A simple drum game. Learning to play the drums at the red chemist school

The question of how to learn to play the drums is difficult to answer unambiguously. Almost every drummer has come a long way from simple rudiments to incredible solos. But there is a secret to success: play thoughtfully and regularly. And the results will not keep you waiting.

To become a great drummer, you need to work in three directions, that is, develop:

• sense of rhythm;
• technique;
• the ability to improvise.

Only by developing these 3 skills, you will blow up the audience at your performances. Some beginner drummers only work on technique. With a good sound, even simple rhythms sound great, but without improvisation and the ability to compose parts, you won’t get far. Ringo Starr from The Beatles or Megan White from the White stripes played simply, but their music went down in history.

To quickly develop all three skills, you will have to strain. To help you with exercises and tips from famous drummers that will help beginners and those who want to move on.

Improvisation and development of musicality

When a person already knows how to play the drums, you need to figure out what to play. Everyone advises listening to other musicians and filming their parts. It's necessary, but some aspiring drummers just copy rhythms from their favorite songs without even caring if they fit the band or not.

Gary Chester, famed session musician and one of the the best teachers, created a system to develop not only technique, but also musical imagination. Book New Breed requires a lot of effort, but after practicing with her, you will learn in practice how to write drum parts.

Bobby Sanabria, a renowned drummer and percussionist, suggests listening to different genres of music to develop your musicality. Start learning percussion or other musical instruments, for example or . Then it will be easier for you to choose the right party.

In addition to the three whales of the art of drumming, there are others. Every beginner needs to learn:

• correct fit;
• good grip of sticks;
• the basics of music notation.

To sit up straight and hold the sticks correctly, just follow this for the first month of classes. If you don't play it right, you'll quickly hit the limits of speed, and your grooves will seem boring to the audience. Reworking the wrong grip and landing is difficult, as your body is already used to it.

If you try to develop speed by playing incorrectly, this can lead to carpal tunnel. Travis Barker, Thomas Lang, Chris Dave and other celebrities have experienced this disease, then they began to devote more time to the grip of sticks and ease of play.

How to get started?

Many beginners never start playing well. They want to get down to installation as soon as possible. tap out simple exercises on the pad for several hours in a row it is boring, but otherwise the hands will not learn all the movements. To stay motivated, see more videos with the masters, it's insanely inspiring. Practice exercises to your favorite music - it will become more interesting to study, and musicality will gradually grow.

There is no definite answer to the question of how to learn to play the drums, every great drummer has a special sound. The tips given in the article will help you really sound. Daily practice is sometimes exhausting if you play inattentively, thinking about extraneous things. Practice thoughtfully, then the exercises will become interesting, and your skill will grow every day.

Learn to deal with laziness and don't quit if something doesn't work out.

Transfer the pattern that you played on your knees to the drum set. Play the 8th note on the hi-hat, hit the left hand on counts 2 and 4, and play the bass drum on counts 1 and 3.

• Count aloud and loudly. It is not necessary to do this when you are playing, but when you are practicing, it will be very useful.
• To get comfortable with the kit, hit whatever you like on counts 2 and 4 instead of the snare drum.
• Try to get the best sound of your rhythm, smoothness and do not forget to count out loud.

Pay attention to the left leg. Learn to close the hi-hat as you play it with your hand. You will get a short sharp sound. Most drummers use the closed hi-hat sound.

• Play 8th notes with your right hand. With your left hand, play the snare on 2 and 4. Try playing the hi-hat on different beats to see what effects you can achieve. You can play with a permanently open hi-hat, you can open it for a while, you can hit the edge of the cymbal or the cup.

Develop foot technique. Release the hi-hat and play the bass drum at the same time, this will help develop coordination and strengthen muscles.

• Practice playing with your foot and right hand at the same time until left hand improvises, and with all parts of the body at the same time. This will help you learn how to better control your punches.

Change the rhythm. Play the same rhythmic pattern, but instead of the snare drum on counts 2 and 4, hit the hi-hat with your left hand. When swinging with your right hand, move your left hand to the snare drum. You must play the snare drum with your left hand between hits of the hi-hat.

