So, drums.
I used to play the snare in a marching band when I was fifteen. Yeah, I was coerced into it. Recently though, I was part of a "band" for a school competition. As much as the band flopped, it made me realize that perhaps I can actually play a set. At any rate, with classes available a stone's throw away from where I live, I'd be a fool not to take advantage of it.
Now for why I'm starting this : While there is no dearth of resources to learn rudiments and rhythms online (the only one I actively use is http://www.studydrums.com ), there is no place a beginner can go when they actually want to learn to play songs. Most songs are composed of a basic beat or two with a couple of fills thrown in for the bridge, but watching around three different drum covers for the same song on YouTube will tell you that different drummers will do different things. Many even deviate from the beat in the original song, and will add enough frills and trills that the original beat is indecipherable from the rest. So this is an attempt to chronicle my drumming journey - both rhythm-wise and song-wise. While I do not actively rely on tabs and sheet music to get me through, I will post links if I find good ones. If this helps anyone anywhere, I'll be chuffed as punch. Just drop me a line and let me know, will ya? Interaction with the audience will do wonders to the performer.
Happy crash banging!
Now for why I'm starting this : While there is no dearth of resources to learn rudiments and rhythms online (the only one I actively use is http://www.studydrums.com ), there is no place a beginner can go when they actually want to learn to play songs. Most songs are composed of a basic beat or two with a couple of fills thrown in for the bridge, but watching around three different drum covers for the same song on YouTube will tell you that different drummers will do different things. Many even deviate from the beat in the original song, and will add enough frills and trills that the original beat is indecipherable from the rest. So this is an attempt to chronicle my drumming journey - both rhythm-wise and song-wise. While I do not actively rely on tabs and sheet music to get me through, I will post links if I find good ones. If this helps anyone anywhere, I'll be chuffed as punch. Just drop me a line and let me know, will ya? Interaction with the audience will do wonders to the performer.
Happy crash banging!
Rhythms
THE ROCK BEAT FAMILY:
THE TRIPLET FAMILY:
THE FUNKY DRUMMER: [Best tutorial I've found is here]
- The good-ol' 4/4 - pretty much every other Maroon 5 song can be played using this beat. That doesn't mean it always is. The purest rendering I have come across is on Survivor's Eye of the Tiger. Some Blue tracks also feature nothing but this.
- The 4/4 with bass on 2's & - Taylor Swift's You Belong With Me carries this beat in sostenuto presto (that's a fancy way of saying 'It's really fast'.) Most songs tend to feature this on their second verse. What immediately comes to mind in Young the Giants: Cough Syrup and Thirteen Senses: Into the Fire.
THE TRIPLET FAMILY:
- The slowest, easiest version can be found on John Mayer's Gravity. Ah, a sixth grader can (probably) do this. Yet it feels so soothing to play.
THE FUNKY DRUMMER: [Best tutorial I've found is here]
- Aah, this one feels so good. It's a really complex version of a 4/4, I guess. It deserves it's own heading (at least for now.) Into the fire uses this everywhere except second verse.
Songs I have learnt
When you learn a song, you don't just learn how to get the beats down pat. You master the transitions and pepper it with your own fills until you can sing along.
The list is going latest - first.
The list is going latest - first.
- Bastille - Pompeii
- John Mayer - Gravity
- Survivor - Eye of the Tiger
Stuff I'm working on
Working on a song entails listening to it umpteen times and trying to segregate all the different beats in your head. It means identifying each beat by it's drum - ghost notes and all. Work is this way because I've given up on drum tabs - the songs I want to do either don't have them or have a very inaccurate, dumbed down version that my limbs refuse to work with. The one time I did work entailed familiarizing my limbs with the positions of the various drums and beats before I actually got behind a set. Since I do not own one, if I've done my homework right I am generally able to master the song in two hours tops.
- Lindsey Stirling - Song of the caged bird
- Thirteen Senses - Into the fire
- Alicia Keys - Girl on Fire
- Abba - Mamma Mia
What I want to work on
No, this will don't have epic every beginner drummer's dreams like Greenday, Hoobastank - The Reason or Stone Sour - Say you'll haunt me. This is stuff at a level I know I can achieve.
- All American Rejects - Into the night
- Imagine Dragons - Nothing left to say
- Taylor Swift - You belong with me (But damn, it's too fast! )
- Eminem - Rap God. (This isn't tough at all - my aim is to know the stroke timing well enough to be able to rap along.)
- Coldplay - Magic
- Blue - One Love
- Taylor Swift - Blank Space
Extra stuff
Woooooot! I can do that really basic spin trick now. :)