Notes from a drum n00b's first drum lesson

[Ealasaid]

I studied French Horn very seriously for just over a decade, spending a little more than half that time taking weekly lessons and playing in bands with a local music school. When I heard about Rock Band, I joked to youhas that I should ping the school's drum teacher, Joe (who was co-director of a couple bands I was in with the school) and get a lesson. I mean, the RB drums are supposed to be really similar to real ones, so clearly the skill set is very similar, right?

Well, once we got the game, I emailed him to ask about it. And he was so surprised by my request that he gave me a free lesson! Hot damn!

I thought I'd pass along the tips he gave me. I can't be the only total n00b trying to figure out this whole drumming thing. We spent the entire lesson working on holding the sticks properly and hitting the drum properly.

NOTE: This is all typed up by me, from my mental notes during the lesson, so if there are any errors / bad advice / whatever, it's my fault, not Joe's.

HOLDING THE STICKS
Hold your hand up, empty, palm away from you. Now close it a little and put the pad of your thumb so it touches your index finger in the middle of the center segment of the finger (between the two finger knuckles). Got that? Now put the stick between your thumb and finger, and curl your three other fingers around it, loosely. The butt of the stick should stick out a little past your hand/wrist, just next to the wrist bone where it juts up. The stick should NOT run parallel to your forearm. Hold your hands out, palm down, so that your index finger's base knuckle points to the ceiling. Not perfectly flat, though -- your hand will slope down a bit. It's just the first knuckle that needs to point up.

HITTING THE DRUM PAD
Think of drawing a V in place - start at the top, let gravity draw the stick down for the first stroke of the V, then let the bounce and a leetle help from your fingers pull the stick up for the second stroke. Try to keep the contact time with the drum pad as short as possible - any hesitation can easily result in extra taps. Your middle, ring, and pinky fingers should always be able to feel the stick, but shouldn't be clutching it. The middle, ring, and pinky fingers should gently open and close with the stick's movement. Make sure your index finger doesn't wrap around the stick -- it should be loosely pointing down to the floor.

Keep your shoulders and arms relaxed, and try to keep all the motion confined to your wrist and fingers -- don't move your forearms involuntarily. Practice hitting the pad a lot outside the game, so you can look at your hands and work on keeping your fingers doing the right things. I know for me, my ring and pinky finger tend to drift so they're not staying in contact with the stick, and my index finger tends to want to curl around the stick.

AN EXERCISE
Hold the drumstick like a ski pole -- still between your thumb pad and index finger, but with the butt of the stick pointing away from you and the main part of the stick under your forearm. Slant your hand down a bit and use your middle, ring, and pinky fingers to lift the stick so it slaps into your forearm. Practice slapping your forearm with the stick over and over, but gently -- the goal here isn't to bruise your forearm, it's to practice using your fingers to move the stick. Do it for a while, then switch to the other hand.

I had a great time at the lesson, and Joe told me to ping him in a couple weeks if I wanted to come in again for more teaching. He rawks.

Geez, that turned out long. Hope some of this was interesting/helpful to my fellow drum n00bs! If any of the above was unclear please lemme know and I'll try to elaborate.
_________________

Maturity is knowing you were an idiot in the past.
Wisdom is knowing that you'll be an idiot in the future.
Common sense is knowing that you should try not to be an idiot NOW.
-Questionable Content

[Ealasaid]

I studied French Horn very seriously for just over a decade, spending a little more than half that time taking weekly lessons and playing in bands with a local music school. When I heard about Rock Band, I joked to youhas that I should ping the school's drum teacher, Joe (who was co-director of a couple bands I was in with the school) and get a lesson. I mean, the RB drums are supposed to be really similar to real ones, so clearly the skill set is very similar, right?

Well, once we got the game, I emailed him to ask about it. And he was so surprised by my request that he gave me a free lesson! Hot damn!

I thought I'd pass along the tips he gave me. I can't be the only total n00b trying to figure out this whole drumming thing. We spent the entire lesson working on holding the sticks properly and hitting the drum properly.

NOTE: This is all typed up by me, from my mental notes during the lesson, so if there are any errors / bad advice / whatever, it's my fault, not Joe's.

HOLDING THE STICKS
Hold your hand up, empty, palm away from you. Now close it a little and put the pad of your thumb so it touches your index finger in the middle of the center segment of the finger (between the two finger knuckles). Got that? Now put the stick between your thumb and finger, and curl your three other fingers around it, loosely. The butt of the stick should stick out a little past your hand/wrist, just next to the wrist bone where it juts up. The stick should NOT run parallel to your forearm. Hold your hands out, palm down, so that your index finger's base knuckle points to the ceiling. Not perfectly flat, though -- your hand will slope down a bit. It's just the first knuckle that needs to point up.

HITTING THE DRUM PAD
Think of drawing a V in place - start at the top, let gravity draw the stick down for the first stroke of the V, then let the bounce and a leetle help from your fingers pull the stick up for the second stroke. Try to keep the contact time with the drum pad as short as possible - any hesitation can easily result in extra taps. Your middle, ring, and pinky fingers should always be able to feel the stick, but shouldn't be clutching it. The middle, ring, and pinky fingers should gently open and close with the stick's movement. Make sure your index finger doesn't wrap around the stick -- it should be loosely pointing down to the floor.

Keep your shoulders and arms relaxed, and try to keep all the motion confined to your wrist and fingers -- don't move your forearms involuntarily. Practice hitting the pad a lot outside the game, so you can look at your hands and work on keeping your fingers doing the right things. I know for me, my ring and pinky finger tend to drift so they're not staying in contact with the stick, and my index finger tends to want to curl around the stick.

AN EXERCISE
Hold the drumstick like a ski pole -- still between your thumb pad and index finger, but with the butt of the stick pointing away from you and the main part of the stick under your forearm. Slant your hand down a bit and use your middle, ring, and pinky fingers to lift the stick so it slaps into your forearm. Practice slapping your forearm with the stick over and over, but gently -- the goal here isn't to bruise your forearm, it's to practice using your fingers to move the stick. Do it for a while, then switch to the other hand.

I had a great time at the lesson, and Joe told me to ping him in a couple weeks if I wanted to come in again for more teaching. He rawks.

Geez, that turned out long. Hope some of this was interesting/helpful to my fellow drum n00bs! If any of the above was unclear please lemme know and I'll try to elaborate.
_________________

Maturity is knowing you were an idiot in the past.
Wisdom is knowing that you'll be an idiot in the future.
Common sense is knowing that you should try not to be an idiot NOW.
-Questionable Content

[ghozt360]

[ghozt360]

[Powder]

Nice advice.

Ghozt360 is definitely right. They may not be real drums, but using good technique anyway is never a bad thing. Kudos for putting in the effort!

[Powder]

Nice advice.

Ghozt360 is definitely right. They may not be real drums, but using good technique anyway is never a bad thing. Kudos for putting in the effort!