• During the exercise, do not forget to count “One-yes-and-yes-two-yes-and-yes-three-yes-and-yes-four-yes-and-yes-”, continuing to play on “One and two and three and four and "on a hi-hat, but while playing with the left hand on the snare drum on "-yes-".

Part 4

Develop motor coordination

Engage in the study of rudiments for the snare drum. The basic "single roll" and "double stroke roll" are essential parts of any drummer's game. A single shot differs from a double shot in that in a single shot you deliver each subsequent blow, changing your hand and making a new swing, and in a double shot you let the stick bounce off the plastic and make two hits in one swing.

• Playing in twos allows drummers to develop tremendous speed and play incredible patterns. All basic drawings using single strokes, twos, threes and fours are set out in the book "26 Basic American Rudiments".

Learn to play with two feet. Perhaps it will cause difficulties and make you break your head, but playing drums means learning something new all the time. Instead of alternating single kicks, try doing two, three, or four kicks while doing another pattern with your arms.

• When doing this, do not forget to count the 8th notes and play with your left foot on the hi-hat on the 4th or 8th weak beats. To play within a standard rock beat, play 2 and 4 on the snare. At the same time, lead the rhythm along the ride cymbal with 8 notes with your right hand, if there is no ride, play along the snare drum hoop.

Play the bass drum with your right foot. Experiment with the bass drum pattern while keeping the rhythm with the rest of your body. This is where all the fun begins. But don't worry if it didn't work out right away, it will become easy and familiar over time. This is a matter of coordination of movements and the ability to play your drawing with a separate limb. Unfortunately does not exist fast way to learn this. Just concentrate and get busy. Sometimes it helps to play separately the part of the party that does not work out.

Part 5

Learn More Complex Rhythms

Learn to play triplets. To learn how to play fourth triplets, you need to start from the second notes. Count 1-tri-ol for every second note. For eighth triplets, everything is the same: three notes are counted for every fourth note.

• Triplets are not used as often in rock beats, but they are an excellent fill-in instrument and are often found in scores for school bands. A triplet is when you play 3 notes instead of 2. You can play 4th, 8th, 16th and 32nd triplets.
• There are many great-sounding 8-note triplets. Count "[One-triple][Two-triple][Three-triple][Four-triple]" or in any other suitable manner. Play this drawing with the metronome, playing each count per click and mentally dividing each count into 3 parts.

Learn to play 16th notes. You already played these notes when you played the hi-hat exercise. They are considered "".

• 16th triplets are considered "".

We count the 32nd: « »/

• It is possible to play 32 triplets, but the complex structure of subdivisions makes it very difficult to pronounce the score aloud. If you want to hear how the 32nd triplets sound, listen to "Hey Joe" Jimi Hendrix. This is a very difficult time signature to play, as it requires the ability to play very fast, and it is necessary to distribute the accents of the set in unison with the main rhythm.

Remember: each sub-division has its place in time, and the strong beats must clearly coincide with the click of the metronome. When playing the metronome in fourths, you will have no difficulty in pronouncing the score when you move up to higher tempos.

Pauses mean that no instrument plays this unit of time. Listen to your favorite song and count 16th or 8th notes, during many transitions or fills you will find places where no instrument is playing - these are pauses.

Learn to feel the different subdivisions and rests by just playing the snare drum. One of the tasks in this exercise will be to make punches of the same strength with both hands. Accented strikes should sound louder than regular strikes, whether you play them with your right or left hand.

• An accented beat is a beat that sounds louder than a regular beat in a fraction, sometimes it is performed with a touch of the rim of the snare drum - a rim shot. Emphasis adds dynamics to the music. In musical notation, accents are denoted by the greater-than symbol (>).

Don't focus on speed. Pay attention to the smoothness of the groove and the maintenance of the tempo.

Practice regularly, even if you don't have access to a drum kit, for at least 15-20 minutes a day. Exercising 5 minutes every day is better than 35 minutes once a week.

