Learning how to play musical instruments such as drums can be challenging. As such, it generally requires dedication, patience and a lot of hard work. Although experienced drummers make playing drums look easy, it can take years of practice to play like a professional. However, this should not dampen your spirits. Even professional drummers had to take baby steps and refine their skills over time. With that in mind, here are some great tips for learning the drum online.
Reading Drum Notation
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.
Develop Good Rhythm
To ensure that every other aspect of the music is synchronized, drummers need to have a strong sense of rhythm; this sense of rhythm can be the difference between a good performance and an average one. The key to developing good rhythm is simply to practice as much as you can; there is really no quicker way to accomplish this and one way to practice effectively is to play at a set tempo, having set your metronome to that specific tempo. If you adopt this approach, start out with a slow tempo and then increase the speed until you get the hang of it. You can also develop a better sense of rhythm and improve your timing by drumming along to pre-recorded music.
Hone your Drumming Techniques
Drummers conventionally used only their hands to play the drum. Today, however, they utilize both their feet and hands to play the drum. This means that you must learn and master drumming techniques that entail the feet. Examples of popular drumming techniques include the heel-up and heel-down methods.
The heel-up technique involves applying the weight of the entire leg to the foot pedal in order to hit the drum. It is wise to keep the heels of your feet one to two inches off the floor. On the other hand, the heel-down technique involves applying force to your drum's foot pedal using the calf muscles and ankle joint.
To pull off the heel-down technique, you must keep your feet in contact with the foot pedal surface at all times. Do not fret if you find it hard to master this technique. Instead, keep practicing and make sure you stay as relaxed as possible. Furthermore, let your feet assume a natural and ergonomically suitable position.
Obtain a Practice Kit
Improving and sharpening your drum-playing skills demands practice. However, drums produce lots of noise. Thus, you may find irate neighbors at your door if you live in a block of apartments. One way to avoid this is buying a practice pad kit. Unlike actual drums, practice pad kits contain rubber-covered wooden blocks. This enables them to be played much more quietly, and you may practice often without disturbing your neighbors. You may also purchase sound-off pads to put on top of your drums.
Although learning the drum is not a walk in the park, you can improve your skills if you practice regularly. Start by learning how to read drum notation. After this, proceed to develop good rhythm and hone your drumming techniques. If you can, purchase and use a practice pad kit.
Reading Drum Notation
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.
Develop Good Rhythm
To ensure that every other aspect of the music is synchronized, drummers need to have a strong sense of rhythm; this sense of rhythm can be the difference between a good performance and an average one. The key to developing good rhythm is simply to practice as much as you can; there is really no quicker way to accomplish this and one way to practice effectively is to play at a set tempo, having set your metronome to that specific tempo. If you adopt this approach, start out with a slow tempo and then increase the speed until you get the hang of it. You can also develop a better sense of rhythm and improve your timing by drumming along to pre-recorded music.
Hone your Drumming Techniques
Drummers conventionally used only their hands to play the drum. Today, however, they utilize both their feet and hands to play the drum. This means that you must learn and master drumming techniques that entail the feet. Examples of popular drumming techniques include the heel-up and heel-down methods.
The heel-up technique involves applying the weight of the entire leg to the foot pedal in order to hit the drum. It is wise to keep the heels of your feet one to two inches off the floor. On the other hand, the heel-down technique involves applying force to your drum's foot pedal using the calf muscles and ankle joint.
To pull off the heel-down technique, you must keep your feet in contact with the foot pedal surface at all times. Do not fret if you find it hard to master this technique. Instead, keep practicing and make sure you stay as relaxed as possible. Furthermore, let your feet assume a natural and ergonomically suitable position.
Obtain a Practice Kit
Improving and sharpening your drum-playing skills demands practice. However, drums produce lots of noise. Thus, you may find irate neighbors at your door if you live in a block of apartments. One way to avoid this is buying a practice pad kit. Unlike actual drums, practice pad kits contain rubber-covered wooden blocks. This enables them to be played much more quietly, and you may practice often without disturbing your neighbors. You may also purchase sound-off pads to put on top of your drums.
Although learning the drum is not a walk in the park, you can improve your skills if you practice regularly. Start by learning how to read drum notation. After this, proceed to develop good rhythm and hone your drumming techniques. If you can, purchase and use a practice pad kit.
About the Author:
Daniel Sears is an expert in drum playing for several years, who is sharing is experience, reviews and knowledge through is own website blog. if you want to know more about it, you can visit is drum site. if you want get more information and reviews about learning the drum, you can go visit is learning the drum reviews, videos and articles pages.
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