How long to become to competant on drums?

sickofwaiting

I'm wondering how long it takes someone to become solid on drums? I know one or two people who have been playing for 15 years and still have glaring issues with timing that they never corrected. So, say if you took someone starting from scratch and who took lessons and learned the right way to play straight off, how long before they would be gig ready/able to come up with decent drum parts for original tunes?

rcaz

Hmm... It might depend on the type of music you're playing. If you're in a relatively standard rock band, it would be sooner than if you were in a jazz band or something else more intricate than regular 'rock' playing.

Those people who have been playing 15 years you mentioned have probably learned a lot of difficult tricks, and skipped over the basics (obviously some basics have to be known, but they weren't perfected in those cases).

As for coming up with decent parts, that's a lot more about your attitude and creativity than your ability. You could be able to play really basic stuff and apply it in interesting ways without having to really up your technique for it. But obviously technique and creativity together is the best bet.

I couldn't give you a timeframe, and I don't think anyone will be able to. But don't worry about time, you might set out with one goal in mind, and then discover some other direction that interests you a lot more, or something like that. Or you might just enjoy it too much to care about time anymore.

My advice is to learn the basics, learn them well, learn them to a metronome, and learn the rudiments.

I've another piece of advice I like to bear in mind, but it's sorta personal, and mightn't apply to all drummers. I think that you should learn it all with just a snare drum, a bass drum, hats and one cymbal. If you can master those, when you start applying your playing to bigger kits, you'll play circles around someone who learned on a bigger kit. I think a lot of people learn one or two techniques, like they learn a single stroke roll and a paradiddle and just play them all around the kit. If you can play every rudiment and you know tons of patterns and how to apply them on the snare and bass, you can port it all over to big kits easily.

Drummerboy08

The thing about drums is your always learning new techniques. I'm playing almost 13 years now, and I'm still learning new things. I never took lessons.

It will take you maybe 3/4 years to become "competent", but it could take much much longer to get to a professional level.

sickofwaiting

El Pr0n wrote: »

Hmm... It might depend on the type of music you're playing. If you're in a relatively standard rock band, it would be sooner than if you were in a jazz band or something else more intricate than regular 'rock' playing.

Those people who have been playing 15 years you mentioned have probably learned a lot of difficult tricks, and skipped over the basics (obviously some basics have to be known, but they weren't perfected in those cases).

As for coming up with decent parts, that's a lot more about your attitude and creativity than your ability. You could be able to play really basic stuff and apply it in interesting ways without having to really up your technique for it. But obviously technique and creativity together is the best bet.

I couldn't give you a timeframe, and I don't think anyone will be able to. But don't worry about time, you might set out with one goal in mind, and then discover some other direction that interests you a lot more, or something like that. Or you might just enjoy it too much to care about time anymore.

My advice is to learn the basics, learn them well, learn them to a metronome, and learn the rudiments.

I've another piece of advice I like to bear in mind, but it's sorta personal, and mightn't apply to all drummers. I think that you should learn it all with just a snare drum, a bass drum, hats and one cymbal. If you can master those, when you start applying your playing to bigger kits, you'll play circles around someone who learned on a bigger kit. I think a lot of people learn one or two techniques, like they learn a single stroke roll and a paradiddle and just play them all around the kit. If you can play every rudiment and you know tons of patterns and how to apply them on the snare and bass, you can port it all over to big kits easily.

Cheers mate, looks like its a long road ahead for me .

Anyway, I'll be a bit more specific so maybe yourself or somebody else can give me a ballpark estimation of the time I'd have to put in.

I'd like to join my cousin's band who have had problems getting a drummer for a while now. It's and original band and they play fairly straight forward rock, you know, in the style of U2, Guns N Roses kind of stuff. It's not like I am looking to join some band made up of other beginners, these guys have been playing for 10 years, they are all competant musicians who've played many gigs down the years.

I do not want to be dragging them down if I played with them, so that's why I'm wondering how long it would take before I could hold my own while playing with them? And like I said, I am starting from scratch. If I'm looking at 2 years worth of daily practise before it's a possiblity I'll give it a miss as they will have this slot filled long before then. So any opinions on how much practise Id need for this kind of thing?

bleedinggums

Great thread dude, i've been wondering exactly the same thing. just recently started drums and practicing everyday. I don't concentrate on techniques alone though, i just listen to tracks by bands i like and figure out what i should be playing and whatever, and practice til i can play along with it perfectly straight through.
Is this a good way to go about it? I don't have the money for lessons so i dont really have an option but to teach myself:(

i57dwun4yb1pt8

all of this depends on the practise time you put in .

---

you can become a great pro level creative and advanced
player in 3 years if you practise at least 5 hours a day at least 6 days a week

at minimum you would have to study the books

1/ stones stickcontrol - first 8 pages for hands and feet

2/ the new breed by gary chester ( which will also help you read very well )

to open up all your limbs and sticking alternatives- ,
and in reality alot of other books would be required
( such as stones accents and rebounds , and jim chapins jazz pattern book )


you would also have to learn most modern grooves including jazz and latin
tommy igoes groove essentials is a great dvd for this.

creativity on drums really does mean knowing the techniques and having them down well.

---

but if you just wish to be a solid drummer - you need to practise at least 2 hours a day 3 to 4 times a week
you need to use a click / metronome in ALL practise you do .
you should study stick control for hands and feet ,
and play along to and listen to as much music as you can - even stuff youd normally not listen to.
you could do this in 18 months to 2 years.


drums take alot of practise and time due ot the nature of its physical requirements and the amount of
co-ordination needed .
drums also require accuracy in time , feel, tone and consistent strokes .
there fore you will spend more time on drums getting to the same technical level
as an equivalent musiicain who plays , say bass, guitar or keys
its just the nature of the instrument.


ive been playing drums for 30 years , and have retaught myself from scratch in that period
to learn the proper methods.

just practise hard , and keep focussed.
you really have to commit to drums to reap the rewards of solid ability


make sure you use you tube to show you technique - the first essentail thing to know is how to hold a stick and hit a drum properly - this is the fundamental 'secret' to drumming

see here :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oisX1nhhmeM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKjE2-wOdgg

sickofwaiting

Thanks mate, that was a very helpful post.

DeBunny

The be honest OP, you'd be better off playing with a group of people at the same skill level as you. I joined my friend's band when I started playing. They had about five years experience on me and it was incredibly frustrating for all involved.
They eventually plucked up the courage to ask me to leave which was pretty awkward and created a bit of tension as we had been friends for years. After that I went away and got as many lessons as I could afford.
About a year later they still hadn't settled on a drummer so things worked out well in the end, but I could have saved myself and everyone else a lot of grief if had just put in the graft at the beginning and waited.
It took about about three years, in total, for me to feel like I was playing with peers rather than feeling like I was trying to catch up. This could have been shortened with more lessons and a more regimented practice routine.

I don't want to discourage you but it does take a lot of effort and time. Although, the rewards make it more than worth while.

In the mean time check out this amazing drum lesson site. Lots of essential drum lessons for free. They also have a great range of instructional DVDs and books which you can buy. However nothing compares to one on one lessons. If you can afford it, a good teacher is the place to start. Getting lessons is the fastest way to learn but you're still gonna have to do a lot of waiting. Then again, I find that time flies when I'm practicing, so the more you practice the quicker it'll seem :pac:.

Best of luck