Drums can provide hours of enjoyment, and they are also fun to learn. Maybe listening to a favorite band or admiring a favorite drummer finally convinced you to take a first drum lesson. Before taking the first drum lesson, there should be adequate preparations made to ensure a basic readiness in jumping into the experience of playing the drums. Here are all the basics that need to be covered before taking the very first drum lesson.
Equipment
Unlike other members of a band (guitars players, bass players), drummers have a longer list of equipment and accessories they need to purchase. Buying drums can be an expensive process—mainly due to the actual drum set, the necessary hardware, cymbals and thrones—but there are special places to look and special approaches to take to lower the financial cost. Head to an online retailer to save money; online retailers pass their savings on to their customers because they don’t need to pay for physical, brick-and-mortar stores to sell their products. When choosing a brick-and-mortar store instead, there is the advantage of getting into a bargaining situation with the salesman or woman, which can lower the drum equipment prices significantly. In order to make this more likely, attempt to talk to and relate to the salesman or woman in a very friendly manner, almost as if they are a familiar person. If they end up liking you, they will be more likely to give a better deal.
Grips
In order to play the drums effectively, the correct type of grip must be used. Drumming features a couple of different types of hand grips, either traditional or matching grip. Through a traditional grip, drummers can hold the drumstick in their left hand by using an underhand grip. The traditional grip setup with the left hand in the underhand position is most typically utilized in playing the snare drum. This type of grip is descended from military drummers who had to play the drums from a sling around their neck. Using the underhand position on the left hand made it more natural to strike the drum with their left hand.
Being
Most drum sets are set up for right-handed people, so left-handed drummers should know that they are working in a right hand-dominant field. Many people may not realize that there is a concrete difference between drum sets for left-handed people and normal (right-handed) drum sets, but one exists. Drum sets for right-handed people feature the toms set up from left to right, while the hi-hat is to the left and the bass drum is played with the right foot. Drum sets for left-handed drummers set up in the opposite order. Since left-handed drum sets are harder to find because they are more rare, this may cause some left-handed drum sets to be a little bit more pricey.
The basics of counting and beats
Understanding the basics of counting time is essential if you are to successfully play any drum beat. Counting in drumming is defined as counting the actual notes on different time signatures. For instance, to properly count a 4/4 note, simply count one, two, three, four. Counting can also be applied to beats, and to count beats, it only takes the counting of notes in the signature. For example, a 5/4 beat would require a count of one, two, three, four, five.
Resources
For more information on drumming, please visit the following resources: