TipDeck.com » Drums Playing http://tipdeck.com Home of the how to videos and instructions Wed, 24 Aug 2011 01:01:45 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 How to Read Drum Musichttp://tipdeck.com/how-to-read-drum-music http://tipdeck.com/how-to-read-drum-music#comments Sun, 24 Jan 2010 04:06:48 +0000 Sofi http://tipdeck.com/?p=2525 How to Read Drum Music2 How to Read Drum MusicReading of drum music notes isn’t that tough provided you are willing to spare some time for that purpose and are serious enough to learn the art of playing drums. Many are not aware of the fact that a notation of drum music is actually very similar to notations of standard music. If you compare the notes, time signatures and the rests of standard music and drum music, you will notice that they have much in common. Here we shall know more about the method of reading drum music. Just follow the step by step guide given below and you can learn the art very easily:

  • You shall have to begin with understanding the time signatures. Incase you do not know what a time signature is, it is 2 numbers at the left of each line and one number on top of the other. This top number shows the number of beats per measure and the lower signature shows the number of beats per measure. An example can be very helpful in this regard: a signature of 4/4 indicates 4 quarter notes per measure and a time signature of 3/8 indicates 3 eighth notes for each measure. The most common and widely used time signature in western music is 4/4.
  • The next step is learning and knowing the types of notes in drum music. The basic notes in drum music are as follows: whole, half, quarter, eight and sixteenth. Each note is half as the one before and that is why a whole note takes the same time as two half notes would take or four quarter notes would take. This calculation can also be done in another way like four quarter notes would take the same time as one whole note would take to play or two half notes would take the same time as one whole note would take.
  • How to Read Drum Music1 How to Read Drum MusicNow you have to focus on rests. Learn the rests very seriously. Rests also have the same characteristics as notes and work in the same way. Rests also come in the same way as whole, half, quarter and so on.
  • Now let us learn about triplets in drum music. Triplets are three notes that normally take the same amount of time to play as two non triplets would take to play. This can be better explained in an example like: three triplet eight notes will take the same time to play as two normal eighths.
  • Let us now know about dotted notes and rests. These are also interconnected in a way like a dot adds half the original length to a particular note or rest. An example here can be: a dotted quarter note is equal to 3 eight notes.
  • Now is the turn of understanding drum conventions. Remember that all beats from any particular drum will be played on a similar line. This can be explained further like the bass drum is on the bottom line, the high hat is at the top and the snare is in the middle. Incase of rhythms where there is a greater involvement of drums, there is a key which indicates which position corresponds to which drum. This helps in lessening the confusion surrounding drums while playing a rhythm.
  • The last part deals with the high hat music of the drums. You can notice that very often a high hat is denoted with an “x” instead of a filled in circle on the line.

Watch a video instruction on how to read drum music

Learn more about:

]]> http://tipdeck.com/how-to-read-drum-music/feed How to Play The Drums For Beginnershttp://tipdeck.com/how-to-play-the-drums-for-beginners-2 http://tipdeck.com/how-to-play-the-drums-for-beginners-2#comments Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:15:00 +0000 Sofi http://tipdeck.com/?p=2266 How to Play The Drums For Beginners How to Play The Drums For BeginnersThe most important and critical thing which a drummer does is keeping time. No matter how talented and experienced a band is, it has to rely on the drummer for maintaining the basic timing, rhythm and style of the music. If the drummer in your band is unable to maintain the time then the music can sound really ordinary or even bad. To become a good drummer, one has to learn how to maintain the time keeping skill, a proper coordination of hands and feet and maintaining the rhythm. Here we will be discussing more about how to play the drums by a beginner. The following points shall help a beginner in knowing the A B C’s of playing drums:

