Need some encouragement

synergy

Senior Member
Hey fellow DW folks,

I need some encouragement to help me see the light at the very long tunnel!!! haha

Basically I am self taught for about 2 years and have now gone back and found myself a teacher and I am begining to really put effort into learning my rudiments and all the other stuff I passed over.

Here is my problem, I look through my rudiment book and I see things like 3-stroke double roll ruff and ratimacue.

I cant even say them let alone play them!!!!

I have been looking at all the videos on the site and although they want me to get better- I still have no idea what some of them are doing in the videos- they are just too far above my ability at the moment.

I just wanted to ask all you guys out there that can do all these things in your sleep that there was once a time where you sat around and couldnt pull a single roll from a paradiddle and even AC/DC was a struggle to learn!!!!!!


I just want some hope that I will come out the other side and look back and wonder why I was struggling so much with the 'easy' stuff!
 
I really wish there was something really encouraging advice I can give to you, but here's about the best I can offer. Stick with it ("stick", get it...lol).

Seriously dude, you sound very passionate about playing drums and that's what's going to get you through this. I'm sure it can get very discouraging looking through drum books and stuff.

It's good that you've got a teacher to help you as well. I also encourage you to spend some time here on drummerworld as well. I'm 30 years old and I still come on here to find interesting things; I'm still learning!

Just hang in there man, we're all here if you ever need to talk. Best of luck!
 
You say you have a teacher, so pick his brain that's what he's there for. Write down your questions as your practicing and ask him during or after your lesson. Again that's what he's there for. Don't be afraid to ask, you will never learn otherwise.
trial and error.
 
Some words of encouragement:

You can do it! Can I get a Hallelujah!?

Anyway.
I second the above statement: if you can't figure it out on your own ask your teacher to show you how it's done. Always start as slow as necessary to perform the exercise perfectly.

Hope this helps!
 
I do have a teacher that I ask- but my time with him is limited and i dont want to waste my money on a lesson full of rudiments- these I feel I should do at home on 'my own time' and then come back to him and show him so he can provide pointers for me.

I just asked this here because I wont see him for a week due to work commitments etc and I figured this was the best place for feedback
 
Hey Synergy,

I am 47 and just started playing drums four months ago...I got a teacher my first week owning my kit because I have always wanted to play and KNOW what I was playing and how to play it...YOU on the other hand went off and learned and I am sure you can get around the kit fairly well which is great and certainly more than what I can do right now which is frustrating for me...heck after 4 months of learning my teacher still does not have me on the kit because I am learning sight reading and rudiments and all, but I am learning and for that I am thrilled. Whatever it is that my teacher wants me to do I will do because I trust his judgement, if I didn't I would not be with him!

Hang in there, in a matter of time things get easier and you will pick it up...I know I have been picking it up rather quickly and I attribute that to my teacher pushing me at each lesson.

Best of LUCK as you learn.

JIM
 
Ladies dig the drummer, man!!! Work up a good set of chops, form a band & never look back!

Seriously, the posts previous to mine all have great advice. However, ultimately the motivation has to come from *you*. Keep at it. Set goals, not timelines. Above all, HAVE FUN :)

Peace
 
Hello, Synergy.

Slowly but surely, you will achieve your goals and objectives.
Drive that passion of yours, into the drums. I am self-taught as well, but I still learn something new everyday from Drummerworld and You, fellows drummers!!!

Good luck & keep the strength, mate.
 
I dunno man, you've been playing for 2 years and still have trouble with AC/DC? Maybe you should pick up another instrument like flute or Jews harp? Drums are for manly men and cool chicks not for self pitying petunias. For real, ALL of here on drummerworld's forum were doing next-level Gadd/Weckl/Couliuta stuff after like 6 weeks of playing, we just didn't want to tell all the noobs about it.

All joking aside, mastery of all rudiments is normally a lifelong challenge, it's good that you can see the big picture but honestly, it's baby steps before you can run. Think about it. There's basically only four things that are going on with regards to the drum. Your left stick is hitting the drum, your right stick is hitting the drum, both are hitting the drum at the same time, or neither is hitting the drum. That's it. If i were to teach somebody drumming i would tell them to master stick control before tackling more advanced rudiments. What you need is direction, not encouragement. Put all of the fancy rudiments back on the shelf until you are ready for them and just concentrate on stick control for a while.

These are the basics that will lead you to the more advanced techniques:
single stroke roll
double stroke roll
flams
triplets
paradiddle
double/triple paradiddle
swiss triplets
paradiddle-diddles

take it slow and master those, one at a time first before you tackle the triple-reverse-draga-diddle-pata-flalflamacues. Take that to-do list back to your teacher and have him/her demonstrate each of them slowly, each of them at full speed, each of them in the context of playing them around the drum kit and excercises on how to build them up.
 
I took lessons with a pro classical PERCUSSIONIST, this guy was technically amazing, one time he just introduced me to rudiments with the Vic Firth poster, he had no problem with the first 2 columns but even he looked nervous and messed up quite a few times when he got to the third column.
I'm still struggling to nail down my double stroke roll, been wrestling with it since mid-2007. The only way is to practice (with patience) and give it time, (cheesy/stupid allegory alert) 5 gallons of water in one rush will not make a tree grow, it needs time to assimilate all the nutrients.
There was a thread about a Mangini secret, look for it, it may seem boring but that stuff works.


Luck,
Banzai
 
You're from Rochester? I'm from Rochester! Who's your teacher?

Here's the deal. You want to develop a vocabulary on the instrument. To do so, you do insane things like learn rudiments, because those stiff sounding rudiments turn into sweet musical vocab when applied to the kit. Play it slow so your muscles and nerves can create pathways of efficiency, and play it in several tempos to a metronome. Next thing you know you have a language on the drums.

By my way of thinking, there is no hard, there is no easy. There are patterns that you've taught your body, and there are patterns you haven't.

Good luck!
 
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