Hey, ive been drumming pretty steady for about 6 months, ive been jamming with my friend a lot, he plays guitar and is really good, but lately i feel like ive hit a wall, i find myself playing the same 6 or 7 beats and find it difficult to incorporate beats without the hi-hat( like in the middle of a beat hitting the base drum by itself and beats that involve variations of snare and bass without the hi-hat accompaning them), my hearts in the right place and i cant think of anything better than jamming with other people and playing off of what their playing i would just like to bring more to the table and not regurgitate(spelling) the same beats over and over again, if any of you experienced drummers out their got any advice it'd be much appreciated P.S. I think independence is a problem for me and getting a teacher wouldnt be an option untill the summer(im in school away from home)
im no drummer, but i have been there with the hit-the-wall aspect! My guitar mentor offered me up these suggestions when i talked with him about it in the past. If you are stuck on just a few riffs, learn them backwards. If you have timing issues, try some other time signatures. Go check out some live music.
hey man, been there too just try not to force it, like just let go and sooner or later you'll surprise yourself and be like "hey, cool, that was new" but if you TRY to play something new you'll just pyche yourself out sometimes I'll just start jamming out on a beat I feel really comfortable with and I'll just try to shift it around a bit, kind of like the inverse riff idea above, and before I know it I've given myself an idea drumming is all about going with the flow man, can't really give you any instrument specific advice though, I play the djembe not a set my 2 cents, good luck peace
Listen to other genres of music that are outside of yours. Many musicians in the past have done this and brewed up new sounds. Many of the electronic techniques used in pop music in the 60s by people like Joplin and Hendrix were created by people such as Les Paul a decade earlier who weren't even into hard rock music. Something new often arises by incorporating techniques used by people in very different genres. John Bonham studied the techniques of big band drummers like Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa. .
Yeah, me advice would be to listen as much mucis as you can, focus your atencion on the drums. That would help you to develop some new beats.
I'd go along with this - jazz is a good way of breaking the boundaries and even if you don't have too much in the way of technical expertise (I used to wear a flipper cos I couldn't get any money for a bass drum) - it gets you exploring rythm - that word I can never spell.I was listening to Keith Moon the other day and thinking its quite amazing how he manages to get so much invention into a regular 4/4 beat.Alot of the time he seems to be picking up on rhythms that reflect not just the bassline but other melodies like the vocals or keyboards,while at the same time - bangin the shit out of em. Thats another thing I'd reccommend is playing with as many other musicians as you can find cos everybody has different hooks and ideas of playing.
Listen to music, a lot. Everything there is, and pay a lot of attention to the drummer. And also to the bassist, to see how the drummer ties to the bassist. Everything you need is in the records.
listen to music that is new to you and then try and play it...imitate all of the music you hear and play alot even if you're in a hole and eventually, you have to come out of it...also, playing with new people is a huge help with this problem...or you could put down the sticks for a few weeks (i know it's very hard) and pick them back up...the ideas will be coming out of your ears.
try listening to the music and beats in your head. just block out everything else, and listen to whats inside you. then it will really flow. thats the great thing about drums. you dont need to have a good ear to express the ideas in your head.
Just play what you feel. A lot of great drummers have made the 2 and 4 an art form. Look at Charlie Watts from the Stones and Phil Rudd from AC/DC. Great drummers, and they have groove for days.
it'll all come naturally. When you are jammin, play what fits best with the groove and if youre feelin it, something new will come. also, becomming experiences in jazz/funk/latin has helped me out a lot in terms of improvising with new rhythm variations. also, take bill kreutzmans word and think of your self as a four sided schitzofenic. Think of each limb as doing a different thing.
i have been drumming for about 5 years and have been told i am almost at a professional level of drumming. What i recommend for you is to check out different styles of music. I recommend buying the afro cuban rhythms book(Frank Malabe and Bob Weiner) and any latin or jazz stuff. Even if these aren't styles that you are interested in, you can still use them. I use latin and afrocuban rhythms in rock songs and they work fine if you have the coordination to play them.
I only play the djembe so its a little different, but seeing as its all about rythmn and beats I know where your at, have been there a hundred times before and have got hundreds more to come, but I find i've just got to keep playing, whether its on my own or jammin with other people (especially with other people), you play for long enough and it just comes to you, you'll try slipping in another beat where it wasn't before and you can change it. And don't try too hard, many a time i've frustrated myself trying to find something new and just ended up slipping into the same old rythmn.
Okay - been drumming 8 years now playing FAST stuff (I'm talking... 240+...) And there's 3 things I started off doing when I first started drumming A.) Kill yourself playing. When it hurts to play drums because your body is aching, play more! Endurance is greatly needed for drumming. B.) Most metal drummers hit the wall once they buy a double pedal kit. They start off doing 180 okay, thinking they're doing good. Then BAM... they can't do 160 if their lives depended. What I did when I hit this spot was took the double pedals off, and practiced single pedalling. If you're not double kicking, then try learning fills at this time. This is sort of your 'resting' stage as a drummer. After this, you can only excel (unless you don't practice.) C.) Get a CD player, get a head set that fully covers your ears, and play along. Make sure they cover the ear so that the drumset sounds muffled. Practicing stuff will be ALOT more fun, and SO much more smooth. Practice bands you like, and once you find that stuff easy, move up to a 'harder' band. After a year or two, start making up your own stuff. I couldn't stress more to try the double pedals out. If you think you're too good for them, then you pull your head out of your ass! If you're thinking 'oh, I want to play light stuff like Jazz, or swing' then look up Louie Bellson. http://drummerworld.com/drummers/Louie_Bellson.html Learn how to read notes, too. Try to become avid at it. If you need to record a song for a band as a session drummer and they need you the next week, they're either going to hand you a demo of their song or a sheet of drumparts they want. It's just to be safe, though. Hope I could help in anyway. till next time, I bid adieau - Nolan
its when you pass through the threshold of playing what you hear from everyone else, to playing what you hear from inside.
