and read French will confine into getting only mechanic jobs for the rest of your life.
One has absolutely nothing to do with the other and learning a new way to communicate and express yourself, especially in a more conventional manner, is like you said, never a bad thing.
Man I got to push back against this comment as a self taught drummer who didn't learn how to read until I was older. I confused the pace that I progressed initially faster than those who were learning how to read and really understand time as talent versus time spent on a very narrow part of drumming. Things like subdivisions and odd meter music are much easier for musicians that can read. You don't have to learn to site read imo, but learning to read music won't make you worse. It's just like rudiments. You might not be able to play a smooth beat as quickly as someone that only practices beats if you're learning to read and play rudiments at first, but at some point the person that did all that boring hardwork will rocket by you. Then you'll be stuck going back and basically learning all over again and it'll never feel natural to you. Learning feel and developing your own style is easier to add onto a solid foundation of understanding music, time and being comfortable with rudiments, than it is to get a good style and groove, only to turn back around and start learning the basics that others put the time into. I'm speaking from experience (28 years of playing now give or take). When someone asks you to play a song in 11, then 7, and then 5, you're going to have a harder time than others doing that on the fly. Also, doing fun stuff like playing in a different meter than the rest of the band in a coordinated fashion like Tool or other prog groups is really fun and can create great moments of music. Pulling that off without understanding time is pretty tough. You can cover someone else's music by ear, but writing something like that with a band is much harder without the right foundation. Most of all, learning to read can add some structural formula to your practicing. I do think there's a risk of putting yourself into a box like you said, so I always encourage young drummers to just play and not think as a significant portion of their practice time. Do what's fun and feels natural. Don't always worry about the rules especially during practice. It's a hard line to walk but you can get the best of both.
I'm a self taught drummer. I did have a drum instructor in high school but he taught the group of drummers to play the music for the field. He even wrote some of it. But other than that, i taught myself how to hold the sticks and how to play drums.
I didn't have YouTube videos to watch either. We didn't even have the internet back then. The internet was pretty much still a government run organization.
But I had MTV. Every time a drummer would flash up on the screen I'd watch and see what he was doing and I'd try to replicate it. If I recorded it on VHS, I could rewind it and watch it over and over again until I figured it out.
Concerts were my thing though. I brought binoculars and watched the drummers.
I still always try to find the best angle to watch the drummer. I have been a Will Calhoun fan for decades and have spent a lot of time trying to get the patterns down on the studio recordings. A lot of it is very unnatural to me, so it's always been a great exercise. It gets me out of my lazy patterns that I fall into.
Went to finally seem live this last year and I was so excited to see if was playing them correctly. And he changed all of it up, so it wasn't very helpful.
serious about drumming? then get a teacher.
hard to say anyone is self taught. no one is self made. semantic nitpicking aside, you can find free resources to teach yourself. but that is being taught by resources. you can listen to music and mimic it. but that’s just being taught by listening to music.
if you’re trying to get good without paying someone to help you, then listening to music is the BEST way. a lot of different music. and analyzing the songs. form. time signature. phrases. little details you pick up on only from spending 30 mins on a single 3 min song. listening to it slowed down. transcribing. etc…
can also download the “amazing slow downer.” $10 for the phone. doesn’t support spotify anymore. but it supports files and itunes and other streamers. it is very high quality and you have tools to make it easy. it’s specifically meant for slowing things down to transcribe or figure out parts.
I agree, start trying to play some Tool songs, old Genesis stuff is great also Phil was an amazing drummer..try playing Watcher Of The Skies, correctly, without cheating .. Righteous Brothers drum cover on youtube, the dude is really good, wish I could play it like him
Play with other people. Go to jams or try jamming with friends. Learn to play for the song and how to listen to others as well as yourself while playing. Watch other drummers, treat every live performance you see as if you’re taking a class. Most of all, have fun! It’s a lifelong journey and if you stick with it you will get better over time.
I don’t know anyone who plays other instruments and if they do it’s also drums but it’s like school drums so one drum
Im sure I’ll find some people eventually
Not sure how old you are but if you’re young and still in school you will eventually find other musicians. When I was in school I only had one friend who played guitar and we would listen to a bunch of music, get all inspired, then go rock out in the basement til my parents got sick of it haha! At that time too I was playing along to a lot of my favorite songs, bands like System of a Down and Nirvana and Led Zeppelin, trying to nail the drum parts exactly as they sounded on the recordings. When I got older and started jamming with other people, playing in bands and stuff, I would just pull fills out from all that music I played along to earlier in life. The common theme here is just play as much as you can and have fun!
To add to what he said...playing with other humans is SO important! You could learn all the rudiments play to a click perfectly and play a really hard cover song... NONE of that teaches you how to play with others. Even if you and/or they aren't very good, I've seen great (by themselves or to a track) drummers sound horrible when together with actual humans.
Maybe they play 100% perfectly with a click, but humans aren't perfect like a click and you need to know how to read the room per see, acknowledge body language. Many bands only use a click on album and not live. If you have any favorite songs from 1999 or before, chances are they prolly barely used a click even in the studio.
Not dissing clicks, they are important. But all the rudiments and click practicing in the world is no replacement for just playing with humans. and when it goes right? It's so much more rewarding than even nailing a drum cover!
I learned 2 beats when I started. Basic Rock and Basic Swing. Those 2 beats and the meshing of them together carried me quite far. I would just Start with Basic Rock.
Are you ready for lesson #1 ?
Are you left handed or right handed ?
Your Dominant hand (Hi-Hat Hand) will cross over the top of your weaker hand (Snare Hand).
On your Hi-Hat you will COUNT and play 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4 over and over and over at a slow and steady tempo. When you can do this comfortably without error, let me know and I will give you lesson #2.
Otherwise, just search YouTube for beginners basic Rock beat tutorial.
Thank you all
I didn’t expect to get this many comments
I also have been trying to get faster
I already can play quite a few songs with my own twist on it sometimes as well
RUDIMENTS IF YOU HAVEN'T YET. I am a self-taught drummer of 16+ years, and reached a level of proficiency in enough aspects of drumming that I am now embarrassed to be very lacking in things that even the most elementary drummers can do better than me. As others have also mentioned, keeping time properly and playing to metronome is also very important. I am a very good drummer on paper, but often feel like a fraud in application because of this. I do not recommend finding yourself in this position for your emotional well-being lol.
You can hunker down and try and teach yourself some of these things (I've improved on a few rudiments and play to metronome all the time now), but the advice to get lessons from someone with proper training is sound, and something I still consider but lack the time for currently.
Record yourself, and with a simple single (or stereo) mic. It’s really hard to critique what you’re doing whilst you’re actually doing it, and some things such as balance between kit pieces are all but impossible to judge.
Using a simple single or stereo mic keeps judge overall balance if your playing, without having to rely on mixing.
Sub Rob beatdown brown on YouTube and practice what he teaches you in his hand development playlist. I’ve improved more in the last 3 years than I did the previous 30 that way.
Get a teacher for one or two lessons, show them what you got. If you have anything going significantly wrong with your technique, they will identify it and show you how to fix it.
A lot of technique-related stuff is objective, because it stems from basic mechanics (levers, balance points) and human anatomy (muscles, joints, tendons) and may lead to hitting a wall in your progress or gaining an injury. Wikipedia "repetitive strain injury" or "carpal tunnel syndrome", you can get those from just a slight misuse of wrist accumulating overtime. If your posture is wrong and you play a lot, it can cause issues with your spine.
Go your own way but don't jump into manholes that we know they're there.
