Recommendations for books on learning to play drums?

[Jeff Karsin]

Hi,

I recently got a top of the line 6 piece DW kit for my studio. but,
having these gorgeous instruments in front of me is too much. i gotta
learn to play the thing. i was hoping that someone could recommend
some books that i could learn to play drums from. something i could
start from scratch with and give me things to practice to work my way
up. also, does anyone know of some good headphones that really block
the outside sound so i can practice with? i really appreciate any
help. i want to start making music on the drums, but don't want to
start any bad habits. thanks,

-jeff

[Sean Conolly]

"Jeff Karsin" > wrote in message
om...
> Hi,
>
> I recently got a top of the line 6 piece DW kit for my studio. but,
> having these gorgeous instruments in front of me is too much. i gotta
> learn to play the thing. i was hoping that someone could recommend
> some books that i could learn to play drums from. something i could
> start from scratch with and give me things to practice to work my way
> up. also, does anyone know of some good headphones that really block
> the outside sound so i can practice with? i really appreciate any
> help. i want to start making music on the drums, but don't want to
> start any bad habits. thanks,

If you can afford the DWs you can afford to take some lessons. You'll learn
more and faster than from a book.

Sean

[John L Rice]

"Jeff Karsin" > wrote in message
om...
> Hi,
>
> I recently got a top of the line 6 piece DW kit for my studio. but,
> having these gorgeous instruments in front of me is too much. i gotta
> learn to play the thing. i was hoping that someone could recommend
> some books that i could learn to play drums from. something i could
> start from scratch with and give me things to practice to work my way
> up. also, does anyone know of some good headphones that really block
> the outside sound so i can practice with? i really appreciate any
> help. i want to start making music on the drums, but don't want to
> start any bad habits. thanks,
>
> -jeff

Hi Jeff,



While there are a lot of great drummers who probably never had a lesson in
their life I think you would be best off finding a good instructor and
taking lessons for a minimum of at least a year. On thing that is hard to
learn from a book is holding the sticks properly and striking the drum
properly. If you are worried about developing bad habits, teaching yourself
is not the best way to do it. If you can't get an instructor you can do it
on your own but you should seek out some video tapes for beginning drummers
that will show you basic technique so you can actually see what you should
be doing and what it should sound like.

When you start out you will most likely just focus on playing the snare drum
to build basic stick technique, learn rythm patterns / rudiments, and build
your hand and wrist muscles up.

I taught drum lessons for many years and the main three books I used were :

A Funky Primer for Rock Drum by Charles Dowd :
This is an awesome book for learning rock drum beats. It starts off very
simple and then very slowely increases the complexity. It's my favorite
drumset book and students always seemed to like it.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/ has it for $10
Info on Mr. Dowd at http://music.uoregon.edu/About/bios/dowdc.html

America's N.A.R.D. Drum Solos ( Ludwig publishing ) :
A great way to learn the basic snare drum rudiments and then apply them by
learning short solos
http://www.lentine.com/bo/deblud.stm about $9

MODERN READING TEXT IN 4/4 Louis Bellson and Gil Breines :
An awesome book for learning to read and play rhytms and syncopation. Starts
out super simple and gradualy gets super complex. ( note : there are, or
used to be, a couple 'typos' or mistakes in the text so read carefully! ;-)
Some students realy liked this book and others didn't like it at all. It's
very technical but it's a worthy effort to get through it. It can be made
fun by applying the patterns to a drum set. It's also great for every
musician, not just drummers.
http://www.the-sheet-music-store.com/index.htm about $10


When ever I record now I use GK music's Superphones. GK also has a book and
video called Open/Close Technique which looks pretty good.
http://www.gk-music.com/index.htm

Also, at least have a good drummer show you how to tune drums if you don't
know how already. ( you can ship your DW set to me and I'll tune them for
you and send them back free of charge . . . .it should only take me a few
years! ;-)

Best of luck!

John L Rice



PS - Simple way to play a basic drum beat :

right hand on cymbal
left hand on snare
right foot on bass pedal
( reverse left / right if left handed )

start tapping the cymbal at a slow rate ( about 2 times per second for
example )
while tapping the cymbal repeatedly count to 4 ( ex : 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
1 2 3 4 )
when this is comfortable start hitting the bass drum on '1' while keeping
the cymbal going
when this is comfortable start hitting the snare drum on '3' while keeping
the cymbal and bass going

You are now playing a basic rock beat. Practice this lots until you can do
it comfortably without thinking about it and at different speeds. Once that
is comfortable start adding variations.

