Advice for beginning drummers?

[donkeypunch]

anyone starting guitar should do themselves a favor and get a cheap looper. nothing is more helpful for early composition.

I used a Graffix Clown and lots of keg beer when I started playing and writing. Worked out ok I guess. I never touched a guitar until I was a sophmore in college.


anybody remember that company?

[So Sweet]

Well duh...

[iamthelemonade]

i'm pretty much with craig. i think looking back in retrospect, we would probably change how we became musicians/practiced or even what instrument we started on. but when you're a kid, you don't know that you're going to enjoy learning how to play 10 different instruments, you just want to have fun.

so teach the kid some songs that they want to learn, if they are interested they will start asking questions and get into more drum-oriented music. when you're 8 and you don't know anything about theory and there is a long, hard road to the diatonic modes and rudiments, you need to instill a sense of passion/appreciation for the instrument so that there is motivation to take it further.

in other words, YOU'RE not learning drums, your kid is, encourage the activity but be careful trying to control it.

and i doubt he knows any guitarists, but jamming with friends is the only reason i stuck with musics

He may know a guitarist (well, someone who has a guitar and can play one a little bit anyway).

Like craiggers, I started off on saxamaphone too (4th grade - 7th grade). I don't think it was the just lessons themselves that bummed me out on it back then. I think it was the music we had learn. I wasn't listening to jazz or classical at that age. I had no interest in it. I had no problems taking guitar lessons, later on, when I actually did want to learn some jazz stuff.

Classcal was another story, even on guitar. That still just felt like work.

obviously at 8 there aren't too many people, but even if each kid can only play 1 song together it's way more fun and teaches you things that lessons never can.

i started on trumpet, never really got into it. then mike zeis gave me a bass and a combo amp for free and i started taking lessons. at times i didn't really love the lessons but i knew it would make me a better player. i got burned out on them after like 2.5 years if i remember, decided i could advance my bassing on my own. that developed into trying to become competent in drums, guitar, trumpet again, piano and delving into the world of experimental (i guess) electronic production.

my tastes have changed a lot since i was 8 though, so i wouldn't be too disappointed if he doesn't get into it, most folks don't till about 10 years down the line!

[craiggers]

Also... props to dad if you can stand listening to your 8 year old hit drums and not want to detach his skull from his spine via blunt force trauma.

[crentist]

He may know a guitarist (well, someone who has a guitar and can play one a little bit anyway).

who, guido?

[guitardude]

He may know a guitarist (well, someone who has a guitar and can play one a little bit anyway).

who, guido?

yeah, exactly.

[busle2]

I mean, I never was formally trained, but... I was also figuring it's just too early for the metronome at this point maybe. The kid is only 8, it sounds like lessons just started... at this point it is probably more about posture, proper grip, the beginnings of technique. I'm sure the metronome will come not to far in the future when real rudiment practice begins.

Yeah, they did just start. That makes sense.

yeah, like I said, I don't really know jack shit about drumming, so maybe it shouldn't be the very first thing they're subjected to. I just know I've played with some drummers who would have otherwise been pretty good if they could manage to keep a song where it was supposed to stay, tempo-wise, and I've heard a lot of explanations as to why a drummer doesn't want to, or "can't" play to a click when recording, which are all pretty much bullshit. as long as kid gets used to playing at a solid tempo before those awesome floaty tempos get their filthy claws in him, I imagine he'll be okay.

[donkeypunch]

First rule of thumb for drummers.....a 3 digit SAT score.

[girlthatdrums]

I know a drummer who was pretty awful because he didn't start playing piano first. And he started playing at the age of 4, so just imagine what a hack he was. That Buddy Rich, he never did amount to anything.

Of course piano would be cool too, but to say that drummers are unable to learn theory because they are drummers means you just hang around with a lot of really shitty drummers. Does he want to be a PERCUSSIONIST? (probably has no idea at the age of right) Wants to play marimba, timpani, etc.? Because THEN I would say of course piano would be helpful at that point.

I played piano for 2 years before drums as a kid, but what helped me in drums wasn't piano - it was my tap lessons. (btw you'll find that most of the old jazz greats from the 30's-50's were also tap dancers) No longer considered manly enough, I'm sure (of course, people who think that haven't seen Savion Glover dance), but if anything, tap lessons would help a budding drummer more than piano! Some of the rudiments between both even share names...

Kudos to you for getting him started so young.

I don't think not being on the metronome right off the bat is a bad thing. You've got to teach some basics first, and you've got to get that 8 year old mind interested. Stroke, rhythm, rudiments, etc. In a few months if there's still no metronome, then I would be concerned.

I also wouldn't be concerned about the lack of traditional grip. There's an ongoing debate about that still to this day, and I don't think one is better than the other. Obviously flexibility in both would be great, but it's really not necessary. I prefer to play with brushes in traditional grip, but I play everything else matched grip. Traditional grip, imo, exudes much more of a "cool" factor, however. +5 for style points.

[guitardude]

I know a drummer who was pretty awful because he didn't start playing piano first. And he started playing at the age of 4, so just imagine what a hack he was. That Buddy Rich, he never did amount to anything.

Of course piano would be cool too, but to say that drummers are unable to learn theory because they are drummers means you just hang around with a lot of really shitty drummers. Does he want to be a PERCUSSIONIST? (probably has no idea at the age of right) Wants to play marimba, timpani, etc.? Because THEN I would say of course piano would be helpful at that point.

I played piano for 2 years before drums as a kid, but what helped me in drums wasn't piano - it was my tap lessons. (btw you'll find that most of the old jazz greats from the 30's-50's were also tap dancers) No longer considered manly enough, I'm sure (of course, people who think that haven't seen Savion Glover dance), but if anything, tap lessons would help a budding drummer more than piano! Some of the rudiments between both even share names...

Kudos to you for getting him started so young.

I don't think not being on the metronome right off the bat is a bad thing. You've got to teach some basics first, and you've got to get that 8 year old mind interested. Stroke, rhythm, rudiments, etc. In a few months if there's still no metronome, then I would be concerned.

I also wouldn't be concerned about the lack of traditional grip. There's an ongoing debate about that still to this day, and I don't think one is better than the other. Obviously flexibility in both would be great, but it's really not necessary. I prefer to play with brushes in traditional grip, but I play everything else matched grip. Traditional grip, imo, exudes much more of a "cool" factor, however. +5 for style points.

Thanks for the input. He's still going at it, which is great. And he even took it upon himself to start using a metronome. I found him using it one day during practice. I was kind of surprised. He figured out some different settings on there that I didn't even know existed....

I'm about to take the plunge on a used kit. So far he's just been using a snare; and tapping his foot for the bass drum, and a guitar stand as a makeshift hi-hat. I think we're going to hit up Buffalo Drum Outlet tomorrow...