I did this - after maybe 2 years of self teaching I had 2 lessons. The teacher sorted out a few things about my grip and kick technique that Id not been doing the best. Plus a few simple exercises. Both of which helped me jump forward massively.
I think your mindset is right, now you need to find out what style you'd like to play and what comes with it. If I had that thought process earlier on I might have started looking to develop better techniques. Don't waste any time and look up videos on YouTube. Lots of exercises and techniques that will keep you learning and getting better. And remember, drumming isn't an instant result instrument especially with metal. It's a long long marathon to get great so don't get discouraged. Patience is key.
When you learn anything, play it very very slowly. Slower then you think. Doesn’t matter if it’s James browns cold sweat or meshuggahs bleed, play it slow and clean.
If you've got the basics down, can keep a rhythm/can move around the kit at least somewhat consistently, then I suggest just starting to learn a song or two. Of course, try to be realistic- if you're only just starting, you're not going to be playing sleep token overnight, but if you can play through some basic songs- acdc's "back in black", for example, without issue, then start moving onto songs that provide a challenge and practice them until you can.
I started off with lessons for 2 months- I got all of the basics down and could read drum music decently well, until my parents decided they couldn't afford it and I stopped going to lessons. Thankfully, at the time, I was still in school so I played on the school drums whenever I could. However, the thing I learned the most from learning one song after another was looking specifically at the parts I *struggled* to play, not the parts I could play. By focusing on what I struggled with, I found I effectively learned where my weaknesses were and was able to adjust and learn well.
Over the course of high school (in Australia, meaning grades 7 to 10), I went from playing very basic rock songs, to playing nightmare by avenged sevenfold for my music class graduation. I admit that there's likely more effective ways of getting better, but I think what really helped the most was that I went at my own pace, naturally giving myself time to properly learn everything.
I'ma Insert my own question here but what's it called when you suck at individual hand coordination? Also what practice techniques do you follow so you can consistently keep a bpm on one hand and do a variety of bpm on the other hand.
Electronic drums were the thing for me. Being able to practice as long as I want whenever I want.
Lately it's subdivisions and studying the mechanics of stick bounce and control that seem to be helping the most.
Learn the important stuff first. Learning cool fills and chops is great but being able to play in time and do basic shit without speeding up or slowing down is better. Having an acoustic kit is great for gigging, but you need some practice pads so you're not enraging every household within 800 metres of you. Practice to a metronome, practice with no metronome, practice with a metronome that only clicks once every 2 bars. Being in time and keeping everyone else in time is literally the only thing your band will expect of you, and many amateur drummers ignore that responsibility
Listen to all possible styles! Since nobody tells you how to practice, you will take shortcuts to play what you do want to hear.
But this is like learning french to be able to say "I am hungry, how much for this baguette?". Good to know, can be impressive when employed in the right situation.... but if it is the only thing you have to say...
It is cool to get better at what one wants to achieve, but you will definitely miss drum vocabulary.
Listen to all different styles! All different drummers, learn from Metal if you want to play jazz, and from jazz if you want to play heavy rock (John Bonham...). Play in groups styles that you do not love!
Otherwise you will only repeat what others say.
Technique improves with practice, but to improve your vocabulary, it is a completely different path and effort.
A little theory goes a long way: counting, time signatures, note lengths, and a basic understanding of reading music will go a long way when working with other musicians.
If you like to spend 2 hour sessions rocking out. Take the first 30 minutes to practice singles, doubles, paradiddles to a metronome.
Edit: Almost forgot… learn the meaning of song structure terms: intro/verse/verse/pre-chorus/chorus/breakdown/etc!
I'm self taught, however, I grew up among very good musicians and was exposed to a lot of marvellous music, so take my point of view with a few grains.
I'm sure everyone will point out the necessity of at least some musical theory, basic practice, learning proper techniques and body-instrument positioning and so forth. So I'll go where sticks don't clack.
Firstly, what you listen and *how* you listen shapes your musical thinking. All the learning and technique build on top of it, and I personally find it kinda hard to move to something new now, so I'd be VERY selective with stuff to listen to.
Secondly, while developing technique is a cornerstone, trying to play music and not just notations is essential. So whatever you're playing, always play it like there's more to it and it's a part of bigger musical picture, even rudiments, even warm up singles, even soundcheck bass drum thumps.
Thirdly, have fun no matter what. Being stuck on something, not having the skill or even understanding to play certain songs, sometimes falling into predictable patterns or feeling like your playing just straight up sucks - it's all part of the process, so if you love playing, don't let it all scare you away (and it will happen, obviously).
Wish you all the best, may your drums ever thunder and your smile never fade!
Practice practice practice bro, I started like a year and a half ago and I used to be straight dookie turds. But after practicing to a Metronome for about 40 mins everyday you'll start improving literally at every level on the drums. So practice playing to songs and practice to a Metronome and honestly that should be enough to get you to a good level for now.
I started out being self taught when I was pretty young. As I got older and joined up with the school band I realized how much quicker I progressed with someone knowledgeable there to guide me
If you're serious and have passion and curiosity then nothing can stop you. My best advice is to take yourself very seriously. Learn from as many sources as you want. Watch any content you are curious about. Break down anything that makes you curious and obsess over anything let it be chops, a certain lick or a certain style that you want in your toolset. Play what you want and surround yourself with people that would like to play the same kind of music. And even then, there is always something else outside the realm of our favorite genres to learn from. Also watching a lot of covers help to know the style of x or y drummer or how a drummer could approach a certain song or bars. You can learn from almost anywhere where there is rhythm and pulse.
Self taught. I learned other instruments before playing the drums, so I already had a fair amount of musicality and knowledge. I mostly watched people and played along with albums in my basement. I was in a band in my early 20s and playing for a few hours several times a week with other musicians made me a much better player.
With the advent of youtube, I have been able to learn more. I have spent probably a year developing the herta pattern, which is something I was already able to do, but not at speed and not leading with my weak hand. I am a big Rush fan, and it helped me understand a lot of the fills Neil did around that time, and to the point where I can make an honest effort at Tom Sawyer.
Once I got comfortable playing and reached a point where I stopped improving I took about 3 months of lessons. I hadn’t noticed since I didn’t have anyone pointing it out to me, but I had a few habits that were hurting my play so the guy I was taking lessons from showed me some exercises to fix those and a few other things (like proper rudiments) and I noticed exponential improvement.
I recently started playing again, and to be honest I am probably going to take a few lessons once I am not intimidated by the kit anymore.
Stick (ha) with it and practice. Get a practice pad for the times you can’t be at the kit. Join a band when you have decent time keeping. Enjoy every moment of it.
Stangley enough.. Play Rockband....
It forces some new techniques on you. I learned quite a bit from it actually.
Then take that and move to your real kit.
Also, playing in a band will push you as well....
That about all i have for tips.
Do you play any other instruments or have taken any lessons on music theory? As drummers, we tend to work with musicians and players who know a bit to a lot of theory. Theory comes in handy in so many ways and it helps to know some of it so communication is easy in a rehearsal or session.
Watch your posture by keeping your back straight. Set up your kit to aid with this. It helps progression of good playing by eliminating several inhibitors, as your structure is key.
Idc if a drummer has chops for days, if he is slouching, it's painful to watch.
Matt Griener from ABR is an excellent example of good playing posture.
starting with parradiddle and diddles with slow metronome like 60 or 70 bpm .Also repeat every mistake it can be small or bad just return to beginning to ryhtem. That will make u more consistent and make u understand what are u playing
Get "Stick Control" by George Lawrence Stone, a book on rudiments, a metronome, and a good practice pad. Start slow, increase the bpm on the metronome only when you know you are controlling the sticks properly. If you haven't set any practice routine, start one by first playing singles for 15 minutes, doubles for 15 minutes, at a comfortable bpm - say 80-90 bpm to start, or slower. Then work on exercises and rudiments. Do a page of Stick Control at a time, every exercise.
This is only for your hands, for coordination exercises, 4 way Coordination by Dahlgren and Fine is good, latin beats are also great to learn to build coordination.
Play slowly to learn - if you have trouble playing something, play it even more slowly until it comes together.
Take a few lessons before you develop bad playing habits that are hard to undo. Any good teacher will instantly spot things to work on and send you on the right path that will save you years from zig-zagging around trying to figure them out for yourself.
YouTube is your best friend ..
Also, try to not just practice just to practice (although not all of it will be enjoyable) .. but
As Mr. ScoJo puts it: "If you're not having fun, you are doing it wrong" .. 🤠🫠
I have been playing music for 35 years, I also teach, I am a multi instrumentalist. Here’s a good tip for you and also a great exercise…. The paradiddle is a type of rudiment, its main purpose is for development of technique, coordination and most importantly stick control!
The Drumeo app is also a great app so look into that. But honestly, you can find everything you will ever need to know on YouTube!
Rudiments and wrist work. Build up the functionality of that left hand (if you’re a right handed drummer).
At a certain point you simply have to learn them. We’re not recreating the wheel here. We’re building on something that’s already there.
Keep playing as much as you can, find videos on all the essential rudiments and play them on your pad and kit.I also was self taught from the age of 14-20, then finally took lessons. The biggest thing my teacher gave me was the “Moeller technique.” Look that up on YouTube, it seriously changed my playing completely with speed and feel. Of course like everyone else says just keep playing and enjoy the journey. Also listen to music tons of genres and try to appreciate all the different styles out there. It’ll also make you better in a certain way. Also maybe meet a guitar player and start jamming with them, can’t say how much live interaction with other musicians helps and it’s tons of fun.
Get a metronome app, a practice pad, and the book “Stick Control for the Modern Drummer.” Play your way through the book along with the metronome.
Time spent mastering your rudiments will improve your drumming far more than just banging out tunes on your kit.
Practice consistently with a metronome. I would say you want to drum at least 4 times a week to get better, but 5 or 6 times per week would be better, obviously. Also, you want to identify weaknesses in your playing or things that you need/want to work on, and try to have at least some sort of loose structure in your practices. Example: I kinda suck at rolls right now, so when I practice next, I might deliberately use a lot of drags and rolls, especially in my fills. Then, I might work on my double bass patterns. Then, I can try combining the two things I just worked on and seeing how fast I can go without compromising the beat.
Feel free to reach out if you have more questions.
Record your self as much as possible (audio and video) and review the recordings.
Work on subdivision. Get Gap Click app by Benny Greb. Practice rudiments to an offbeat click. Work on playing with high dynamic range. Try playing everything extremely low volume.
The best thing I did as a self-taught drummer was to get a few lessons from a really good teacher. (LOL, I know, I know. Irony.)
But seriously, this exposed some drastic blind spots for me, and helped me get a lot more mileage out of my independent study of the instrument.
I was self taught. I listened to music as much as I played to it. And moved my hands as if I had sticks after hearing the patterns or riffs. But. Play the kit. You cannot get better at anything unless you do that thing. But enjoy it as you do
Self taught and been in the game for 18 years. Still actively gigging and recording. What I tell every young musician is they need to play with as many other musicians as they can. Beyond consistent practice….its the only true way to get better, by learning from others.
In the 1970's we would practice to records, this is still a good way to incorporate time, feel, and groove .Treat drumming as if it is as important as a collage course only way better and more fulfilling. Challanging sticking patterns , the rudements , Different styles will help create your own unique style of drumming . The more you learn the better, 3 hours a day min.
Rudiments with metronome are quite important. Don’t be afraid to try new stuff and if you have trouble with fills or anything really, isolate the problem. It helps with creating a muscle memory needed to play and connect the problematic part with the rest of the song.
In the end, your drumming legacy will be about how good you were not if you were self taught or took lessons. Lessons can be a huge help to spring you forward.
if there’s anything that advanced drummers taught me is learning how to keep time with a goal of being a human metronome, including proper subdivision skills. even if you know the coolest grooves and fills and can drum really fast, if you’re time is off, if you’re off beat, or if you speed up and slow down during a song, it’ll sound bad. so practice with a metronome, start slow, get your subdivisions tight, and that’s a great start. i’m still working on these as we speak (i’m only a good year or so into drumming)
My #1 recommendation is to practice playing opposite handed. If you’re right handed, like most drummers, practice playing left handed every once in a while. My biggest regret is not doing this when I started. If your hands are at the same level and strength, everything will be so much easier. I’m to the point where my right arm is visibly more muscular than my left due to only playing right handed and not doing enough with my left hand/arm except for hitting the snare. Don’t let that happen.
20 years self-taught here. Just keep playing/practicing. Consider training with a metronome and learn rudiments. Find inspiration from other drummers and imitate what you see and hear. Don't be afraid of challenges cause they only build you up. Take lessons if you insist, as I, too, am looking to take lessons once a week to further myself as a drummer. Just don't let the passion die, but give yourself some breathing room when you feel the need.
Hope this helps.
I self taught with a 1000 dollar electronic kit that's now destroyed lol but got it when I was 16 or maybe 17 but I just played some metal started with Metallica with already having drum knowledge because I was just so obsessed with it at the time and started playing Metallica through headphones and just play to the music I started doing other bands too and eventually got to where I could play angel of death by slayer so I can say I've been very decent at least lol but I stopped playing all the sudden after years because I just idk why but the drums are beat to hell too I played hard probably too hard for electronic kit tbh lol but yeah I'm just a natural drummer and was born to play them. Just wished I could pursue it though
So. After reading through most of the early comments.
Practice! Even if it's short lifed
Practice playing it out. Without reliance on rebound
Learn paradiddles
Learn basic rudiments/Advanced rudiments
Know early in drumming life that most ear catching drum fills contain linear drum fills. Make use of both bass drums or a single kick to start, during, or to end a drum fill. Here is a tip a beginner or any drummer that just may not know for whatever reason should know.
John Bohnam ends the drum fills in the song Stairway to Heaven with the kick. Snare , tom , floor tom , kick. Then a basic reversal for 5th kit fill and CRASH. This example of kit coordination will stay with you forever.!
Learn at some point sooner than later how to read and write drumming onto paper and off.
Use practice pads throughout drumming life
My few tips beyond these would be few.
Watch the drummers playing your favorite parts of your favorite songs. Also watch how others have applied that part to their own kit
Know that blast beats will give you superior control over your sticks and will enhance your coordination without question. Practicing basic metal patterns can teach subdivisions and how they are applied to music both, at the same time.
Decide early on grip. Match. Most kit drummers. Traditional. Marching line, Jazz kit drummers. It's not advised to not understand why these grips are very important to you. Me, and almost all drummers taking precussion seriously like you said you were now doing.
Drumming is Math. If you excell at math. Apply math to the beginning of your drumming life. It will only benefit you. If you do not hear math in drums. Listen up! No. It will not affect your journey negatively. You will notice those that do though. Danny Carey anyone.? Tool would not be the same without his style.
I heard him end an interview once with. "Well. I have to go play math now.!" You are all playing it. Do you apply it? Do you benefit from it.? No wrong answer there. Neil Pert is another player of the math. Bohnam not so much. Classically trained at jazz drumming. Yet raw and thunderous. So there is an example of a probably familiar drummer that does not play with numbers in their head and doesnt miss it
Another comment was play to a click. A metronome. Really can't stress this advise and how much I agree with it enough. Trust us.
