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@dailydrumtips
Drumming Tip #17: Practice
Having difficulty playing a certain song? Do not threat! Practice it at a slower pace, break it down, or omit the bass drums to focus on the hi-hat and snare, then add the bass drum later. There's lots you can do to refine your skills for a certain song.
Drumming Tip #16: Time Signatures
Time signatures are expressed as fractions (X/Y). Y is ALWAYS evenly divisible by 4 (4, 8, 16, 32, 64, etc.), and X is usually also evenly divisible by 4, but doesn't have to be.
The numerator is how many of the denominator is in a measure of a song. In a 4/4 time signature, the numerator means "4/Y" notes. The denominator is the numeration of the notes; you know, quarter, eight, sixteenth, etc. So in a 4/4 time signature, there are 4 quarter notes. In a 8/16 time siganture, there are 8 sixteenth notes.
Time signatures become a challenge when they break the boundaries of music methodology. You will see this a lot in progressive genres, such as Dream Theater's "Panic Attack" which bears a 5/8 section, or their "The Test That Stumped Them All" which bears a 17/4 section.
Other songs play with weird time signatures that can drive drummers crazy. Soundgarden's notorious "Spoonman" is in 9/8 - what Jimmy Pesto, Jr. refers to as a "dancing kryptonite."
Drumming Tip #15: Some ABBA Songs to Drum
Try drumming these killer pop-rock tracks from the heart of the '80s - ABBA!
1. "Lay All Your Love On Me" (Medium)
2. "Under Attack" (Hard)
3. "Entr'Acte" (Easy)
4. "Voulez-vous" (Hard)
5. "One of Us" (Easy)
Drumming Tip #14: The Bass Drum in Fills
The bass drum plays many roles in drum fills. It can either be stationary, as it may be in tom-heavy fills such as in "What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse" by The Black Dahlia Murder; keep a 4/4 beat, which would be helpful in organizing the individual parts of your fills; or be kicked rapidly, and perhaps more quickly than the basic beat of the song being played.
Drumming Tip #13: Some Basic Fills
1. [Sn x 1, T1 x 1, T2 x 1, Fl x 1, Cr]
2. [Sn x 2, T1 x 2, Sn x 2, T2 x 2, Sn x 2, Fl x 2, Sn x 2, Cr]
3. [Sn x 3, T1 x 3, T2 x 3, Fl x 3, Cr]
4. [Sn x 4, T1 x 4, T2 x 4, Fl x 4, Cr]
5. [Sn x 1, T1 x 2, Sn x 1, T2 x 2, Sn x 1, Fl x 2, Sn x 1, Cr]
Drumming Tip #12: The Snare in Fills
Although the snare's main job is to keep the beat of the drums, it also plays several smaller roles in drumming. One of which is its role in drum fills. In simpler genres such as pop, it is not unheard of to have fills entirely composed of the snare; be it a few hits or a whole fill's worth. The snare can also be played in its native rhythm to the song during a fill, in an alternative fashion from one drumhead to the snare on the beat to another. A third implementation is when the snare and the other drumheads alternate after a few strikes each to create something like this:
{[Snare x 4], [Tom1 x 4], [Snare x 4], [Tom2 x 4], [Snare x 4], [TomFloor x 4]}
There are many other combinations and uses for the snare drum in drumming, too. Try some out and experiment to see if you can master them all!
Drumming Tip #11: The Snare
Your snare drum is perhaps the most important drum on the drumset. It's the head which keeps the beat. It doesn't matter what the other heads (including the bass drums) are doing - the snare is the "master head" of them all. If it's blast-beating, it's a fast song. If you're hitting your snare once every 30 seconds, it's a ridiculously slow song. The speed at which you strike the snare also helps dictate the speed of the hi-hat, ride cymbal, crash cymbals, pedals, and fill speeds.
Drumming Tip #10: Drum Songs
Some Garth Brooks songs to consider drumming:
- "Callin' Baton Rogue" (Medium)
- "Standing Outside the Fire" (Medium)
- "Way Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)" (Hard)
- "Red Strokes" (Easy)
- "Ain't Goin' Down ('Til the Sun Comes Up)" (Hard)
Drumming Tip #9: Grip It!
Don't hold your sticks too firmly - this could cause damage in your wrists and have you never drum again! Instead, hold your sticks at about 1/3 length with a light grasp. It is better to have them fly out of your hands than cramping your style - literally!
Drumming Tip #8: Choking
Sometimes you need a big crash, but not need to have it echo (or resonate) to the audience. Choke your cymbals! To do this, strike your cymbals, and then gently grab the end of the cymbal that's closest to you.
Drumming Tip #7: Cymbal Cleaning
Like everything else in life, drumsets get dirty. And though acoustic kits are more-or-less high-maintenance, cleaning cymbals themselves isn't much of a challenge.
In order to clean your cymbals, you will need a cymbal cleaning liquid, which you can obtain at any Guitar Center, and a soft cloth. It is best to follow the instructions on the label, but the general rule is to take one cymbal at a time from its stand (what is, unmounting), spray it with the cleaner, wait about 20 seconds, and then quickly wipe the cymbal clean.