[Kurt Albershardt]

Jeff Karsin wrote:
>
> does anyone know of some good headphones that really block
> the outside sound so i can practice with?

Sennheiser HD 280 Pro is a good place to start--under $100 with pretty
good isolation, and useful for lots of other tasks if the isolation
proves insufficient.

After that, look into (or build) one of the modified shooters' muff designs.

[knud]

>MODERN READING TEXT IN 4/4 Louis Bellson and Gil Breines :
>An awesome book for learning to read and play rhytms and syncopation. Starts
>out super simple and gradualy gets super complex. ( note : there are, or
>used to be, a couple 'typos' or mistakes in the text so read carefully! ;-)
>Some students realy liked this book and others didn't like it at all. It's
>very technical but it's a worthy effort to get through it. It can be made
>fun by applying the patterns to a drum set. It's also great for every
>musician, not just drummers.

If only drummers HAD to get through this book, the world would be a better
place. Most people who call themselves "drummers" can't handle syncopation. Sad
situation. Ah well, just "boom boom bap" into the sunset I guess.




blahblah
ALL MUSIC IS ORIGINAL...
EVEN IF ONLY ONE NOTE IS CHANGED!
EVERYONE CREATES IN A VACUUM!

[John L Rice]

"knud" > wrote in message
...
> >MODERN READING TEXT IN 4/4 Louis Bellson and Gil Breines :
> >An awesome book for learning to read and play rhytms and syncopation.
Starts
> >out super simple and gradualy gets super complex. ( note : there are, or
> >used to be, a couple 'typos' or mistakes in the text so read carefully!
;-)
> >Some students realy liked this book and others didn't like it at all.
It's
> >very technical but it's a worthy effort to get through it. It can be
made
> >fun by applying the patterns to a drum set. It's also great for every
> >musician, not just drummers.
>
> If only drummers HAD to get through this book, the world would be a
better
> place. Most people who call themselves "drummers" can't handle
syncopation. Sad
> situation. Ah well, just "boom boom bap" into the sunset I guess.
>
>
>
>
> blahblah
> ALL MUSIC IS ORIGINAL...
> EVEN IF ONLY ONE NOTE IS CHANGED!
> EVERYONE CREATES IN A VACUUM!

Hi Knud!

Yeah, actually ALL musicians should get through the book because good
timing, syncopation and rhythmic feel are everyone's responsibility, not
just the drummer's. But of course, it should be at the top of drummer's to
do lists.

John L Rice

[DavidMackBlauvelt]

(Jeff Karsin) wrote in
om:

> Hi,
>
> I recently got a top of the line 6 piece DW kit for my studio. but,
> having these gorgeous instruments in front of me is too much. i gotta
> learn to play the thing. i was hoping that someone could recommend
> some books that i could learn to play drums from. something i could
> start from scratch with and give me things to practice to work my way
> up. also, does anyone know of some good headphones that really block
> the outside sound so i can practice with? i really appreciate any
> help. i want to start making music on the drums, but don't want to
> start any bad habits. thanks,
>
> -jeff
>

Congrats on a nice kit:)

Well the Bible: Stick control. Start with that.

Like John said the NARD stuff is fun.

Ted Reed's syncopation is also great when you start to get your hands
under control. (a must for musicians other than drummers as well).

Carmen Apices Rock Drumming is a nice basic rock drumming book.

Gary Chesters "New breed" when you get the hang of the kit and need some
advance challenges.

Also highly reccomended for beginers -- Dave Weckels "Back to basics"
video -- it will give you some great visual lessons about traditional and
matched grip, how to hold the stick and work on basics, posture, tuning
etc.

Best,

Mack

[knud]

>Hi Knud!
>
>Yeah, actually ALL musicians should get through the book because good
>timing, syncopation and rhythmic feel are everyone's responsibility, not
>just the drummer's. But of course, it should be at the top of drummer's to
>do lists.

After I came out of that book and a couple of others that are somewhat
similar I never had to "think" about syncopation again since it came
automatically.


blahblah
ALL MUSIC IS ORIGINAL...
EVEN IF ONLY ONE NOTE IS CHANGED!
EVERYONE CREATES IN A VACUUM!