Private Drum Lessons | Drum Instruction | Durham, Cary, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Raleigh, NC

North Carolina Day of Percussion

I received this message from the Percussive Arts Society regarding their Day of Percussion event in North Carolina:

The North Carolina Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society will sponsor the annual Day of Percussion at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro , April 24, 2010. Featured clinicians will include Christopher Norton (marimba), Susan Powell (ragtime xylophone), Joe Krygier (world percussion), Scott Herring (symphonic percussion), and Steve Fidyk (drumset). There will also be performances by the professional percussion ensembles Sympatico and Amphion as well as collegiate percussion ensembles from all over the state. The host for this event will be Kris Keeton, Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Percussion Studies at UNC-Greensboro. Make plans NOW to attend this exciting event!

For more information please contact:

Laura Franklin, NCPAS Chapter President, at franklll@brevard.edu 

or

Kristopher Keeton at KSKEETON@uncg.edu.

If you've never attended an event like this, I can't recommend it enough. And to learn more about the Percussive Arts Society, visit their website - www.pas.org

BBC - Music Sense

I recently came across an interactive guide that is featured on the BBC Parent's Music Room website.  It's a web based interactive program that is designed to help you "understand key terms in music by bringing them to life with sounds and moving images."  Below is a screenshot of the page, and here is the link, if you want to check it out for yourself:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/parents/activities/musicsense/index.shtml

Drum Charts

I recently played a weekend "Date Nite" event at a church in Cary, NC (I never thought I'd EVER play "Sweet Child of Mine" and "Open Arms" in a church!) and learned 5 songs for the event.  The band leader wanted us to play the songs as much like the original as possible, so I took it upon myself to transcribe the drum parts to best replicate the fills, groove, and beats of the originals.  Below you'll find links to PDF charts of the following songs:

Sweet Child of Mine by Guns and Roses

Download Sweet Child of Mine PDF Drum Chart

How Sweet It Is by James Taylor

Download How Sweet it Is PDF Drum Chart

Love Story by Taylor Swift

Download Love Story PDF Drum Chart

Ain't No Sunshine by Kris Allen

Download Aint no Sunshine PDF Drum Chart

Open Arms by Journey

Download Open Arms PDF Drum Chart

You'll see that in lieu of normal staff paper I used regular notebook paper.  My intention was to do a rough draft of the chart on notebook paper and then copy my draft onto staff paper for a more professional looking chart, but because of time constraints I decided to leave them as is (because of this, you may need to adjust your print settings so as to get a "darker" print of the chart - or you could adjust the contrast in a photo-editing program). 

Basically, when you open the chart you'll see the tempo marking, and my rough notes.  The top line (usually with x's) is going to be the cymbal part, the middle line will be the snare part, and the bottom line will be the kick drum part.  I typically will only write 8 bars to a line, and each time a new section of the song begins (chorus, verse, bridge, solo) I'll begin writing on a new line.  Reading the charts will make the most sense when listening to the original recording (that I've based the chart on). 

My system of charting is roughly based on the Nashville Number system, and allows me the ability to quickly learn the form (and in this case the beats, fills, cymbal crashes) of song.  Typically I can learn a song in as little as 1-2 play-throughs using this method.  A detailed chart (like the one's above) will take me a little longer depending on how much detail I want to put into the chart.  

I would enjoy the opportunity to teach you how to chart out songs that you would like to play, as I feel transcription and charting are two sure-fire ways to improve as a drummer and musician. 

Feel free to get in touch with your questions and comments and I hope you find the above charts helpful and useful in your study of the drums!

The Best Age to Learn Drums?

Recently, I received an email asking what the best age was to learn drums.  Below is an excerpt from the answer I gave, I hope that it is helpful and if you have any thoughts or further questions, please consider contacting me via my Contact Form.  Thanks for reading! 