Realize that you are a musician first and a drummer second. The best drummers take a very musical approach to their playing, putting the sound of the song first, not the show of their skills. Everything has its time and place.

If you decide to start playing the drum kit, an inexpensive model worth about 10 thousand rubles is suitable for a start. Most often, it will consist of a bass drum, two outboard toms, one floor, snare drum, hi-hat, ride, crash and racks, a chair and pedals. You can always buy more items later.

The drumsticks bounce off the drum nicely, doing some of the swing work for you, so don't press them against the head.

Don't overtighten the stick or you will tear the plastic, break the sticks, and cause injury that will make it impossible for you to continue drumming. Remember John Bonham and Keith Moon - everything is not so simple there, they knew what they were doing. Drum gloves will help get rid of calluses.

Do not neglect ear protection - earplugs or headphones. For example, the snare drum was made to cut through the noise of battles, and here it is a few inches away from your ears.

Find educational literature or books. Check their reviews before spending money. Not all books will be useful to you, some are designed for a different level of student, and others are specific to a style that may not match your desires.

Learn how to play rudiments and then have someone show you how they can be applied to music. Just training for speed, without musical application, will not do you any good. Train the rudiments to automatism so you can safely apply them to music, and not just hit the pedo.

If you don't have space for an acoustic drum kit, consider electronic drums like the RockBand - you can plug them into your computer and play them using the Drum Machine program. You can assign a different sound to each ped, but the reaction speed can be too slow - this is their serious minus.

Take a lesson from a teacher and see if you enjoy playing.

You can start banging on metal cans and buckets if you don't have the money to install. Another option would be to buy a training ped.

To avoid angering neighbors, parents, and everyone in your area, soundproof your drums and where you play.

On your installation, nothing should fall off and hang on a kind word.

Relax. If you get tense, slow down and start again.

There are moments in life when one obsession firmly crashes into the head, not letting go for a minute. Sometimes this is a consequence of a conscious and systematic movement towards the goal, sometimes it is an impulsive desire to fulfill a childhood dream.

Our today's material is for those whose goal (or dream) is to learn how to play the drums. We at Audiomania have collected interesting and helpful tips beginner drummers and learned from Dmitry Poltinin, Audiomania's international logistics manager and drummer and backing vocalist for †B†C†B†, about his drumming experience.

Define the goal

Everything is ambiguous here. First, a beginner drummer needs to decide why he wants to learn how to play the drums. There are many options: some want to hone their playing skills to perfection / quit everything and start their own band, others just want to learn a few favorite songs. It is also worth highlighting the genre you want to play in, because the techniques used by musicians are very different. To understand what we are talking about, watch two videos.

On one of them jazz drummer Buddy Rich performs his stunning solo…

And on the other - rock drummer Terry Bozzio:

Choosing a lesson format

There is an opinion that those who want to seriously take up drums should first of all find a good teacher who will teach you the basics. On the other hand, in music world there are many talented self-taught people - and with the advent of a huge number of worthwhile courses on the Internet, developing talents on your own is becoming easier.

Benefits of working with a mentor: under strict control, of course, you will feel more confident, in addition, the pros will begin to correct your mistakes from the very first days. The teacher will be able to clearly demonstrate those things that are difficult to understand in terms of self-study. Another significant plus of working with a mentor is the opportunity to train on a training instrument and, at least for the first time, not spend money on your own installation.

At first I studied with a teacher at Krasny Khimik, then on my own, then for a short time at the Moscow College of Improvised Music. I think that for the first year or two you definitely need to study with a teacher, because it is at this time that the foundation is laid, the basics.

Improper positioning of the hands leads to a slowdown in the pace of learning, and simply to injuries. In the future, when you have some skills and understanding in which direction to move, you can start studying on your own, visiting the teacher less often.
– Dmitry Poltinin, musician, drums, band †B†C†B†

Advantages of self-study: in addition to the obvious savings on the teacher, self-study implies the ability to study at any time. convenient time and not waste time choosing a suitable (in terms of musical direction, learning style, and simply by character) mentor. However, in this case, you will have to carefully study the materials available on the Web and music stores, and choose the right one.