  • You have to begin by adjusting the metronome to the lowest setting possible (preferably 30 to 40 beats per minute). The number of beats should be set at “4” and the count should also be set at “4”. Listen to the different tones by starting the metronome. You can notice here by looking at the display that the high pitched ping occurs at the count of 1 and the lower pitched pong occur at the counts of 2, 3 and 4.
  • Let the metronome be on and keep it at range of your sight and earshot. Keep your feet flat on the floor and sit upright in your chair and then place your right hand on your right knee and the left hand on your left knee.
  • Using your heel as the pivot point, time yourself with the metronome by tapping the floor with your right foot. Tap your feet on all the counts of 1-2-3-4. Simultaneously you shall have to record mentally the high pitched ping as the How to Play The Drums For Beginners1 How to Play The Drums For Beginnerscount 1 and as the beginning of another measure of music.
  • Now start tapping your left foot on the count of 2 and 4 only. These movements of tapping your right and left foot by timing it with the metronome should be continued until and unless all the movements become smooth and steady enough for you to move on to the next step.
  • After having synchronized your movements of the foot with the metronome, you have to start tapping your right hand on your right knee in coordination with your foot taps on all the four beats of 1-2-3-4.
  • After making these movements of tapping your foot with the tapping of your right hand on your right knee, you can start tapping your left hand on your left knee while coordinating with the left foot beat at 2 and 4.
  • Now you have to keep a track of the number of measures that you are playing with each count of 1. Gradually with time and practice, you can adjust the metronome to higher levels so that it helps you to increase your expertise.
  • After you have mastered yourself by tapping on the knees, you can replace the knees with desks or tables. This will also add to the sound effects. When you are completely ready by practicing with the knees and the desks, you can now acquire a practice pad and sticks and start learning the ways to hold the sticks, using different hand movements and placing the practice pad in your lap.
  • Practice and practice alone can make you a perfect drummer. Learn to inculcate lots of patience in yourself so that you can exercise the movements more precisely.

Watch a video instruction on how to play the drums for beginners

Learn more about:

]]> http://tipdeck.com/how-to-play-the-drums-for-beginners-2/feed How to Build Your Own Drumhttp://tipdeck.com/how-to-build-your-own-drum http://tipdeck.com/how-to-build-your-own-drum#comments Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:05:45 +0000 Sofi http://tipdeck.com/?p=1844 How to Build Your Own Drum How to Build Your Own DrumAnyone interested in music must have noticed the drums in the orchestra. It gives a special thrill to be able to play those drums. And when the question of making these drums arises, it seems a very difficult task. But you will be surprised with the ease with which you can make these drums. In fact, just by stretching and securing an animal skin over a tube, you can get a very good drum. There are a few intricacies involved in making a drum which you can learn easily.

  1. You can start out by getting a drum body. Any cylindrical body will do but care should be taken to ensure that it is waterproof. You can make use of some of the things in your backyard like PVC tubes, used coffee cans and heavy plastic buckets.
  2. You can take a goatskin to suffice as the drum top. But before you stretch it out on top of the drum body, you should make it pliant. By immersing the goatskin in normal water for about an hour, you will get the required cover for the drum.
  3. After the goatskin becomes pliant, you can stretch it out over the drum to evenly cover the top. Hold it down tightly from all sides.
  4. A radiator hose clamp will come in handy at this moment. You can use it to clamp the skin so that it is very tightly stretched. Make sure that the skin has the same tension everywhere.How to Build Your Own Drum1 How to Build Your Own Drum
  5. Leave the skin on the drum to dry for some time. It will take about a whole night to dry completely. Drying will make the skin tighten. You can further tighten the clamp and then try playing the drum.
  6. If the sound made by the drum does not appeal to you, you can repeat doing the stretching and clamping again till the required tension is there to produce delightful sounds. In fact, you can again re-soak the goatskin and start from there.
  7. Play on the drum to ensure that you get the required quality of sound. After the skin is successfully clamped, you can cut out the extra skin with a knife. Leave some skin so that it does not pull off.

Now you know exactly how to build your own drum. There are a few other things which you must remember while building it. You can tighten the drum head by exposing it to some heat. In order to do this, you can hold the drum near a flame and head it evenly. After it has cooled down completely, it will be stretched tightly. Also you must remember to soak the goatskin until it is just pliant. Over soaking will only make it thicker and will not suit your purpose.

Watch a video instruction on how to build your own drum

Learn more about:

]]> http://tipdeck.com/how-to-build-your-own-drum/feed How to Read Drum Noteshttp://tipdeck.com/how-to-read-drum-notes http://tipdeck.com/how-to-read-drum-notes#comments Tue, 15 Sep 2009 06:23:37 +0000 tipdeck http://tipdeck.com/?p=793 Like any other kind of sheet music, the drum music is written in the form of notes. The musicians get idea about the beats by counting the measures and notes. The notes also inform the musicians about when to rest and play an individual beat. The lines and spaces on the sheet also mention how to play different drums.

You can get basic idea on how to read drum notes and play drums.