I typically say the best age to learn drums is between age 9 and 13.  However, I currently teach students as young as 5 and as old as 50 and age alone is not an indicator of success in learning drums.

Success in learning a skill such as drumming will come from disciplined (i.e. regular and focused) practice, and a sense of self-motivation.  If those qualities are present, age doesn't matter.  I've found that many younger students are more interested in exploration and "play" and are not yet self-motivated enough to put in the work necessary to practice on a regular basis.  I think this sense of exploration is important in one's learning process, but can be done without the aid of a teacher (although I'm well equipped and experience to aid in this area as well).  Often this exploration can bring about a memorable bonding experience between parent and child.  Group classes such as Kindermusik and Music Together as well as community drum circles can help foster the joy of music and the sense of play. 

For many of my younger students, I usually suggest to the parent that we do a few lessons and see how it goes.  Ultimately I want what is best for the child and I want my students to enjoy the learning process. 

It is difficult to know if we'll be successful at something until we give it a try.  I suggest if you or your child is showing interest in learning drums please feel free to contact me, sign up for a lesson and see what you think!

Free Drum Lesson Fridays in October!

Durham Drum Lessons will be offering Free 30 minute Drum Lessons on select Friday's throughout October.

Here are the available times:
9:00 - 9:30am
9:30 - 10:00am
10:00 - 10:30am
10:30 - 11:00am
11:00 - 11:30am

And the available days:
Friday Oct. 9th
Friday Oct. 16th
Friday Oct. 23rd
Friday Oct. 30th

Lessons are available on first come, first served basis and are only for new students.  Only one free lesson per student is allowed.

To sign up fill out the contact form located at:  http://www.durhamdrumlessons.com/contact.html (write in "Free Drum Lesson" in the "Questions/ Comments" box).

Johnny Rabb and Mike Snyder: V-Drum Lessons

Roland has an ongoing series of drum lessons over at their website.  Each lesson is short and packed with information you can immediately integrate into your drumming.  I just watched the "Basic 8th Note Grooves" lesson with Johnny Rabb.  Other lessons are presented by Mike Snyder.  You have the option of subscribing to these lessons via iTunes and there is an option to download the video file as well.

The site is well presented and pleasantly designed.  So far there are 10 drum lessons and I hope there will be more.  In lesson 7 Mike Snyder presents an overview of a basic Jazz/ Swing Feel, earlier in Lesson 5 he presents an overview of the basic Bossa Nova beat and makes a point of mentioning how the drum set beat for a Bossa Nova (or really any "Latin" beat) emulates parts of an entire percussion section.  He explains that the Bass Drum is taking the place of the "Surdo" player, the cross-stick on the snare takes the place of an Agogo Bell player or Clave player and the hi/hat part takes the place of a shaker/ or cabasa player.  I think it's important to remember that he is trying to quickly present an overview of the basic Bossa Nova beat, which is one of the first "Latin" beats/ rhythms beginning drummers usually learn.

I especially enjoyed Lesson 2 "Single Paradiddles" presented by Johnny Rabb.  I think many beginning drum students have a hard time understanding the "practical" reasons for learning rudiments.  Johnny Rabb shows us how to apply Single Paradiddles to the drum set and does it in a way that is interesting and allows the beginner to see how they could use this rudiment around the drumset.

Roland has started off well with their V-Drum Lessons.  Let's hope they keep up the site and continue to add inspiring and informative drum lessons like the ones they currently offer.

If you are interested in purchasing a V-Drum Kit, I encourage you to check out the Roland HD-1 V-Drum Set

The Roland HD-1 V-Drum Set is a compact all-in-one drum kit that is perfect for someone who doesn't have much space for a typical drumset or for the person who wants a step up from their Rock Band drum kit or ION Drum Kit they purchased at Target.  Roland also offers other electronic drum kits, but the Roland HD-1 V-Drum Set is one of their more affordable sets and so I feel it would make a good drum set for the beginning drummer.

