How can I improve from beginner?

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vorsybl

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https://soundcloud.com/vorsybl/onegroove

It's 5 and a half minutes long just about, it' s just a jam session, someone from the group ended up recording it somehow. The quality isn't great I think it was done through an ipod or something, anyway this is a warning I suck and I just play the same groove the whole time but the guitarist does his own thing the whole time theres some cool bass action too going on and i think keys as well, it picks up after a minute its not too bad and there are some points where I think it sounds on point on my part especially towards the latter half so if you're curious you have to listen to the whole thing because the beginning slow part makes the latter fast part better I guess.

Thanks I guess berate me critique me and please tell me how I can get better best heard with headphones since the recording was on the fly
 
I listened to the first couple of minutes and this is what hits me. The whole thing seemed a little disjointed. I get the feeling that more than concentrating on playing along to the music and playing WITH the guitarist you were concentrating soley on keeping your beat. Completely understandable for a beginner but you need to learn to work with the other music. Some dynamics, playing louder and softer when warranted, would help. From what I heard you stayed at the same volume the whole time...it all became very mechanical as opposed to creating a good groove.

l think this is something that will come with time and experience. Also...do you have a teacher? If not, I would highly recommend it...they can teach you all of the techniques and things you'll need to make you better by leaps and bounds.

Having said all of that, I highly praise for putting yourself out there as a beginner and allowing us to critique. I have done the same thing on this forum and I know how scary it is! However, chances are you'll learn a lot by doing it.

Keep working on it and it'll keep getting better, I promise!

Happy Drumming!
 
Thanks for listening, personally I think it's an interesting two bar phrase especially once the hi hats are added on 1 and 2 of first bar and + of 2 of second bar. And the guitarist is so good that it makes the same beat over and over work.

Also, many drummers that ive come into contact with who are far superior have always told me something similar, and that is that the drummer isn't the one supposed to be doing fancy stuff and showing off and trying to take the stage, more keeping time so the other musicians can show their stuff
 
I wasn't saying that you need to add anything to your beat...simply learn to make it feel more in groove with the guitarist. It's more of a feel and flow issue than it is what you are playing. I could almost hear you counting it in your head. I know how that is...after 2.5 years of playing, I'm just now really getting to where I can sometimes just go with the music instead of counting every single beat. Again, it's something that comes with time and experience.

Keep up the good work. You're off to a good start.
 
The truth on how to improve:

Long hours of focused practice of the basics.

A major difference between good and great is that the great ones can play simple things perfectly.
 
The truth on how to improve:

Long hours of focused practice of the basics.

A major difference between good and great is that the great ones can play simple things perfectly.

Mirror Jeff on that one! I'd add my two cents:

(1) Acknowledge that you won't get there tomorrow
(2) Set aside time every day

That said, as a beginner, you can certainly practice smaller amounts from the beginning... say 30minutes a day. But at some point that will need to blossom to an hour.

And as a beginner you most absolutely should take advantage of any free time with rubber pad and some sticks. I would definitely put myself in a position to have great hands when it came time to apply coordination to the drumset.

Get yourself a rubber pad that wears on your leg and hit that thing as often as you can.

My $0.02

Steph
 
In addition to what's been said already, the fastest way I found to improve is to record yourself and listen back. Then you identify and fix the bad parts and improve the good parts.
 
So far your post has made the most sense, Larry. I'm really glad this jam session was recorded because good or bad I've been given an opportunity to hear myself play, a more unbiased objective version of what it really is.

Care to listen to another one? You can just skip to start at 1min if you lack faith

https://soundcloud.com/vorsybl/stickwithit

Cool thing about this site is you can like mark points that you like, I need a lot more work but hopefully a listener can at least imagine the sound im trying to make even though its not quite there actually yet. I mean doesn't it pick up at least a little at 4mins.

Like the whole part from 2 36 to 2 43 at the very least those notes the guy is playing are trippy as hell

https://soundcloud.com/vorsybl/cowboy2

If you can't give the whole thing a chance check out 3:03 to 3:30 I mean I really love what I'm playing and wish I could do it more.

And ohhhh * what's good jeff? nyc represent lol

I wasn't saying that you need to add anything to your beat...simply learn to make it feel more in groove with the guitarist. It's more of a feel and flow issue than it is what you are playing. I could almost hear you counting it in your head. I know how that is...after 2.5 years of playing, I'm just now really getting to where I can sometimes just go with the music instead of counting every single beat. Again, it's something that comes with time and experience.

Keep up the good work. You're off to a good start.

Hey I missed this. I understand now, and you're right. It's true haha, to be honest I recently wrote that groove down like a week and a half ago and have only started practicing it. So yeah I was more focused on keeping up with Alex, the guitarist, than I was actually playing to the sickness he was shredding. I absolutely love the stuff he plays and really want to get better so I can play the best beats for the stuff he has in his head, which is why I'm here! And yeah like if you count a long for the most part I am landing on the same downbeats as Alex, but you're saying it's better to have more feel
 
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I like the ideas you're executing but like everyone else said, practice. I would suggest
you work on basic subdivisions on a pad with a metronome.

Btw, what did you use in recording your jam?
 
Thanks bro I appreciate it. I'm glad my ideas at least are somewhat interesting. I'll find out for you when i get home from work

The subdivisions on a pad sounds good, but can I just use my snare drum instead? So it sounds a bit less mundnane

Developing facility for an idea is much easier than coming up with the idea itself.

Like I know for sure my fills/leaks are really weak but since day 1 I've never really figured out how to learn. As far as grooves though I mean is a kind of
 
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Check out the Ludwig P4 pad (developed by Pat Petrillo), it might help spice up your practice. That pad has 4 different zones on 3 levels and thus, you get a feel of 'getting around the kit'. Those zones also have different rebound feel (simulating snare, higher toms, lower toms, and cymbals) which also sound differently. So spreading stuff across this pad is a lot of fun and you have superb sonic clarity when mixing up rhythms/subdivisions etc. I've been using that pad for a year now and couldn't live without it any more.

Here's the promo video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcWkXHnkLbk
 
The subdivisions on a pad sounds good, but can I just use my snare drum instead? So it sounds a bit less mundnane

Sure you can use your snare but practicing on a pad also gives you benefits. You can
closely examine your hand technique especially if you have a mirror. You'll be less distracted
so you can focus on other things like how you breathe, posture, etc. I also read/heard good
advice that you want to practice the 'mechanical' aspect in a pad and the musical
stuff on your drums. I really don't want to be practicing single strokes for 5 minutes in a
snare. hehehe.
 
Makes sense, definitely going to invest in that practice kit, I'm actually surprised I haven't thought of it yet, because I live in an apartment building and play music in the basement, my dad owns it.

Also am I playing 32nds in the marked spots in "stickwithit?"
 
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