  1. First of all you need to learn about the notes and rests that are important to create accurate music using drums. A note indicates when to play a beat. Notes have different forms such as whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, eighth notes and sixteen notes. Again, understanding the playing techniques of each note is crucial to create the right sound. Playing a whole note takes equal amount of time as playing any other kind of notes. So playing a half note is twice faster as playing a whole note. On the other hand, the rest on the sheet indicates about the time you should take to play the next beat. Rests are also whole, half, quarter, and eighth, and have the same kind of structure as the notes.
  2. Dots after notes and rests have specific meanings. They are generally referred as dotted notes and rests. The presence of a dot on the right side of a note indicates that the musician should take one and a half time as long as a normal beat. For instance, a dotted whole note takes three half notes instead of two. Same is the method for the rest.How to Read Drum Notes2 How to Read Drum Notes
  3. The other important aspect of reading drum notes is to learn about the accents. Accents form an essential part of giving a twist to the music and making it more interesting. Remember that the accents are associated with notes. A triangle directly above the note means that the musician has to make the particular note louder compared to the other notes.
  4. While reading the drum notes, a crucial aspect is to read time signatures and measures. Measures are set unit of time which are marked on the sheet in the form of vertical lines. Time signature is calculated as the ratio of notes counts per measure to length of individual note on the measure.
  5. Before you start with reading the drum notes, you must understand the basic conventions of drum music. The notes for each drum are written on different lines. If you find notes for three drums, the top most line is for hi-hat drum, the middle line is for snare drums and the bottom one is for bass drum.

Tips:

  • Don’t start playing the drum with difficult notes. Pick some of the simple songs and start learning the beats. You can choose more difficult ones after you develop your skill in reading the simple notes.
  • Listen to the song carefully before playing drums with the help of notes. It can simplify the process of reading the notes.

Watch a video instruction on how to read drum notes

Learn more about:

]]> http://tipdeck.com/how-to-read-drum-notes/feed 1 How to Play The Drums for Beginnershttp://tipdeck.com/how-to-play-the-drums-for-beginners http://tipdeck.com/how-to-play-the-drums-for-beginners#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:16:51 +0000 tipdeck http://tipdeck.com/?p=674 How to play the Drums How to Play The Drums for BeginnersAre you interested in playing drums but feel scared because it is a challenging task for a beginner like you? Do you feel that it is impossible to play the complex beats that require all your limbs to do different things at random times? Well, you don’t really need to fret so much. It is not very difficult to learn drumming. In fact, with practice and some training you can learn to play the drums to different beats.
The difficult drum beats that you watch your favorite drummer performing are actually variations of simpler patterns. So, with proper learning steps you too can master the skill. Following are some of the instructions that will guide to understand how you can play the drums.

Instructions on How to play the Drums

  1. Sit up straight and hold the drum sticks properly. Hold them like you hold your pen. It should be held in your fist nearly an inch away from the bottom of the stick, with your thumbs pointing towards the tips of the sticks.
  2. Now play any music of your choice and listen to the beats carefully. Count the beats 1-2-3-4 and so on. Use your right hand to play the hi-hat pattern by hitting the surface that is within your arms reach. It is always better to start with tapping your right hand as you count the first quarter of the notes. Later, you can go for kick drum which is the note in the lowest space in the measure.
  3. Try to add kick drums on the one and three counts. Keep your right foot on the bass drum pedal and your left foot on the high hat pedal. Make sure that you have the high hat pedal stressed down while playing the drums.How to play the Drums11 How to Play The Drums for Beginners
  4. As the music is playing, use only your right stick on the high hat. You need to hit the high hat once in the chorus, for every syllable. Make sure that you follow the rhythm of the song throughout the performance.
  5. Now add your bass drum pedal on beats 1 and 3 when you maintain a steady beat on the high hat.
  6. If you are tapping with your right hand, then use your left hand to play the snare drum. However, the case may differ for a left hander.
  7. Count the four quarter notes, before you begin to add the snare shots on the two and four counts by tapping on another surface within reach.
  8. Once you are comfortable with the snare and bass drum patterns separately, you can merge them together.

Tips

  1. Put the metronome on at a slow speed.
  2. If you are tensed, slow down the metronome until you feel relaxed
  3. Count out the beats loudly when you are learning and practicing.
  4. Learn to close the high hat with the left foot when you play with the hands
  5. Lift your foot off of the high hat here and there in order to get used to the sounds you are making
  6. Try to play with the right hand and foot at the same time, you may even go for left hand free styling, or with all limbs at the same time to ensure your muscles get used to moving.

Watch a video instruction on how to play the Drums for beginners

Learn more about:

]]> http://tipdeck.com/how-to-play-the-drums-for-beginners/feed