Metronomes and Drum Machines for Practicing

For the aspiring drummer, excellent time keeping is essential to your success.  Traditionally, students were encouraged to purchase metronomes for practicing.  Typically these metronomes were frustrating to use primarily because the volume of the metronome was never loud enough to hear clearly over the rhythms being played on the drums. 

If you've never played drums while listening to a metronome, or if you are unsure of what a metronome is, I suggest you check out the online Metronome, via Metronome Online, a service of the EMusicInstitute.  At the Metronome Online site, there are a few excellent articles about metronomes:  

"A metronome is a practice tool that produces a steady pulse (or beat) to help musicians play rhythms accurately. The pulses are measured in beats-per-minute (BPM). Most metronomes are capable of playing beats from 35 to 250 BPM. Common uses of the metronome are helping you to maintain an established tempo while practicing, and learning difficult passages."

Though I think every musician should practice with a metronome, for drummers it's sometimes best to use a drum machine than to try and use one of the more "classic" ones that has traditionally been used. 

I used to use an Alesis HR-16B as my metronome.  I liked using a drum machine such as the Alesis HR-16B  because I was able to turn the volume up loud enough to hear the beat over my drums and cymbals.  I was also able to program different beats with different accents, such as putting a tambourine sound on the upbeat, while a clave or click held down the downbeats. 

I have also used a "Dr. Beat" metronome which I tended to use more for getting tempos during a live performance or determining tempos during band rehearsals using the "tap tempo" function.

Below are a few metronome options for you to check out:
BOSS DR-880 Dr. Rhythm Drum Machine

KORG BeatLab Digital Metronome

Boss DB-90 Talking Metronome

The BOSS DR-880 is more of a typical drum machine, and so it is more expensive.  The Korg BeatLab metronome is more similar to the BOSS DB-90.  I think any of these three products would be an excellent "metronome" choice for the aspiring drummer.

Another option I should mention is the use of a music sequencing program such as Apple's GarageBand or Propellerhead's Reason as your metronome.  These programs offer more functionality than a traditional metronome, and might make more sense if you are interested in programming, sequencing and recording your own music.  

Regardless of the option you choose, keeping excellent time is important for every musician.  Using a metronome or drum machine for practice can help you become a better "time-keeper" and thus a better musician.

Using Stick Control for Drumset

Stick Control  by George Lawrence Stone is a classic text for learning how to play drums.  I think one of the reasons for this is it's step by step approach in teaching stickings, rhythm and coordination as you progress through the book.

Most people see this book and think it's only applicable to Snare Drum.  I've found there are many interesting and challenging things you can do with the exercises in this book that can help you with your drumset playing as well.

Here are some ways you can use this text to help you with your drumset coordination:

1. First off, try playing Quarter notes with your Right Foot (or Left Foot) as you play each exercise with your hands.
2. Next try playing Quarter or Eighth notes with one of your hands (on
   the bell of the cymbal or hi-hat for example) while your FEET play the
   exercises - Right Foot plays R, Left Foot plays L.
3. Now, continue playing Quarter or Eighth notes with your Right Hand
   on the hi-hat or ride cymbal, and have your Right Foot play the R in
   the exercises, while your Left Hand plays the L in the exercises. 
4. Repeat step 3, but play the cymbal with the Left Hand, while the
   Right Foot plays the R in the exercises and the Right Hand plays the L
   in the exercises.
5. Try step 3 or 4 with a diffferent rhythm in the cymbal hand, such as a dotted eighth followed by a 16th.
6. Another variation I like to try is to play each exercise twice:
   once as written, and then repeat the exercise - but this time play it
   in double time.  This gives you a chance to see if your hands are
   really getting the stickings down.

Hopefully these suggestions are helpful to you as you continue to use Stick Control in your studies.  And for those of you not yet familiar with this wonderful book, I urge you to purchase a copy at your earliest convenience!