The fact is that not all tutorials will be useful for you - some are designed for a high level of skills or "sharpened" for a specific style, and therefore may not meet your needs. To get started, you can study the following materials: this and this, perhaps you will find something suitable for yourself.

From resources for self-study, I can advise first of all Stick Control, from online resources - Vkontakte groups [, ,] and Drumeo [this company has channel on YouTube and its own training program - however, paid].

Printed literature is very useful, as it allows you to thoughtfully analyze various fragments and hone the skill of reading music from a sheet. The ability to read and play music will open up the possibility of self-learning in various educational materials, as well as a chance to subsequently play in various teams and become a professional.

Developing a sense of rhythm

Before you spend a decent amount on a drum kit, it's a good idea to learn the basics of rhythm. You don't need a huge kit like Rush's Neil Peart to be a drummer.

Generally speaking, you can start learning how to play drums... without drums. All you need is a chair to sit on and beat the rhythm with your hands on your knees. It is worth noting that at this stage it is important to practice with a metronome - this will teach you accuracy. Muscle memory plays an important role here.

You can also purchase and study literature on rhythms. An example is the book Ultimate Realistic Rock by American drummer Carmine Appice.

You need three things to practice: drum sticks, a practice pad, and a metronome. If there is no pad, then you can knock on anything: a pillow, a sofa, an armchair, or at least on your own legs.

I think the best advice I can give you is rudiments, paradidles, and metronome exercises. Listening different music helps to think more "musically", to create interesting drawings. The most important thing is to listen to the musicians and play along with them, and not soullessly beat out as many notes as possible.

A few words about pads. In fact, a training pad (as a rule) is a round wooden base, on one side of which a special rubber coating is applied that imitates the surface of a drum. Pads can be mounted on special stands, or can be placed on any surface (they usually have threads or silicone stickers on the underside to prevent the pad from slipping - and in some models there are also special straps that allow you to attach the pad to the leg).

The great advantage of the pads is not only their compactness, but also the reduced (many times) noise level compared to real drums. In addition, now on sale there are completely “minimalistic” pads, which are a plastic gel mass. To start playing on such a pad, it is enough to take it out of the jar and roll it into a “pancake”: with a soft, long press, the pad becomes pliable, and with a sharp blow with a stick, it gives a realistic rebound.

Improving self-control

Next, you need to “make friends” with your arms and legs. To play a good groove, you have to learn to control all four limbs. In the process of learning, you will notice how one hand “wants” to repeat the same action that the other did, and it is extremely difficult to “persuade” them. We'll have to show who's in charge here.

To develop self-control, start learning the basic rudiments by practicing on one drum (or any other surface). Rudiments are special techniques that form the basis of playing any drum and are used by drummers to develop coordination.

Here is one of the main rudiments, which is called the Single Stroke Roll, or fraction with single blows:

When you start learning something new, it's always a good idea to choose a slow, measured pace first. It's the same story here - no need to rush to play the rudiment quickly, you should always focus on quality at the very beginning. This is done so that the arms and legs "remember" the movements. After some time, you can begin to gradually increase the speed, while maintaining the clarity of movements.

To check the correctness of your game, as well as just diversify your activities, you can use the Vic Firth website. There is a section on Vic Firth where famous drummers talk and show how to play rudiments correctly.

As for my experience of using exercises to develop coordination, everything is standard here, these are rudiments. You can “lay out” them on the installation and play with your hands and feet at the same time. For example, play sixteenth notes with your hands and triplets with your feet and vice versa, or play a paradiddle with your hands and sixteenth notes with your feet.

Choosing a drum set

If you are determined to master the drums, then it is time to get yourself a drum set. Drums differ from each other in their basic characteristics and there are a great many of them on the market. The drum kit includes the following components: snare drum, bass drum, floor tom, alto tom, cymbals, as well as other auxiliary components, such as a special chair that allows you to quickly adjust the height, is compact, and can be easily disassembled for transportation. Reddit users do not recommend using a non-dedicated "seat" for drumming.

