Drums

>>18042251

book is better. book can see what you're doing wrong and point out. how can a person even compete?

don't get a teacher or a book. write your own songs dude. thats how i got good. or JOIN A BAND. seriously dude, join any band it will make you better. i sucked so bad at drums and then i joined like 3 bands and now i am a lot better. being in a band just forces you to practice and read your bandmates

OP I might be in a different place because I started playing bass guitar at 15 then guitar in a band then did a degree in music with double bass as my principle instrument and trombone as my secondary. I can carry a tune on pretty much any instrument after a few minutes of fucking around and my thought process is one where I know if I apply myself I can reach an intermediate standard within a few months and an advanced one within a year.

Of course the highest levels of virtuosity require a lifetime of dedication and constant intelligent productive practice and being creative on certain instruments requires an affinity and measure of passion for something, but theory and its application aside, when it comes to learning instruments it is just muscle memory and dexterity. I used to record and if I wanted a brass section I'd just learn all the instruments I needed and layer them up, didn't have to be complex, it wasn't a trumpet solo.

That said you've got to know how to practice in a productive manner. I play drums at the moment and I spend around 20 minutes a day practising with maybe a few longer sessions once or twice a week. I used to play them in a band until last christmas for about a year and we'd practice for 4 hours once a week and gig.

So you've got fun fucking around playing and then you've got analysing your weaknesses and attempting to improve them and your practice time should be split between these. If you struggle with that a teacher might help, but I've never really liked teachers because they often start off like I did here, laying down the foundations of being an authority and then going through their method from step 1. Fundamentals are important, but you really don't need to know much of anything to start making 'music' and that is always more fun.

Are we talking the typical American punk fast polka bsbbs with 16th note hats across the top? Blast beats? How much volume do you need? Have you explored the Moeller method? Do you heel toe or slide?

>>18042266
Also agree with joining a band. Nothing shows up where you need to improve more than having to play with other people and it introduces a creative kind of competitive, but in a really nice kind of collaborative way edge. Also you get to figure out how to read people's playing and anticipate changes within a song and come up with creative parts without thinking about it because you are already playing a section ahead in your head and all these things are skills musicians need and very rewarding.

But basically, playing in a band is like "shit, I can't actually play that fast or slow for that long, I need to fix that" or "shit, I'm playing too loudly/softly and need to fix that" or "shit, my grip sucks and I always drop sticks I need to work that out or reinvent the way I approach fills to prevent it for now".

Like it directs your practice because you want to get better so you can work better as a group. It is really nice.

>>18042276
fuck off dude obviously this guy is new and doesnt understand your jargon. ive been drumming for three years and don't know what the fuck moeller method is. you dont have to throw around technical shit to make yourself sound tight. hey OP, you can just be creative and fuck what anyone else thinks. just make noise if you want to. but just make sure that you are doing what you want to do. challenge yourself

>>18042313
I respect your opinion dude, but you should just google anything you don't know. I'd be really surprised if after three years playing you aren't already doing some form of moeller in your own playing, you just have another word for it.

You definitely know what heel toe and slide techniques are as well. Also so should OP because if he is saying he is gotta go fast then moeller, heel toe and slide are like the first three fucking things.

Anyway just for the hell of it, moeller is like when you let a stick fall onto the snare and you get three or four hits, usually one or two being fairly solid and the last two being ghost notes and not very loud. It is just about developing a consistent technique so you know on each stroke how many rebounds you are going to get and how to control them so they are at the right level and in time. Some say wrist, some say forearm, some say both all are correct and it is really understanding how much force to use and how this changes the balance point, but basically it is how you get four hits in the time and energy of one and end up with single hand buzz roles. I find it invaluable when playing busy syncopated ride patterns or claves against the main beat because the skipping motion builds the motif and it is about the only sensible way I can count 1, 2, 3&a, 4 when playing straight with my other arm and feet.

Also when playing stupid fast it helps to count 1 and get 4 when hitting things like the hihat.

Anyway OP I see you've basically not come back so I'll just give a simple answer and a bump.

Books are fine, but the best ones come with DVD's. Teachers are great because they can identify other flaws in your technique, but they will still require you to put in the practice on your own with a metronome. I would just use resources online and read online. It'll cover what a book or teacher will at first. But the advice will all be the same anyway.

Start slow, build up speed gradually, don't go faster until you can maintain that speed comfortably, practice to a metronome, pick a simple beat at first, deconstruct complex patterns hit by hit while counting them out as you do so working out the arm movements and programming yourself step by step until it becomes second nature and then you can start off at a moderate tempo and built it up over time.

It is literally like programming yourself with a series of patterns which you can perform without thinking about it so you can open up brain power to think about the patterns you are going to play next and the fills you are going to use to transition into them.

Playing fast is about trigging movement patterns where mentally you've called it "1" but it could be an incredibly complex phrase so you are thinking 11111111112222222222fill11111 or something but your body is moving like a fucking machine. Also as you get gud you learn to perform these movements in the most efficient manner without wasted effort which increases your speed and accuracy. Like you don't lift your whole arm to make a stroke you just tension your wrist and flick and suddenly you are doing a one handed buzz roll.

dude turn on the metrenome and play with it every single time you practice. shit is hella important for learning how to keep a consistent tempo. it's important on every instrument but especially yours since it's the drummer's job.

>>18042794
An exercise I like to do is play to a metronome playing quarter notes. Then reduce it down to half and eventually whole notes. Then only so that it plays once every two bars. Great way to train your internal timing

>>18042251
Self learning is a fucking terrible idea for drums.

Drums are the hardest instrument.

Get a teacher.

>>18042794
As a drummer I just want to say I'm tired of this lazy bullshit 'it is the drummers job to keep time' noise. It is the whole fucking bands job to keep time and the drummer is just part of it.

Otherwise you retards would be switching time signature every time someone played a triplet fill or stabby janky staccatissimo, but you don't because you've really no idea what is actually going on, you just go with it and if it feels right it feels good and that is exactly how it should be.

Like if I stop playing and the bassist can't hold time for a section what the fuck is going on there? Yeah ok, maybe the lyrical phrasing of that pedal soaked guitar solo was a little 'syncopated' and the guitarist went off on a tangent there, but they should still be able to come in on the next downbeat independently.

>>18042872
Drums have 500 million potential variables, but at the most basic level you are hitting things with an intent to be rhythmic. I'm pretty sure in even speech percussion predates intonation let alone 'music'.