Learning drums (like anything else) seems easy nowadays. Get yourself a set of training pads on stands, select your rock drum sticks, find a channel on YouTube with your favorite tracks – and go! Then analyze audios, separate drum sounds, imitate them. And finally, write your own!
But though it looks simple in theory, there are some problems to solve and questions to answer. Here I’ll cover the most important of them.
Virtutors
The easiest part of it is finding someone to learn from. You can, of course, just analyze drum parts of your favorite rock tracks. But we live in 2021, and everything can be found on YouTube. Just type in “drum lessons”, “drum school” or something like that, and you’ll see dozens of relevant videos.
Select those you find the clearest to see. Teachers are different; find yours. Though the basics are common, playing jazz, funk, or rock on an advanced level can be different, so choose things closest to your preferences.
May the Force Be with You
Unless you can afford a silenced room for your sessions, you’ll have to moderate the noise you make. There are different ways to achieve that: using training pads, silencers, electronic drums instead of acoustic ones (if you are ready to afford all that). A good training kit provides the bounce and the entire physical feel of a real drum kit.
Remember, though, that the way your extremities move and the way you hear the drum sounds may differ at the real kit. Despite all the perfect imitation, a real kit will be positioned a bit differently. The stage will probably shake a little if you’re at a gig. Home kits can help you with the basics, but for mastering the art, you’ll need to go out.
Prepare yourself that this sort of practice will take more time than getting behind a real drum kit. Each hour spent with real drums equals to about five hours at pads. This goes out to both body training (drumming requires that as well) and musical perfecting.
Get Electronic?
Well, in 2021, investing in an electronic drum kit sounds reasonable. It does not produce loud sounds unless you make it loud. You can exercise with your headphones on, almost silently for others. In addition, electronic drums are easy to record and then analyze your mistakes. Or to use in your electronic tracks if you’re recording them at home.
All these advantages make e-drums a solid choice even for some experienced musicians. But here is the moment of choice. What sort of drums do you intend to play in the future? Electronic ones are great for studio production, for playing with DJ’s and keyboardists, in retrowave bands and electronic collaborations. They are great to record MIDI drum tracks and then edit them if something goes wrong, share with remote co-producers, try different sounds.
But it completely differs from how a rock gig feels, with acoustic power produced by your sticks. This is a different drumming, and skills at one do not apply at another.
No Drummer Is an Island
There is one thing you can never learn alone, and it’s called interaction. Playing in a band means you need to speak to other musicians, to argue on various issues, to solve everyday problems when on the road, and so on. Even the brightest moments, like sharing the same groove while playing, need you to be ready.
Communication is what you can never learn alone. Just accept that. One day you’ll need to venture outside and find a band to use your acquired skills. And you’ll discover there is a lot more to learn; but that’s a different story.
Marching to Different Drums Together
If you’re going to learn to play drums alone, it doesn’t mean you can’t communicate on that. What kit did you use? How do you deal with neighbors about that? What manner do you consider the best? What about e-drums? What YouTube channels would you recommend? Let’s talk in the comments. Or bring it to your friends on Facebook and Twitter to discuss there.