But back to the drums. For a beginner or an amateur who just wants to play with friends in a band, a four-piece drum kit (snare, bass drum, floor tom, alto tom) is suitable, which will allow you to play all the basic sounds. Made famous by Ringo Starr, drummer of The Beatles, this configuration is compact, easy to move, and the sound is well-suited to such musical directions like jazz, blues and rock.

Later, as you gain experience, you can expand your kit according to your desires, for example, add more alto toms, another floor tom, a second bass drum, and so on - there are a lot of variations.

When you have decided on the configuration of your kit, you need to choose the material from which the drums will be made. Used to make drums different kinds tree. They all sound different and have different characteristics. Here are a few of them:

• Maple is the most popular material due to its versatility. It has a soft and balanced sound.
• Mahogany (mahogany) - characterized by more pronounced low and mid frequencies and understated top. It sounds a bit softer than maple and is mostly used for vintage drums.
• Birch - has a bright and clear sound due to its density and rigidity. Ideal for studio recordings. It transmits high and low frequencies well.
• Poplar is a cheap alternative to birch and maple.
• Oak - very similar to maple, but the sound is brighter.

Drums are made from several layers of wood (like plywood). The more layers, the brighter the sound and the higher the tone. And if there are few layers, then the tonality is lower, and the sound is softer. Among the most popular drum brands, our expert, Dmitry Poltinin, notes: Ludwig, Pearl, DW, Gretsch, Premier, Mapex, Slingerland, Sonor, Tama and Yamaha.

I don’t think that the material will be very important for a beginner, anyway, most likely it will be either maple or birch. The tool must be chosen student, but enough good level, which will allow you to enjoy learning and playing, and which can be sold if you upgrade, or if you abandon this business altogether.

But in fact, I do not advise you to rush to buy a drum set if there is no special place to play. Drums are a very loud instrument, and you just won’t be able to play in an apartment. At the very beginning, I advise you to buy a training drum set and learn from it.

Plates

Another important component in the life of every drummer is cymbals. There are several types of cymbals, such as hi-hats, rides and crashes, and splash and china effect cymbals. The choice of a set of "dishes" depends on the style performed music. jazz musicians are looking for more complex and deeper sounds, while rock drummers are looking for a louder and brighter sound.

According to the manufacturing method, the plates are divided into two types: cast and stamped. The tides are made by hand, and each such record has an individual sound. The stamped ones sound the same (depending on the type of cymbal) and are much cheaper.

snare drum

Let's move on to the snare drum. "Small" plays, perhaps, a unique role. It is with the help of it that they maintain the rhythm, emphasize important points, and also organically fill all the pauses throughout the song. Traditionally, the snare drum is made of wood or metal. Metal drums are made from an alloy of aluminum, copper and steel, resulting in a bright and punchy sound. Wooden drums sound much softer.

Plastics

Perhaps one of the main components of the drum are resonant plastics - this is the part of the drums on which the main blows of the sticks fall. There is also a wide choice here: plastics are single- and two-layer, with various combinations of thicknesses, transparent and sprayed, with a reinforced center (with a “dot”) or damper rings, and so on. Depending on the type of plastic, its sound also changes, in addition, plastics of different types differ in wear resistance.

Electronic drums

It is worth noting that there are situations when space is limited in a house or apartment and you simply have nowhere to put so many tools. And I want to play! This is where electronic drums come in handy. They are much more compact and practical than their "analog" counterparts. You can load libraries of sounds on them and perform what you like. Another plus is the ability to play through headphones. Among the most popular manufacturers of electronic drums are Roland , Yamaha and Alesis .

When choosing tools, even at the training stage, I would not advise you to seriously save on anything at all. Although for starters, it may be worth buying equipment - for example, a pedal and racks - simpler, but from trusted manufacturers. You can also buy student series of cymbals (these are produced by world leaders - Zildjian, Sabian, Paiste and Meinl), because if they break - and this will most likely happen until the blow is "delivered", at least they will not have to be hard regret.