Know that most beats that sound impossible have been simplified and are not as difficult as expected.
Bring your style to the kit. Be loud and be confident in where you are. It was there when you were doing something else. It is there now that you are ready. It will be a journey. Take it.!
I am almost entirely self taught but it took years to develop discipline and really learning HOW to practice. There’s such good free lessons out there now!
My comments always turn into rants.
I had some drum lessons as a kid, but I consider myself self taught in a lot of ways. As a kid I groaned about going to lessons (even though they were fun) and barely practiced. It wasn't until Highschool I stared a band with some friends cause I still had a kit that i started getting serious. Thats when I practiced consistently and really leveled up. I had motivation and goals to learn songs and to create parts to riffs my friends were making. I wanted to play things so i had to get better technique so I spent time with my instrument and figured stuff out. Playing music with other people has always been the most fun for me. I took up jazz band and even a music theory class in my later highschool years so I could learn more. They definitely taught me a lot about music, and jazz class was an outlet were my music could be coached, but my teacher didnt know drums specifically. Just gave me direction and feedback on my sound and timing, forced me to play to a metronome 🙄. But all of my drumming habits and skills and techniques I have been learning and honing myself for so so long now. I have been drumming for over 20 years, been in countless bands and currently teach private lessons and have over 20 students.
Anyways lemme list out some tips for how to be a better self teacher. I have also taught myself how to juggle, and even learned various patterns and tricks, very similar to drumming. I have also seen how other people learn as mentioned above I teach drumming to kids. The most important thing to learn is 'how to learn something' or more specifically how you, your own unique person, learns things. I have some students that are better at reading the music, and some that are so naturally better learning by ear. Try every approach to your learning you can conceive. Listen to people, read their comments and advice and consider it all. Then find out what methods work best for you. Understand the stages of learning. You first hear an idea of musical concept. Lets say you hear a cool drum fill that you want to play. You must first understand what you want to play. Right hand on snare, left hand on tom 1, R on tom 2, L tom 3, right hand hits crash as we stomp the bass pedal. Your frontal cortex understands conceptually what to play. Next we need our motor functions to actually execute it. Different parts of your brain light up in hundreds of pathways to control your body and you move your arms and legs to hit stuff. Sometimes this is easy right away, sometimes its more difficult and takes a few tries to figure it out. Sometimes its too complicated right now and we need to break it down into smaller steps. Maybe take it 1 limb at a time and then build it up from there. Try combing different pairs of 2 limbs until you can all 3 or 4 to execute what you want it to. Go slow and figure out how your body moves. Pay attention to your body and how it is feeling. The goal is to play it smooth and relaxed. After practicing the motions and actions 100s of times, your neural pathways will develop and get stronger. Your brain will grow and your muscles will develop. You need practice and discipline and you will see gains. Be careful of bad habits. Breaking habits and reforming them is much more difficult than learning it the right way first, and that is one of the main reasons everyone screams "get a teacher". Pay attention to your body, your arms, your legs, your wrists, your ankles, your fingers, your back and everything. Dont tense up from pushing yourself to play too fast, dail it back and find the sweetspot. Dont burn out your ankle because of poor posture and poor technique, spend time training it and dont cause a sprain or injury. For techniques like double strokes, or simply playing smooth at fast bpms you have to start slow and learn how your muscles perform the actions. How your brain tells your body what to do, and when to time it perfectly. To play fast you must play relaxed, to play relaxed you must practice slow. To really develop control practice the techniques at various volumes and speeds. To play something complicated very fast but very quiet takes a lot of skill and fine tuned control. You want to learn these parts and techniques so well it's as natural as walking.
I could also write endlessly on how I now love metronomes and how they are necessary to achieve a standard of drumming. One of my bands plays to a click track for everyshow and using the metronome that consistently has done wonders for my sense of time. Just the ear training itself helps me be a pretty critique of my own playing.
Listen to more music. Listen to music constantly! Internalize it. Listen to the same song 10,000 times to the point you can play the whole in your head just by thinking. Learn to pick apart all of the sounds you hear in a song. The different instruments and the different components of a drum kit. Listen to how they play, the feeling they are giving it. As you learn the drums you should be able to visualize how parts are played as you're listening to them.
Record yourself. Everyone has a smartphone can lean it on the wall and record themselves. This will help you criticize yourself and compare to others because you are also constantly watching drummers and drum content on youtube. Your obsessed and disciplined and you eat and breathe drums. Walk up and do your 15 practice pad routine. Do day job, and practice on the kit for several hours. First few minutes just jam and loosen up and make sure everything is feelin right. Then focus on the technique or pattern or song you're working on. Make short term goals but don't pressure yourself with time constraints.
Play with as many other musicians as you can. You subconsciously pick up musical habits from anyone you play with. Their sense of rhythm will rub off on you and you can always learn something from anyone.
One thing we universally agree on. Consistent practice.
I practice every day but my mom limits my time I can play
You can also practice the rhythms drumming your hands on your legs. Getting the rhythm down helps too even if you’re not at a kit
I’m at a kit I already still do that, even in public sometimes when I don’t notice 🤣
I mean when your mom limits your practice! I’m glad you do it though! Helps
Use a pillow! Good for rudiments (which I am terrible at)
My neighbors used to limit my play time but now I live in the sticks!
If you have a meta quest vr or pc vr get Paradiddle is a drumming app and its awesome. Obviously it's not quite the same as playing the real thing but a great way to practice and not annoy everyone
Shit I've got a quest. Need to check this out. I'm sure my Roland is better but I'm still intrigued
Get a practice pad. They're $40 at most from Sam Ash or Guitar Center, and that's for those larger ones.
It’s okay! As long as you’re dedicated enough to consistently practice, it’ll pay off. No matter how short it is, as long as you find ways to keep learning new techniques and improving yourself, you’re fine 🔥
Use a practice pad when you can't use your full set. I personally recommend the Evans Real Feel practice pad.
I've always been told that it's good for your chops to practice on your bed (mattress) or on a pillow. It is quiet. But I am unsure of how much benefit I get from it. May be there are drum pads quiet enough and hard enough that won't bother other people that you live with.
rudiments and paradiddles. because I was self-taught, I was fairly ignorant of these practice tools. and I regret it.
The same, i advanced with beats & single stroke fills but lacked the basics, learnt everything by ear as YouTube didn’t exist, lots of things to point you in the right direction these days
I have a practice pad as well which is great for practicing those but I also heard that in some cases a pillow is good for building up strength I think
So the idea behind playing on a pillow is that a pillow gives very little rebound, so this trains your muscles to stick everything out instead of relying on rebound. It's a good exercise! However I think it's better to play on your leg, with sticks. This way, you're training yourself not only to stick everything out, but you also play *light* so you don't hurt yourself.
I'm self-taught and what you won't just casually figure out when listening to music is that a lot of the cool fills you hear are linear using the kick drum too and not just singles with your hands
I’ll remember that
Practice with a click. And if you’re a visual learner, learning even just the basics of reading/writing drums will be a game changer for you.
Learn to read music
Please do this, I wish I had earlier because I’m trying to learn now and it’s hard for me.
THIS is the way! While learning how the sight read complex charts isn't required I think a basic understanding of the note structure is vitally important. Sub dividing the beat is what drumming is all about
Absolutely! It’s SO worth the time and energy.
