Entertainment
How to Play Drums
Percussion can be very fun, cool and impressive. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world and is cooler than most instruments, after all, how many rock star trombonists do you know of? It will take months or years of practice and dedication to master them. Like any other instrument the drums are hard to learn, as there is more to the drums than just hitting something with a stick. If you get disappointed or discouraged because you can’t play them very well, don’t give up! With time, practice, and experience you’ll get better. Then you can show off to your friends.
The drum was perhaps first created from the primal idea of mimicking the human heartbeat, yet today its music has developed into a technical, complex arrangement of beats and grooves. Different sized drums and cymbals are arranged into kits, where a drummer can pick from a variety of sounds to lead or accompany a particular song. Kit sizes vary from the simple to the outrageous. Modern drummers, including the likes of Buddy Rich, Billy Cobham, Neal Peart, Dave Weckl, and Jimmy Chamberlain, have helped drummers develop their playing skills by inspiring new beat and rhythm patterns, new combinations of sound upon sound.
Learn Basic Rhythmic Notation
Quarter Notes
Drummers have to keep the beat, so before you start learning the drums you’re going to have to familiarize yourself with reading the basics of rhythm notation. But fear not—as long as you can count to 4, you should have no problem keeping up!
In fact, if you count to four, that is one measure (or “bar”) of quarter notes. Quarter notes have a “stem” (a vertical line coming off them) with no flag. They look like this (we’re using Xs because we’re not talking specific notes right now, just rhythms)