Instead of student series of popular brands, you can buy quite sounding Turkish or Turkish cymbals. Chinese origin: Istanbul, TRX, Bosphorus, Turkish, Alchemy, Soultone, Stagg, Wuhan. However, I do not advise you to save on plastics, since poor quality plastics will sound bad and quickly fail. Here you can look at the brands Evans, Remo and Aquarian.

The best way to learn to play is on an acoustic kit or a practice kit - on an electronic one, the bounce is completely different, and everything is played much easier. Therefore, to learn good sound extraction on it simply will not work.

Choosing sticks

Having decided on the drum kit, you should pay attention to consumables - drumsticks. Sticks are chosen depending on the style of play. However, the choice of material, size, shape and tip depends on the personal preferences of the musician (some of the most popular manufacturers are Vic Firth, Pro Mark, Vater, Regal Tip).

Coming in a music shop, you will see that sticks are usually denoted by two characters: one letter and one number, for example, 3S, 2B, 5B, 5A and 7A. These designations have been preserved since the early days of drumstick production, when the number denoted the size of the stick, and the letter denoted its purpose depending on the playing style.

To date, everything has remained the same - the number indicates the diameter of the stick. The smaller the number, the larger the diameter will be. For example, 7A will be much thinner than 5A. As for the letters, they indicate the recommended use:

• S - long sticks, designed for performances of marching drummers
• A - orchestral sticks. Thinner than Grade B sticks. Very popular with jazz and rock drummers.
• B - for symphony orchestras. Heavier than class A sticks

The stick should feel comfortable in the hand and be suitable for producing sound in specific conditions, for example, 7A sticks are good for a concert in a small area, but completely unsuitable for playing in a street drum orchestra. The size of the wand should match your hand both in diameter and length - it should be comfortable to hold. Try a few before making your choice. various models sticks for comparison. If you've never played drums before, try starting with 5A sticks.

It is worth noting that in recent times steel sticks for training are gaining popularity. They are several times the weight of sticks and should not be used for drumming, but are well suited for practice and technique. Renowned drummer Jojo Mayer recommends these sticks in his video school.

Play along with your favorite songs

Having got hold of the instruments and having developed the initial skills, you can begin to play along with your favorite songs. This exercise will develop your ear. If the song is familiar to you, you know how it should sound, and you can find the right rhythm. When listening to music, try to understand how the drummer plays.

Quora resident Geoffrey Martin advises starting with AC/DC as drummer Phil Rudd plays fairly simple and straightforward grooves, so it won't be easy for a novice musician to repeat them. great work. Our expert, Dmitry Poltinin, also advises to choose simple, popular and (not least) not fast songs - they are ideal for a beginner drummer.

Another piece of advice that might be helpful was given by musician Sim Messa: "If you can't figure out how a drummer plays by ear, look at live recordings, maybe the visuals will tell you what to do."

Finally

Every drummer should have some kind of "work on himself" - draw knowledge from any available sources. Don't be "afraid" of other drummers, they can always tell you something interesting or useful. For example, check out a Reddit thread or the DrummerWorld project forum.

Over time, every keen drummer begins to understand all the subtleties of the game. He learns to recognize his strengths and weak sides understand what needs to be worked on.

Finally, I would like to add that you should not neglect ear protection: earplugs or headphones. Drums led armies into battle, so their loud sound could cut through the noise of gunshots. And here it is a few centimeters from your auditory organ.

Oh yeah, and don't forget to warm up before starting the game! Drumming requires a lot of physical effort. It is necessary to pay attention to the hands, knees, fingers. After spending 10-15 minutes warming up, you will play much more evenly and avoid strains.

You can watch this video with exercises for stretching and warming up the muscles:

Let's make a small summary of the above. If you decide to learn how to play the drums, then:

1. First determine the purpose for which you want to start practicing, whether it's just to learn a couple of songs or start playing in a band. Also decide on the genre, as the techniques used by the drummers are very different.

2. Choose the type of training: with a mentor or on your own. positive moment working with a teacher is that from the first days he will begin to correct your mistakes, and you will immediately feel more confident. However, self-study is also an option, you save money and can study at any time convenient for you. Goodness is presented on the web great amount guides.

