2009 22 Dec

Simple Ways To Master Playing The Drums

Playing drums is fun and satisfying. You do not need an entire drum set to learn how to play the drums, what you needto start is a pair of sticks, a pad and a metronome.

Learning how to keep stick in hand is the first thing you should know. Like building a house; you are not able to begin from the roof down, you must start with the basis. There are two main grips that are used, the traditional and matched. Have you ever seen a jazz drummer play? Well, this is the traditional grip. Right hand and left hand hold the stick in two different ways. Matched grip is commonly used for rock, funk, pop and even Latin. So, if you are beginning from scratch, matched grip is what you have to learn first. When you understand what grip to use, you need to learn how to hold the sticks.

To hold the sticks properly, you should find special spot, where the sticks bounce the most with the minimum strains. Begin with one stick and take it between the thumb and the second joint of the index finger first. With this prime position, move your wrist up and down and make the stick bounce. If this is your first time, you will probably have some troubles doing this. Do not worry, it is usual thing. Every drummer should learn how to hold the sticks. Just continue to bounce the stick with one hand until you find where the stick bounces the most.

Make the same thing with the other hand. There is no shortcut at this point, but if you need assistance, you can take a couple of drum lessons to avoid making general mistakes. It is better to learn the needed way with an experienced drummer than practicing wrong on your own. It is more difficult to fix a bad grip than starting from scratch.

Once you are familiar with the sticks, it is time to do some exercises. Here is where the metronome is needed. At this point is very good to learn the main drum notations and how time is divided. Every black dot in a drum score is called Stroke. Most of the modern music is in 4/4, which means that every bar is divided into four movements.

One, two, three, four. If you may count to four, you may virtually play every drum beat. So, every time you will count till four, you begin again from one. And, if you count out loud and not only in your head, you will be actually practicing counting. Counting is quite useful in keeping track of time and for precise drumming. The majority of the drummers are not aware of the power of counting.

Set the metronome to 60 bpm (beat per minute). If you hit every click, you are playing quarter notes. This is the main pulse of every song you hear on TV, radio, almost everywhere.

If you want to know how to learn play drums click here.