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.
Learn to Read Drum Notations
Although many people learn to play drums without learning how to read sheet music, you should not follow in their footsteps because this approach generally limits one's ability to experiment with different styles of music and beats. By experimenting with different music genres, you will enhance your skill level and technical ability. The good news is reading sheet music is not hard. To start with, you need to understand sheet music terms such as tempo. In simple terms, tempo is the pace at which one plays music or drums.
Most music sheets use a single note and a number to indicate the tempo. Secondly, music notes lie on the staff -- five horizontal lines running the whole length of the music sheet. Another important drum notation is the time signature. This consists of two numbers with the top number showing each beat's worth. The lower number indicates the number of beats in each bar. Sheet music writers use drum keys to indicate drums. The rule of thumb is to read drum notes slightly ahead of the ones you are playing. This gives you time to prepare physically and mentally to play the drum.
Developing A 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.
Hone Your Drum Techniques
Drummers traditionally used their hands alone to play drums. Today, however, they use both their hands and feet to play drums. This means that you have to learn and perfect drumming techniques that involve the feet. Examples of popular drumming techniques include the heel-up and the heel-down techniques.
To hit the drum with the heel up technique, you will need to apply the weight of your entire leg to the drum's foot pedal and keeping your heels a couple of inches off the floor is strongly recommended. The heel down method of drumming means that you use the ankle joint and calf muscles to apply force to the foot pedal on the drum.
Pulling off the heel-down technique requires you to maintain contact between your foot and the surface of the foot pedal at all times. Do not worry if you find it difficult to master this technique. Instead, just keep practicing and ensure that you remain as relaxed as you can. Also, allow your feet to assume a natural and ergonomically-correct position.
Practice Drum Kit
Sharpening and improving your drumming skills requires regular practice. However, drums generate a lot of noise and you might find angry neighbors outside your door if you live in an apartment block. One way of ensuring this does not happen is by buying a practice pad kit. Unlike real drums, practice pad kits consist of rubber-covered wooden blocks. This makes them much quieter and you can practice without worrying about disturbing your neighbors. You can also buy sound-off pads and place them on top of you 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.
Learn to Read Drum Notations
Although many people learn to play drums without learning how to read sheet music, you should not follow in their footsteps because this approach generally limits one's ability to experiment with different styles of music and beats. By experimenting with different music genres, you will enhance your skill level and technical ability. The good news is reading sheet music is not hard. To start with, you need to understand sheet music terms such as tempo. In simple terms, tempo is the pace at which one plays music or drums.
Most music sheets use a single note and a number to indicate the tempo. Secondly, music notes lie on the staff -- five horizontal lines running the whole length of the music sheet. Another important drum notation is the time signature. This consists of two numbers with the top number showing each beat's worth. The lower number indicates the number of beats in each bar. Sheet music writers use drum keys to indicate drums. The rule of thumb is to read drum notes slightly ahead of the ones you are playing. This gives you time to prepare physically and mentally to play the drum.
Developing A 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.
Hone Your Drum Techniques
Drummers traditionally used their hands alone to play drums. Today, however, they use both their hands and feet to play drums. This means that you have to learn and perfect drumming techniques that involve the feet. Examples of popular drumming techniques include the heel-up and the heel-down techniques.
To hit the drum with the heel up technique, you will need to apply the weight of your entire leg to the drum's foot pedal and keeping your heels a couple of inches off the floor is strongly recommended. The heel down method of drumming means that you use the ankle joint and calf muscles to apply force to the foot pedal on the drum.
Pulling off the heel-down technique requires you to maintain contact between your foot and the surface of the foot pedal at all times. Do not worry if you find it difficult to master this technique. Instead, just keep practicing and ensure that you remain as relaxed as you can. Also, allow your feet to assume a natural and ergonomically-correct position.
Practice Drum Kit
Sharpening and improving your drumming skills requires regular practice. However, drums generate a lot of noise and you might find angry neighbors outside your door if you live in an apartment block. One way of ensuring this does not happen is by buying a practice pad kit. Unlike real drums, practice pad kits consist of rubber-covered wooden blocks. This makes them much quieter and you can practice without worrying about disturbing your neighbors. You can also buy sound-off pads and place them on top of you 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 many years, who is giving is experience, reviews and knowledge through is own website blog. if you desire to know more about it, you can visit is drum site. if you desire get more info and reviews about playing the drum, you can go visit is playing the drum reviews, videos and articles pages.
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