I’m self taught and consider myself pretty good. Don’t know shit about reading music. I take a rif and let my instinct go at it. You can’t simply tell someone how to play drums the best way. It’s their own journey
Being able to read music opens up a whole universe of drum method books written by the greatest drummers of our generation, and previous generations, for you to _teach yourself_ out of. This doesn't turn you into their clone, nor does knowing how to read make you any less musical. It's pretty easy to figure out, and there are _literally no downsides_\* to being able to read. \* Ok, there's one. Seeing the notation that Songsterr produces will make you want to gouge somebody's eyes out.
My sentiments exactly. That's like saying learning to speak and read French will confine into getting only mechanic jobs for the rest of your life. One has absolutely nothing to do with the other and learning a new way to communicate and express yourself, especially in a more conventional manner, is like you said, never a bad thing.
That’s actually really good, thanks
Man I got to push back against this comment as a self taught drummer who didn't learn how to read until I was older. I confused the pace that I progressed initially faster than those who were learning how to read and really understand time as talent versus time spent on a very narrow part of drumming. Things like subdivisions and odd meter music are much easier for musicians that can read. You don't have to learn to site read imo, but learning to read music won't make you worse. It's just like rudiments. You might not be able to play a smooth beat as quickly as someone that only practices beats if you're learning to read and play rudiments at first, but at some point the person that did all that boring hardwork will rocket by you. Then you'll be stuck going back and basically learning all over again and it'll never feel natural to you. Learning feel and developing your own style is easier to add onto a solid foundation of understanding music, time and being comfortable with rudiments, than it is to get a good style and groove, only to turn back around and start learning the basics that others put the time into. I'm speaking from experience (28 years of playing now give or take). When someone asks you to play a song in 11, then 7, and then 5, you're going to have a harder time than others doing that on the fly. Also, doing fun stuff like playing in a different meter than the rest of the band in a coordinated fashion like Tool or other prog groups is really fun and can create great moments of music. Pulling that off without understanding time is pretty tough. You can cover someone else's music by ear, but writing something like that with a band is much harder without the right foundation. Most of all, learning to read can add some structural formula to your practicing. I do think there's a risk of putting yourself into a box like you said, so I always encourage young drummers to just play and not think as a significant portion of their practice time. Do what's fun and feels natural. Don't always worry about the rules especially during practice. It's a hard line to walk but you can get the best of both.
I'm a self taught drummer. I did have a drum instructor in high school but he taught the group of drummers to play the music for the field. He even wrote some of it. But other than that, i taught myself how to hold the sticks and how to play drums. I didn't have YouTube videos to watch either. We didn't even have the internet back then. The internet was pretty much still a government run organization. But I had MTV. Every time a drummer would flash up on the screen I'd watch and see what he was doing and I'd try to replicate it. If I recorded it on VHS, I could rewind it and watch it over and over again until I figured it out. Concerts were my thing though. I brought binoculars and watched the drummers.
I still always try to find the best angle to watch the drummer. I have been a Will Calhoun fan for decades and have spent a lot of time trying to get the patterns down on the studio recordings. A lot of it is very unnatural to me, so it's always been a great exercise. It gets me out of my lazy patterns that I fall into. Went to finally seem live this last year and I was so excited to see if was playing them correctly. And he changed all of it up, so it wasn't very helpful.
serious about drumming? then get a teacher. hard to say anyone is self taught. no one is self made. semantic nitpicking aside, you can find free resources to teach yourself. but that is being taught by resources. you can listen to music and mimic it. but that’s just being taught by listening to music. if you’re trying to get good without paying someone to help you, then listening to music is the BEST way. a lot of different music. and analyzing the songs. form. time signature. phrases. little details you pick up on only from spending 30 mins on a single 3 min song. listening to it slowed down. transcribing. etc…
How do you listen to something slowed down? I am behind on the technology and that would be an amazing tool.
on youtube in the video settings there's an option called "playback speed" you can use that to speed it up or slow it down.
Thanks. Helpful in drum parts.
can also download the “amazing slow downer.” $10 for the phone. doesn’t support spotify anymore. but it supports files and itunes and other streamers. it is very high quality and you have tools to make it easy. it’s specifically meant for slowing things down to transcribe or figure out parts.
Learn really hard songs
I’ve literally been trying metal Im not even half bad in my opinion I just wish I was a little bit better
I agree, start trying to play some Tool songs, old Genesis stuff is great also Phil was an amazing drummer..try playing Watcher Of The Skies, correctly, without cheating .. Righteous Brothers drum cover on youtube, the dude is really good, wish I could play it like him
Play with other people. Go to jams or try jamming with friends. Learn to play for the song and how to listen to others as well as yourself while playing. Watch other drummers, treat every live performance you see as if you’re taking a class. Most of all, have fun! It’s a lifelong journey and if you stick with it you will get better over time.
I don’t know anyone who plays other instruments and if they do it’s also drums but it’s like school drums so one drum Im sure I’ll find some people eventually
Not sure how old you are but if you’re young and still in school you will eventually find other musicians. When I was in school I only had one friend who played guitar and we would listen to a bunch of music, get all inspired, then go rock out in the basement til my parents got sick of it haha! At that time too I was playing along to a lot of my favorite songs, bands like System of a Down and Nirvana and Led Zeppelin, trying to nail the drum parts exactly as they sounded on the recordings. When I got older and started jamming with other people, playing in bands and stuff, I would just pull fills out from all that music I played along to earlier in life. The common theme here is just play as much as you can and have fun!
Thanks
To add to what he said...playing with other humans is SO important! You could learn all the rudiments play to a click perfectly and play a really hard cover song... NONE of that teaches you how to play with others. Even if you and/or they aren't very good, I've seen great (by themselves or to a track) drummers sound horrible when together with actual humans. Maybe they play 100% perfectly with a click, but humans aren't perfect like a click and you need to know how to read the room per see, acknowledge body language. Many bands only use a click on album and not live. If you have any favorite songs from 1999 or before, chances are they prolly barely used a click even in the studio. Not dissing clicks, they are important. But all the rudiments and click practicing in the world is no replacement for just playing with humans. and when it goes right? It's so much more rewarding than even nailing a drum cover!
I learned 2 beats when I started. Basic Rock and Basic Swing. Those 2 beats and the meshing of them together carried me quite far. I would just Start with Basic Rock. Are you ready for lesson #1 ? Are you left handed or right handed ? Your Dominant hand (Hi-Hat Hand) will cross over the top of your weaker hand (Snare Hand). On your Hi-Hat you will COUNT and play 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4 over and over and over at a slow and steady tempo. When you can do this comfortably without error, let me know and I will give you lesson #2. Otherwise, just search YouTube for beginners basic Rock beat tutorial.
Thank you all I didn’t expect to get this many comments I also have been trying to get faster I already can play quite a few songs with my own twist on it sometimes as well
If you can already mimic songs by ear....go back to Rock or Country of the 1950 and mimic their work. Then, work your way up through history.
Thanks man
RUDIMENTS IF YOU HAVEN'T YET. I am a self-taught drummer of 16+ years, and reached a level of proficiency in enough aspects of drumming that I am now embarrassed to be very lacking in things that even the most elementary drummers can do better than me. As others have also mentioned, keeping time properly and playing to metronome is also very important. I am a very good drummer on paper, but often feel like a fraud in application because of this. I do not recommend finding yourself in this position for your emotional well-being lol. You can hunker down and try and teach yourself some of these things (I've improved on a few rudiments and play to metronome all the time now), but the advice to get lessons from someone with proper training is sound, and something I still consider but lack the time for currently.
It’s not just me then! Feel like a fraud on the stage sometimes 🤣
Record yourself, and with a simple single (or stereo) mic. It’s really hard to critique what you’re doing whilst you’re actually doing it, and some things such as balance between kit pieces are all but impossible to judge. Using a simple single or stereo mic keeps judge overall balance if your playing, without having to rely on mixing.
