Learning how to play drums is a skill perfected over many years, and if you’re just getting started, it’s important to establish practice routines that will help you become more skilled. Learning to play any instrument takes time, dedication, and grit, as this type of education will test you on every level, and playing drums is no exception.
Once you’ve got a handle on the basic techniques and get a feel of your instrument, you can continue to hone your playing style. Whether you’d like to start your own band and perform for live audiences or you just love spending time mastering the rhythm, timing, and musicality of drums, here are some tips that can help you on your journey.
Always Start with a Warm-Up
Playing drums is much more active than playing other instruments, which is why it’s essential to start every session by warming up. Every experienced drummer will tell you that playing a set is a physical feat, a mix of cardio and strength training, not to mention you’ll need to have loose and flexible joints to play well without injury risks. That’s why it’s important to do physical exercises before you sit down and start technical warm-ups.
Once you’ve done that, you can move on to simple playing patterns like single and double strokes, as well as paradiddles. If you’re a beginner, the main goal of these simple, yet effective warm-ups is for you to learn to keep your focus, all the while gradually increasing your speed and maintaining the rhythm.
If your drumming is at an intermediate level, challenge yourself with complex patterns like flams, triplets, and drags. And don’t forget to warm your legs – use patterns like left-right kick and right-left hi-hat pedal simultaneously and increase speed as you become more confident.
Limb Independence Is a Must
Developing coordination and limb independence is one of the most demanding aspects of drum playing. The goal is to grow your coordination to such a level that you’re able to play a different rhythm with your right and left hand and foot. If you’re just getting started, this may be overwhelming to even think about, but it’s a skill that’s built slowly and patiently.
As you’re getting into the groove of drum playing, focus on performing simple exercises on which you can build your limb independence. The best way to do it is to tap your right foot on the bass drum pedal on quarter notes while alternating your hands on the hi-hat and snare on eighth notes. These exercises require you to have a basic drum set, but thankfully, finding affordable cymbal sets for drummers is easier than ever, and having a full drum kit could significantly speed up your progress.
Looking for more of a challenge? Give polyrhythms a go, such as playing triplets with one hand while maintaining straight eighths with the other. This isn’t an easy feat, but once you master it, you’ll be able to play different music genres much more easily. Remember to break down these complex rhythms into smaller, more manageable sections and practice independence with each hand and foot until you’re ready to combine them.
Become a Timekeeping Master
Just like in life, in drumming timing is everything. That’s why various timekeeping exercises should be a part of your practice routines – it’s a fundamental skill for any drummer worth their drumsticks. Timekeeping is important because it’s the foundation of any musical performance, and you’re in charge of making sure everything is on point.
For beginners, a metronome is the best available tool to grasp the basics of timekeeping. You can start simple, by setting the metronome at a pace that’s comfortable for you (usually up to 80 bpm) and do your best to play along. Focus is key – start simply with quarter notes, then you can add eights, sixteenths, and triplets as you get more confident.
When you’re ready to take it up a notch, start experimenting with tempo changes to see how comfortable you are in the transitions. A fun exercise to try is the “click gap exercise” during which you’ll set your metronome to click every four, eight, or sixteen beats, and your job is to continue playing at a consistent rhythm in the gaps between the clicks. This will be challenging but do wonders for your internal timekeeping.
Practice Your Musicality
When you observe drummers on the stage, it’s easy to jump to conclusions that their playing doesn’t require much musicality, but drum playing without it is just noise. The strength with which you hit your drum and cymbals dictates how loud the sound they make will be, and this is a tool to use to play more expressively.
Try playing the same rhythms at different dynamics, and explore how loud and how quietly you can play while keeping your precision and focus. If you’re feeling adventurous, try using brushes or mallets instead of drumsticks and notice how that affects your style of playing and the sound you create. You want to feel what style of playing complements your preferences and mentality, and then hone it as much as you’d like.
Conclusion
There are a lot of elements that go into playing drums, and if you’re just starting, things can get overwhelming quickly. The best advice is to pace yourself and focus on basics like getting comfortable around your drum kit and working on your timekeeping, limb independence, and musicality.
The more precise and confident you become, the better you’ll adopt more complex playing concepts. In time, you’ll feel free to build your own groove and maybe even perform on stage in front of an audience. Slow and steady wins the race, so stay on it, practice, and keep coming back to the kit – your hard work will pay off.