3. Start developing your sense of rhythm. To do this, it is not necessary to have a drum kit - beat it with your palms on any surface. Rhythm is the foundation of drumming.

4. Learn to control your arms and legs. To do this, study the rudiments, perform coordination exercises.

5. Choose a drum set based on your desires. For starters, it might be worth buying a starter kit.

6. The choice of the size, shape and tip of the sticks depends on the personal preferences of the musician. Therefore, hold the sticks in your hands, try to play. For starters, you can use 5A chopsticks - they are best for beginners.

7. Play along with your favorite songs to develop your ear.

8. Use earplugs to protect your hearing.

9. Always warm up before playing to avoid sprains and injuries. Drumming is a serious physical activity. Add tags

Music, and especially music performed live, is what has the strongest influence on a person. Having gone through its centuries-old life, music today is a combination of performing skills of the highest level, high technology in the field of recording and sound design, as well as a serious development business musical styles and individual performers. Our article will focus on what you need to start your journey as a future drummer. So:

How to play drums and what do you need for this?

The subject of our conversation will be an ordinary drum kit, which is a must for any studio. Let's first talk about what it is, and after that we will go through the basic requirements for playing technique on the installation.

A drum kit, or "set" as musicians call it, consists of different drums that differ in tone of sound and in the method of playing the parts on each of them. Here is a list of tools that are common attributes of any modern setup:

• Big drum (kick or kick). This instrument stands on the floor and is turned towards the musician with the head, so it stands on the body. The plastic is the area where the pedal hits. The barrel is played with the foot using a pedal or a double pedal. Particularly dexterous drummers sometimes use three pedals. As a rule, the right foot is placed on the pedal.
• Snare drum (snare). One of the most important attributes drum set without which it cannot be considered complete. You can't play drums without it. The snare drum is set in front of the drummers at the level of the bend of the arm at the elbow at an angle of 90 degrees. Such a setting is necessary to perform a correct and powerful blow to the snare drum. It is equipped with a usually white top head and an adjustable jockstand, which is used to change the sound of the instrument.
• Toms are drums of a lower pitch than the snare. They are used by the drummer during the transitions in the composition, during the so-called "breaks". Depending on the style and desire of the drummer, he can set at his discretion from zero to a large number volumes. The maximum limit of the toms is the drummer's ability to reach them to make a full hit. A typical setup is provided with three volumes of different tones. Above the snare is the highest-sounding tom, to the left the tone is lower, and the floor tone is the lowest-sounding instrument, except, of course, for the kick.
• Let's move on to the "iron", that is, to the plates. An indispensable attribute of any installation is a hi-hat (hi-hat). Without it, you won't learn how to play the drums. It is located near the snare drum on the left. Only the hi-hat has unique properties and structure. The fact is that it includes an upper and lower plate in its composition. A special rack allows the musician to decompress and compress them, which significantly affects the sound of the hat.
• Another indispensable tool in the hardware is the ride. This is the largest cymbal in diameter, which is located to the right of the drummer and gives a gentle, airy and sonorous tone when played correctly.
• Well, a set of plates, such as crashes (crash). This includes various cymbals of any sound and tone. The main cymbals used by everyone are kreshi of a different tone, china (china), and splash (splash).

That's probably all the instruments that are used by drummers. Let's move on to the principle of drumming. It's no secret that good drummer must have perfect coordination and a sense of rhythm. It is these two indicators that determine the success of a particular percussionist. The principle of the game is as follows. Each song has its own time signature. The most common of these is the measure, which contains 4 beats. Thus, the drummer must fill in these four beats correctly in order to play the drums well. Proper filling comes down to this idea. The barrel performs the first beat in the measure for the count of times. Further, the barrel game may vary. The snare drum creates the rhythm of the sound of the composition. The blow to the snare drum falls on a weak beat of the measure. Thus, the beat pattern is: 1-kick, 2-small, 3-kick, 4-small. To give the composition a more rocked and slow sound, they play in this way: 1-barrel, 2-barrel, 3-small, 4-barrel. At that moment, while the right foot and left hand of the musician hit the barrel and the small one, respectively, right hand The drummer plays any of the cymbals in this way: 1-cymbal, 2-cymbal, 3-cymbal, 4-cymbal.