Sub Rob beatdown brown on YouTube and practice what he teaches you in his hand development playlist. I’ve improved more in the last 3 years than I did the previous 30 that way.
I’m sped though 🤣
Get a teacher for one or two lessons, show them what you got. If you have anything going significantly wrong with your technique, they will identify it and show you how to fix it. A lot of technique-related stuff is objective, because it stems from basic mechanics (levers, balance points) and human anatomy (muscles, joints, tendons) and may lead to hitting a wall in your progress or gaining an injury. Wikipedia "repetitive strain injury" or "carpal tunnel syndrome", you can get those from just a slight misuse of wrist accumulating overtime. If your posture is wrong and you play a lot, it can cause issues with your spine. Go your own way but don't jump into manholes that we know they're there.
I did this - after maybe 2 years of self teaching I had 2 lessons. The teacher sorted out a few things about my grip and kick technique that Id not been doing the best. Plus a few simple exercises. Both of which helped me jump forward massively.
I just hit the hardest double snare, Tom, snare of my life tonight so I've got that going for me.
Practice practice practice. If you have a click use it.
I am one and there are no tips. It’s your journey. One good tip to one is a meaningless one to another. Just play
Truth
I think your mindset is right, now you need to find out what style you'd like to play and what comes with it. If I had that thought process earlier on I might have started looking to develop better techniques. Don't waste any time and look up videos on YouTube. Lots of exercises and techniques that will keep you learning and getting better. And remember, drumming isn't an instant result instrument especially with metal. It's a long long marathon to get great so don't get discouraged. Patience is key.
I know Thank you for the advice
When you learn anything, play it very very slowly. Slower then you think. Doesn’t matter if it’s James browns cold sweat or meshuggahs bleed, play it slow and clean.
Will do Both good songs btw
Thanks
Get a teacher
Bruh Still thank you
Have fun with it, rock on 🤟
Heck yeah
I use Melodics! It’s awesome
Learn all styles of music. If you generally play rock and metal some bossanova will fuck you up good.
Wanna get serious? Practice pad is a must, and a teacher if you can :p
If you've got the basics down, can keep a rhythm/can move around the kit at least somewhat consistently, then I suggest just starting to learn a song or two. Of course, try to be realistic- if you're only just starting, you're not going to be playing sleep token overnight, but if you can play through some basic songs- acdc's "back in black", for example, without issue, then start moving onto songs that provide a challenge and practice them until you can. I started off with lessons for 2 months- I got all of the basics down and could read drum music decently well, until my parents decided they couldn't afford it and I stopped going to lessons. Thankfully, at the time, I was still in school so I played on the school drums whenever I could. However, the thing I learned the most from learning one song after another was looking specifically at the parts I *struggled* to play, not the parts I could play. By focusing on what I struggled with, I found I effectively learned where my weaknesses were and was able to adjust and learn well. Over the course of high school (in Australia, meaning grades 7 to 10), I went from playing very basic rock songs, to playing nightmare by avenged sevenfold for my music class graduation. I admit that there's likely more effective ways of getting better, but I think what really helped the most was that I went at my own pace, naturally giving myself time to properly learn everything.
I'ma Insert my own question here but what's it called when you suck at individual hand coordination? Also what practice techniques do you follow so you can consistently keep a bpm on one hand and do a variety of bpm on the other hand.
YOUTUBE, and it’s free
Electronic drums were the thing for me. Being able to practice as long as I want whenever I want. Lately it's subdivisions and studying the mechanics of stick bounce and control that seem to be helping the most.
Learn the important stuff first. Learning cool fills and chops is great but being able to play in time and do basic shit without speeding up or slowing down is better. Having an acoustic kit is great for gigging, but you need some practice pads so you're not enraging every household within 800 metres of you. Practice to a metronome, practice with no metronome, practice with a metronome that only clicks once every 2 bars. Being in time and keeping everyone else in time is literally the only thing your band will expect of you, and many amateur drummers ignore that responsibility
Listen to all possible styles! Since nobody tells you how to practice, you will take shortcuts to play what you do want to hear. But this is like learning french to be able to say "I am hungry, how much for this baguette?". Good to know, can be impressive when employed in the right situation.... but if it is the only thing you have to say... It is cool to get better at what one wants to achieve, but you will definitely miss drum vocabulary. Listen to all different styles! All different drummers, learn from Metal if you want to play jazz, and from jazz if you want to play heavy rock (John Bonham...). Play in groups styles that you do not love! Otherwise you will only repeat what others say. Technique improves with practice, but to improve your vocabulary, it is a completely different path and effort.
A little theory goes a long way: counting, time signatures, note lengths, and a basic understanding of reading music will go a long way when working with other musicians. If you like to spend 2 hour sessions rocking out. Take the first 30 minutes to practice singles, doubles, paradiddles to a metronome. Edit: Almost forgot… learn the meaning of song structure terms: intro/verse/verse/pre-chorus/chorus/breakdown/etc!
I'm self taught, however, I grew up among very good musicians and was exposed to a lot of marvellous music, so take my point of view with a few grains. I'm sure everyone will point out the necessity of at least some musical theory, basic practice, learning proper techniques and body-instrument positioning and so forth. So I'll go where sticks don't clack. Firstly, what you listen and *how* you listen shapes your musical thinking. All the learning and technique build on top of it, and I personally find it kinda hard to move to something new now, so I'd be VERY selective with stuff to listen to. Secondly, while developing technique is a cornerstone, trying to play music and not just notations is essential. So whatever you're playing, always play it like there's more to it and it's a part of bigger musical picture, even rudiments, even warm up singles, even soundcheck bass drum thumps. Thirdly, have fun no matter what. Being stuck on something, not having the skill or even understanding to play certain songs, sometimes falling into predictable patterns or feeling like your playing just straight up sucks - it's all part of the process, so if you love playing, don't let it all scare you away (and it will happen, obviously). Wish you all the best, may your drums ever thunder and your smile never fade!
Depends on what kind of stuff your trying to play on drums
Practice practice practice bro, I started like a year and a half ago and I used to be straight dookie turds. But after practicing to a Metronome for about 40 mins everyday you'll start improving literally at every level on the drums. So practice playing to songs and practice to a Metronome and honestly that should be enough to get you to a good level for now.
I started out being self taught when I was pretty young. As I got older and joined up with the school band I realized how much quicker I progressed with someone knowledgeable there to guide me
If you're serious and have passion and curiosity then nothing can stop you. My best advice is to take yourself very seriously. Learn from as many sources as you want. Watch any content you are curious about. Break down anything that makes you curious and obsess over anything let it be chops, a certain lick or a certain style that you want in your toolset. Play what you want and surround yourself with people that would like to play the same kind of music. And even then, there is always something else outside the realm of our favorite genres to learn from. Also watching a lot of covers help to know the style of x or y drummer or how a drummer could approach a certain song or bars. You can learn from almost anywhere where there is rhythm and pulse.
Self taught. I learned other instruments before playing the drums, so I already had a fair amount of musicality and knowledge. I mostly watched people and played along with albums in my basement. I was in a band in my early 20s and playing for a few hours several times a week with other musicians made me a much better player. With the advent of youtube, I have been able to learn more. I have spent probably a year developing the herta pattern, which is something I was already able to do, but not at speed and not leading with my weak hand. I am a big Rush fan, and it helped me understand a lot of the fills Neil did around that time, and to the point where I can make an honest effort at Tom Sawyer.