Your biggest challenge of this will be cleaning the ride cymbal, since it is most likely your biggest cymbal to clean. If need be, clean this one twice.
The best way to wipe your cymbals is to, if you can, go with the grain and wipe in big circles that cover the entire surface of the cymbal. For larger cymbals (say 16" and up), wipe in large circles, and gradually rotate around the entire surface area of the cymbal. Make sure to get the edges and the bell.
Cymbals' sounds do not change when they are dirty or clean. However, a clean kit is a happy kit. Cleaning your cymbals at least once a month - unless you're on tour and feel you need to do so more frequently - should suffice.
Drumming Tip #6: Bass Drums
Most standard kits have a single bass drum. However, there are a good many drummers who need two pedals to properly pedal their music. This dexterity requires you to equally train both of your feet to have equal stamina. This can be a challenge, since, if you're used to a single bass drum, most likely your left foot has almost nothing to do.
To play with both bass drums, you'll need to put your hi-hat cymbals in a permanently down position so they sound normal. Simply unscrew the clutch of your hi-hat until the hi-hats are together without putting pressure on the pedal, and remain stationary when pressure is or isn't applied. You may now rotate yourself (and perhaps your throne as well) to put your left foot to your left bass drum pedal and your right foot to the right bass drum pedal.
You may notice that you can now pedal up to four times as quickly as you could with one bass drum, depending on how quickly you can alternate between kicks.
Spend time practicing songs that require one bass drum with the left pedal to build up its stamina (leave the right pedal stationary). Alternatively, you can practice double-bass drum songs that, though are more difficult overall, are mutually demanding and thus, will help build your stamina on both feet.
Typically, progressive genres, metal, punk, and hard rock songs use both bass drums in music.
Drumming Tip #5: Drum Songs
Below are some songs with fun and interesting drum parts you could consider looking up and trying out for yourself. Difficulties vary.
- "Spoonman" by Soundgarden
- "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple
- "Calling" by Strung Out
- "The Broken" by Coheed and Cambria
- "Fire" by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Every 5th Daily Drumming Tip will be a selection of songs to drum.
Drumming Tip #4: Tuning Your Kit
Drums may look like they're ready to play the minute you buy them from your local Guitar Center, but they're not. They require tuning, just like guitars. The only difference is, drums take much more effort and time to tune. But don't worry, unless something extenuating happens, you should only need to tune them once. Otherwise, just give them a quick check-up before you go onstage or your sound guy hears them.
To tune your kit, you will need a small tool called a drum key. The drum keys use male/female attribution much like cords do. Insert the hole of the drum key (female) to a spud on a snare or tom head (male). Then twist clockwise until you feel a lot of resistance. Do this for both sides of every head (yes, this is a pain in the ass). Your biggest obstacle will probably be the bass drums, which you will need to stand on one side at a time to tune. The bass drums should also sound distinguishable but not too distinguishable. You want to be able to sound like you're using two pedals when you are, but also sound like you know just what the hell you're doing. Of course, if you only have a puny one-bass drumset, don't worry about this part.
There are two fashions in which to tune a head: either diagonally or circularly. To tune diagonally, pick a spud on a head and tune it, then tune the one diagonal to it. Then tune the spud right of the first spud, followed by the one diagonal to it and so on until all are tuned. This is perhaps the better method since it more quickly restrains a drumhead. To tune circularly, pick a spud and tune it, then tune the other spuds clockwise until you return to the first one.
The tricky part is that there is no true way to tell if your kit is properly tuned or not, since all kits are different and sound different, and even the bass drums and floor toms are made of different woods than the smaller heads and the snare. Essentially you need to go with your instincts and do some test-drumming to achieve a good sound. As long as you tighten those spuds like a MOFO, you should be good to go.
Drumming Tip #3: Drum Ergonomics
Need help in drum ergonomics? Teach yourself! Take your kit apart and put it back together again, and pretend to be the roadie you'll end up being until you hire some of your own. Take a picture of it fully assembled before dismantling it to help guide you until you can do it from memory. You don't have to do this every day - but practice regularly if you feel you need to.
Daily Drumming Tip #2: Replacement Parts
Drumsets are expensive. Luckily, they're also built to last (after all, they're designed to be struck at). You don't need to replace your heads or cymbals every other day. As long as you keep your heads tight and cymbals protected, unless you're on tour, it's OK if they're not in perfect condition. Buy replacement heads (and/or cymbals) when you can, but keep them in the closet or in protective bags until needed. Also, keep using your sticks until they break, which they most definitely probably will eventually. This is normal. Make sure to have spare sticks at all times.
Daily Drumming Tip #1: Some Basic Songs
Whether you have a super-massive Neil Peart kit or a simple starter kit, start with simple songs - especially those fit for your own kit. Try songs like "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor, "Rumors" by Timex Social Club, and "The River" by Garth Brooks to start. It helps to be able to play from memory, but if you can listen and play with the drummer of a song, that's good, too.