Only in this way and in no other way will you be able to achieve a sound that is similar in composition to the sound during the performance of a professional drummer. A few words about what drumsticks are and how to use them correctly. Drum sticks are two processed wooden bars with tips for playing the instruments. The stick should be held by the thicker end, and hit with the side where there is a tip. The correct grip of the stick is to hold it not with the whole palm, but only with the fingers. The palm only holds the wand stabilizing its trajectory. That's right, you need to play the drums. The drum can be struck with three different ways, depending on the genre and nature of the work. The first way corresponds light music like jazz. Played with fingers only. By using special work fingers, the drummer performs light blows on the heads percussion instruments. The second method, which is used everywhere, involves the work of a brush. For impact, the brush and fingers of the musician are used. Well, the most swipe transferring maximum energy to the instrument and extracting maximum decibels from it, is performed using the elbow or shoulder part of the arm. This method is used extremely rarely and in special moments of the composition.

We hope that the material presented by us will help novice musicians master the basics of mastering such a multifaceted and complex instrument as a drum kit. For those who aspire to highest level mastery there is a video of how the drums are played.

For most, drumming is just a hobby that doesn't require much practice. Almost all drummers sit down at the kit when the mood is right and play for their own pleasure. But for professional musician there is always a need to improve and develop their skills. So how do you learn to play the drums yourself?

Firstly, it is worth setting for yourself certain goals that you should try to achieve in the classroom. Secondly, you need to do a lot and often. A drummer of any level should pursue three goals in his work: learning new techniques, repeating previously learned material and developing musicality. Like any other musician, a drummer must constantly learn something new.

What do you need to play drums?

• A metronome is what every drummer needs. For beginners and established professionals alike. All exercises must be played under it. Metronomes are either electronic or mechanical. For a drummer, the first one will do;
• pad - useful if there are no drums at hand. You can also practice with the pad in relative silence;
• music player - with it you can play parts for songs;
• earplugs - will help with long rehearsals;
• music stand - you can do without it, but with a music stand it is much more convenient to read unfamiliar parts;
• and of course

How should rehearsals go?

If you play drums well, then know that the key to success lies in regular and well-structured practice. Ideally, you need to train every day, especially for those who want to connect their lives with music. In addition, drumming implies that the drummer has a developed muscular system. For this reason, it would be nice to do some kind of sport.

There is no need for long exhausting rehearsals, especially if something new or difficult is being learned. Scientists have proven that a person can properly concentrate his attention only in the first twenty minutes. Therefore, every twenty minutes you can take small breaks. If you play with a group, then it is in such five or ten minutes that you can discuss this or that song.

How to learn to play the drums smoothly? This will help the next point that every musician should remember - playing the parts at a slow pace. Muscles need to be given a chance to work out movements at a slow pace so that later there are no mistakes and do not have to relearn. Also for training, you can count aloud when you play the exercises. This will help to correctly understand the tempo and size of the work. You can also sing along with the game.

Proper sound production is the key to success. We must strive to hit the middle of the drum to get a pleasant and clear sound. You also need to hit the cymbals correctly and hold the sticks correctly, monitor the landing and impact. Landing, technique and sound production - key points in drumming.

It is also important not to lose interest in classes over time. One lesson should contain many aspects that the drummer must keep in mind. It is undesirable to spend all the time of the lesson on practicing the same technique.

What should be included in the lesson?

• control over the correctness of impact and sound extraction;
• metronome lessons;
• playing in different styles;
• game in odd sizes;
• development of weak arms and legs - play like a left-handed drummer;
• playing at both slow and fast paces;
• game of polyrhythms;
• different tricks with sticks - devote your free time to this;
• shuffles;
• own ideas - invent, develop creatively!
• use of brushes;
• recording and listening to your rehearsals will help you hear your mistakes.

So we answered the question of how to learn to play the drums. Now you can buy everything you need to play and start training.