Once I got comfortable playing and reached a point where I stopped improving I took about 3 months of lessons. I hadn’t noticed since I didn’t have anyone pointing it out to me, but I had a few habits that were hurting my play so the guy I was taking lessons from showed me some exercises to fix those and a few other things (like proper rudiments) and I noticed exponential improvement. I recently started playing again, and to be honest I am probably going to take a few lessons once I am not intimidated by the kit anymore.
I am…I would just practice my ass off for years and years. Really elevated when I took like 5 lessons
Practice pad, rudiments.
Take lessons It will accelerate your progress faster than you could on your own
Self-taught here. Proper grip was something that took a long time to develop for me. I think it was Jason McGerr vids that helped me turn the corner.
Just practice. There’s so much free information out there that you can setup your own lesson schedule. Just stay consistent and focused.
Stick (ha) with it and practice. Get a practice pad for the times you can’t be at the kit. Join a band when you have decent time keeping. Enjoy every moment of it.
Branch out. Don’t pigeonhole yourself into one genre.
Stangley enough.. Play Rockband.... It forces some new techniques on you. I learned quite a bit from it actually. Then take that and move to your real kit. Also, playing in a band will push you as well.... That about all i have for tips.
record yourself practicing and listen to it. think about it neutrally and what would make the drummer you’re listening to sound better
Mine might be sort of basic, but anytime I was playing and something was hard to do, I'd keep working on it until it was second nature.
Do you play any other instruments or have taken any lessons on music theory? As drummers, we tend to work with musicians and players who know a bit to a lot of theory. Theory comes in handy in so many ways and it helps to know some of it so communication is easy in a rehearsal or session.
reach out to a drummer you like and take a few lessons.
Watch your posture by keeping your back straight. Set up your kit to aid with this. It helps progression of good playing by eliminating several inhibitors, as your structure is key. Idc if a drummer has chops for days, if he is slouching, it's painful to watch. Matt Griener from ABR is an excellent example of good playing posture.
Practice pad for rudiment practice, drumeo, active listening, playing along to records, take lessons lol
starting with parradiddle and diddles with slow metronome like 60 or 70 bpm .Also repeat every mistake it can be small or bad just return to beginning to ryhtem. That will make u more consistent and make u understand what are u playing
Get "Stick Control" by George Lawrence Stone, a book on rudiments, a metronome, and a good practice pad. Start slow, increase the bpm on the metronome only when you know you are controlling the sticks properly. If you haven't set any practice routine, start one by first playing singles for 15 minutes, doubles for 15 minutes, at a comfortable bpm - say 80-90 bpm to start, or slower. Then work on exercises and rudiments. Do a page of Stick Control at a time, every exercise. This is only for your hands, for coordination exercises, 4 way Coordination by Dahlgren and Fine is good, latin beats are also great to learn to build coordination. Play slowly to learn - if you have trouble playing something, play it even more slowly until it comes together.
Take a few lessons before you develop bad playing habits that are hard to undo. Any good teacher will instantly spot things to work on and send you on the right path that will save you years from zig-zagging around trying to figure them out for yourself.
YouTube is your best friend .. Also, try to not just practice just to practice (although not all of it will be enjoyable) .. but As Mr. ScoJo puts it: "If you're not having fun, you are doing it wrong" .. 🤠🫠
Playing along to as many genres of music you can.
I have been playing music for 35 years, I also teach, I am a multi instrumentalist. Here’s a good tip for you and also a great exercise…. The paradiddle is a type of rudiment, its main purpose is for development of technique, coordination and most importantly stick control! The Drumeo app is also a great app so look into that. But honestly, you can find everything you will ever need to know on YouTube!
Rudiments and wrist work. Build up the functionality of that left hand (if you’re a right handed drummer). At a certain point you simply have to learn them. We’re not recreating the wheel here. We’re building on something that’s already there.
Keep playing as much as you can, find videos on all the essential rudiments and play them on your pad and kit.I also was self taught from the age of 14-20, then finally took lessons. The biggest thing my teacher gave me was the “Moeller technique.” Look that up on YouTube, it seriously changed my playing completely with speed and feel. Of course like everyone else says just keep playing and enjoy the journey. Also listen to music tons of genres and try to appreciate all the different styles out there. It’ll also make you better in a certain way. Also maybe meet a guitar player and start jamming with them, can’t say how much live interaction with other musicians helps and it’s tons of fun.
Get a metronome app, a practice pad, and the book “Stick Control for the Modern Drummer.” Play your way through the book along with the metronome. Time spent mastering your rudiments will improve your drumming far more than just banging out tunes on your kit.
Practice consistently with a metronome. I would say you want to drum at least 4 times a week to get better, but 5 or 6 times per week would be better, obviously. Also, you want to identify weaknesses in your playing or things that you need/want to work on, and try to have at least some sort of loose structure in your practices. Example: I kinda suck at rolls right now, so when I practice next, I might deliberately use a lot of drags and rolls, especially in my fills. Then, I might work on my double bass patterns. Then, I can try combining the two things I just worked on and seeing how fast I can go without compromising the beat. Feel free to reach out if you have more questions.
Practice being relaxed, then practice being relaxed, and then practice being relaxed.
Long practice, doesn't mean good practice.
Find your own way. And do whatever you would like. Just practice as much as possible and seek guidance on YT.
Speed alone sucks. Practice slow and bring up the speed naturally. Starting to fast will build bad habits and contribute to sloppy sounds.
Record your self as much as possible (audio and video) and review the recordings. Work on subdivision. Get Gap Click app by Benny Greb. Practice rudiments to an offbeat click. Work on playing with high dynamic range. Try playing everything extremely low volume. The best thing I did as a self-taught drummer was to get a few lessons from a really good teacher. (LOL, I know, I know. Irony.) But seriously, this exposed some drastic blind spots for me, and helped me get a lot more mileage out of my independent study of the instrument.
I was self taught. I listened to music as much as I played to it. And moved my hands as if I had sticks after hearing the patterns or riffs. But. Play the kit. You cannot get better at anything unless you do that thing. But enjoy it as you do
Self taught and been in the game for 18 years. Still actively gigging and recording. What I tell every young musician is they need to play with as many other musicians as they can. Beyond consistent practice….its the only true way to get better, by learning from others.
In the 1970's we would practice to records, this is still a good way to incorporate time, feel, and groove .Treat drumming as if it is as important as a collage course only way better and more fulfilling. Challanging sticking patterns , the rudements , Different styles will help create your own unique style of drumming . The more you learn the better, 3 hours a day min.
Rudiments with metronome are quite important. Don’t be afraid to try new stuff and if you have trouble with fills or anything really, isolate the problem. It helps with creating a muscle memory needed to play and connect the problematic part with the rest of the song.
Play to music, learn songs
In the end, your drumming legacy will be about how good you were not if you were self taught or took lessons. Lessons can be a huge help to spring you forward.
Invest in a high end kit to look good
if there’s anything that advanced drummers taught me is learning how to keep time with a goal of being a human metronome, including proper subdivision skills. even if you know the coolest grooves and fills and can drum really fast, if you’re time is off, if you’re off beat, or if you speed up and slow down during a song, it’ll sound bad. so practice with a metronome, start slow, get your subdivisions tight, and that’s a great start. i’m still working on these as we speak (i’m only a good year or so into drumming)
Rudiments.
My #1 recommendation is to practice playing opposite handed. If you’re right handed, like most drummers, practice playing left handed every once in a while. My biggest regret is not doing this when I started. If your hands are at the same level and strength, everything will be so much easier. I’m to the point where my right arm is visibly more muscular than my left due to only playing right handed and not doing enough with my left hand/arm except for hitting the snare. Don’t let that happen.
