Face it. You've been playing boring rudiments over and over. You are tired of hearing that "click... click... click..." of the metronome. Your hands are bleeding, you are tired, and you are wondering when you will get better.
Yes, your teacher will be proud. Your friends, however, laugh at you and wonder when you will actually be able to play anything interesting. You hear a cool song on the radio, but you know you are months away from being able to play along.
"What other options do I have?" you ask. Drum play along songs. What are drum play along songs? Imagine a song with the guitars, maybe some other instruments, but the one instrument that is missing... the drums! That's right. Drum play along songs are nothing more than regular songs with the drums removed.
What's cool is that unlike jamming with a CD (which can be annoying since you will obviously have to listen to the original drums at the same time) is that you can create whatever drum patterns you want. Feel like playing double-bass? Go ahead. Feel like putting a drum fill in an unusual spot... it's your song.
I must tell you that if this will be your first time playing to a drum play along track you are in for a treat. You will find that your creativity soars and that your ability to improvise over songs will grow by leaps and bounds. I've spent hours and hours playing along to drum play along tracks and find that I can sit down with songs often on the first try and improvise pretty freely.
OK, so what do you need? First, you'll need some tracks. I personally use minusdrums.com for tracks when I need an instant download fix, or I might shop online for the book/CD. The nice thing about minusdrums.com is that it has over 600 tracks, about half of which are covers songs of all sorts of bands from rock to metal, and old classic rock. They also have tons of original material covering weird stuff like "djent" and plenty of R&B.
OK. Acoustic kit? No problem. At a minimum I suggest at least one mic and a mixer. Plug the MP3 player into the mixer. Now take your mic and hang it from the ceiling on a small rope right over your kit. If you can afford more mics, plug them in too. The key here is that you are trying to get a good mix that you'll be able to listen to in headphones. Plug the mic into the mixer and have a friend play the drums while you check the levels. If you can record them while playing the MP3 even better.
If you have electronic drums, life is easy. Run the MP3 player directly into the electronic kit through its "input" jack. Adjust your levels and then you are good to go.
You now need some cans (headphones). Put them on your head. Very good. Now get those sticks in your hand, navigate your MP3 player to your favorite drum play along songs. Cool. Press play. I'll wait. My advice here is to listen to the song at least once through before you start drumming. In truth, I never take my advice and I just start banging away, but I still recommend it. You'll build confidence on your first run through. Try a few different ideas and patters. No matter what, the band will be patient with you while you continue on your drumming journey.
Yes, your teacher will be proud. Your friends, however, laugh at you and wonder when you will actually be able to play anything interesting. You hear a cool song on the radio, but you know you are months away from being able to play along.
"What other options do I have?" you ask. Drum play along songs. What are drum play along songs? Imagine a song with the guitars, maybe some other instruments, but the one instrument that is missing... the drums! That's right. Drum play along songs are nothing more than regular songs with the drums removed.
What's cool is that unlike jamming with a CD (which can be annoying since you will obviously have to listen to the original drums at the same time) is that you can create whatever drum patterns you want. Feel like playing double-bass? Go ahead. Feel like putting a drum fill in an unusual spot... it's your song.
I must tell you that if this will be your first time playing to a drum play along track you are in for a treat. You will find that your creativity soars and that your ability to improvise over songs will grow by leaps and bounds. I've spent hours and hours playing along to drum play along tracks and find that I can sit down with songs often on the first try and improvise pretty freely.
OK, so what do you need? First, you'll need some tracks. I personally use minusdrums.com for tracks when I need an instant download fix, or I might shop online for the book/CD. The nice thing about minusdrums.com is that it has over 600 tracks, about half of which are covers songs of all sorts of bands from rock to metal, and old classic rock. They also have tons of original material covering weird stuff like "djent" and plenty of R&B.
OK. Acoustic kit? No problem. At a minimum I suggest at least one mic and a mixer. Plug the MP3 player into the mixer. Now take your mic and hang it from the ceiling on a small rope right over your kit. If you can afford more mics, plug them in too. The key here is that you are trying to get a good mix that you'll be able to listen to in headphones. Plug the mic into the mixer and have a friend play the drums while you check the levels. If you can record them while playing the MP3 even better.
If you have electronic drums, life is easy. Run the MP3 player directly into the electronic kit through its "input" jack. Adjust your levels and then you are good to go.
You now need some cans (headphones). Put them on your head. Very good. Now get those sticks in your hand, navigate your MP3 player to your favorite drum play along songs. Cool. Press play. I'll wait. My advice here is to listen to the song at least once through before you start drumming. In truth, I never take my advice and I just start banging away, but I still recommend it. You'll build confidence on your first run through. Try a few different ideas and patters. No matter what, the band will be patient with you while you continue on your drumming journey.
About the Author:
Want to find out more about drum play along songs? Then visit minusdrums.com and search through over 600 drumless backing tracks for your drumming needs.
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