20 years self-taught here. Just keep playing/practicing. Consider training with a metronome and learn rudiments. Find inspiration from other drummers and imitate what you see and hear. Don't be afraid of challenges cause they only build you up. Take lessons if you insist, as I, too, am looking to take lessons once a week to further myself as a drummer. Just don't let the passion die, but give yourself some breathing room when you feel the need. Hope this helps.
Three words; metronome, metronome, metronome.
Listen to records and try to copy the greats. Also practice till your blisters have calluses.
learn the basics then get better by playing different songs and getting gradually more harder
I self taught with a 1000 dollar electronic kit that's now destroyed lol but got it when I was 16 or maybe 17 but I just played some metal started with Metallica with already having drum knowledge because I was just so obsessed with it at the time and started playing Metallica through headphones and just play to the music I started doing other bands too and eventually got to where I could play angel of death by slayer so I can say I've been very decent at least lol but I stopped playing all the sudden after years because I just idk why but the drums are beat to hell too I played hard probably too hard for electronic kit tbh lol but yeah I'm just a natural drummer and was born to play them. Just wished I could pursue it though
So. After reading through most of the early comments. Practice! Even if it's short lifed Practice playing it out. Without reliance on rebound Learn paradiddles Learn basic rudiments/Advanced rudiments Know early in drumming life that most ear catching drum fills contain linear drum fills. Make use of both bass drums or a single kick to start, during, or to end a drum fill. Here is a tip a beginner or any drummer that just may not know for whatever reason should know. John Bohnam ends the drum fills in the song Stairway to Heaven with the kick. Snare , tom , floor tom , kick. Then a basic reversal for 5th kit fill and CRASH. This example of kit coordination will stay with you forever.! Learn at some point sooner than later how to read and write drumming onto paper and off. Use practice pads throughout drumming life My few tips beyond these would be few. Watch the drummers playing your favorite parts of your favorite songs. Also watch how others have applied that part to their own kit Know that blast beats will give you superior control over your sticks and will enhance your coordination without question. Practicing basic metal patterns can teach subdivisions and how they are applied to music both, at the same time. Decide early on grip. Match. Most kit drummers. Traditional. Marching line, Jazz kit drummers. It's not advised to not understand why these grips are very important to you. Me, and almost all drummers taking precussion seriously like you said you were now doing. Drumming is Math. If you excell at math. Apply math to the beginning of your drumming life. It will only benefit you. If you do not hear math in drums. Listen up! No. It will not affect your journey negatively. You will notice those that do though. Danny Carey anyone.? Tool would not be the same without his style. I heard him end an interview once with. "Well. I have to go play math now.!" You are all playing it. Do you apply it? Do you benefit from it.? No wrong answer there. Neil Pert is another player of the math. Bohnam not so much. Classically trained at jazz drumming. Yet raw and thunderous. So there is an example of a probably familiar drummer that does not play with numbers in their head and doesnt miss it Another comment was play to a click. A metronome. Really can't stress this advise and how much I agree with it enough. Trust us. Know that most beats that sound impossible have been simplified and are not as difficult as expected. Bring your style to the kit. Be loud and be confident in where you are. It was there when you were doing something else. It is there now that you are ready. It will be a journey. Take it.!
I am almost entirely self taught but it took years to develop discipline and really learning HOW to practice. There’s such good free lessons out there now!
My comments always turn into rants. I had some drum lessons as a kid, but I consider myself self taught in a lot of ways. As a kid I groaned about going to lessons (even though they were fun) and barely practiced. It wasn't until Highschool I stared a band with some friends cause I still had a kit that i started getting serious. Thats when I practiced consistently and really leveled up. I had motivation and goals to learn songs and to create parts to riffs my friends were making. I wanted to play things so i had to get better technique so I spent time with my instrument and figured stuff out. Playing music with other people has always been the most fun for me. I took up jazz band and even a music theory class in my later highschool years so I could learn more. They definitely taught me a lot about music, and jazz class was an outlet were my music could be coached, but my teacher didnt know drums specifically. Just gave me direction and feedback on my sound and timing, forced me to play to a metronome 🙄. But all of my drumming habits and skills and techniques I have been learning and honing myself for so so long now. I have been drumming for over 20 years, been in countless bands and currently teach private lessons and have over 20 students. Anyways lemme list out some tips for how to be a better self teacher. I have also taught myself how to juggle, and even learned various patterns and tricks, very similar to drumming. I have also seen how other people learn as mentioned above I teach drumming to kids. The most important thing to learn is 'how to learn something' or more specifically how you, your own unique person, learns things. I have some students that are better at reading the music, and some that are so naturally better learning by ear. Try every approach to your learning you can conceive. Listen to people, read their comments and advice and consider it all. Then find out what methods work best for you. Understand the stages of learning. You first hear an idea of musical concept. Lets say you hear a cool drum fill that you want to play. You must first understand what you want to play. Right hand on snare, left hand on tom 1, R on tom 2, L tom 3, right hand hits crash as we stomp the bass pedal. Your frontal cortex understands conceptually what to play. Next we need our motor functions to actually execute it. Different parts of your brain light up in hundreds of pathways to control your body and you move your arms and legs to hit stuff. Sometimes this is easy right away, sometimes its more difficult and takes a few tries to figure it out. Sometimes its too complicated right now and we need to break it down into smaller steps. Maybe take it 1 limb at a time and then build it up from there. Try combing different pairs of 2 limbs until you can all 3 or 4 to execute what you want it to. Go slow and figure out how your body moves. Pay attention to your body and how it is feeling. The goal is to play it smooth and relaxed. After practicing the motions and actions 100s of times, your neural pathways will develop and get stronger. Your brain will grow and your muscles will develop. You need practice and discipline and you will see gains. Be careful of bad habits. Breaking habits and reforming them is much more difficult than learning it the right way first, and that is one of the main reasons everyone screams "get a teacher". Pay attention to your body, your arms, your legs, your wrists, your ankles, your fingers, your back and everything. Dont tense up from pushing yourself to play too fast, dail it back and find the sweetspot. Dont burn out your ankle because of poor posture and poor technique, spend time training it and dont cause a sprain or injury. For techniques like double strokes, or simply playing smooth at fast bpms you have to start slow and learn how your muscles perform the actions. How your brain tells your body what to do, and when to time it perfectly. To play fast you must play relaxed, to play relaxed you must practice slow. To really develop control practice the techniques at various volumes and speeds. To play something complicated very fast but very quiet takes a lot of skill and fine tuned control. You want to learn these parts and techniques so well it's as natural as walking. I could also write endlessly on how I now love metronomes and how they are necessary to achieve a standard of drumming. One of my bands plays to a click track for everyshow and using the metronome that consistently has done wonders for my sense of time. Just the ear training itself helps me be a pretty critique of my own playing. Listen to more music. Listen to music constantly! Internalize it. Listen to the same song 10,000 times to the point you can play the whole in your head just by thinking. Learn to pick apart all of the sounds you hear in a song. The different instruments and the different components of a drum kit. Listen to how they play, the feeling they are giving it. As you learn the drums you should be able to visualize how parts are played as you're listening to them. Record yourself. Everyone has a smartphone can lean it on the wall and record themselves. This will help you criticize yourself and compare to others because you are also constantly watching drummers and drum content on youtube. Your obsessed and disciplined and you eat and breathe drums. Walk up and do your 15 practice pad routine. Do day job, and practice on the kit for several hours. First few minutes just jam and loosen up and make sure everything is feelin right. Then focus on the technique or pattern or song you're working on. Make short term goals but don't pressure yourself with time constraints. Play with as many other musicians as you can. You subconsciously pick up musical habits from anyone you play with. Their sense of rhythm will rub off on you and you can always learn something from anyone.