FUNDAMENTALS OF DRUMMING
By Andrew S William

In order to be an all round versatile drummer or to be in demand, one must possess the following skills in their order of importance.

Lets look at each requirement and how we can approach them skillfully.

1. Time Keeping
2. Groove
3. Fills
4. Solos
5. Styles of playing

Time Keeping
Any band will choose a drummer who can keep good time compared to one who can do flowery fills or solo techniques. To achieve a good time, invest in a metronome and practice basic grooves at various speeds. Even 10 minutes of grooves with the metronome a day can take you really far as you will internalize the time keeping tempo in your heart. Also practice rudiments as and when you can with a metronome. Another good way to improve your timing is playing along with various songs, which are recorded in a studio. Because all studio recordings are done using a metronome and you can’t go wrong practicing with those songs.

Groove
This is best developed by jamming with a bassist or a band. To groove is to dig into a musical pattern that enhances or brings out the essence of the music. You play with dynamism and a lot of feel put into the rhythm that makes the music happen. It could be a basic eight-note pattern but what makes the feel happen is how do you feel when you play the music. Don’t do it out of sheer obligation, put in your heart and soul when you play. Balance your playing of the hi-hat, snare and bass drum. The bass drum is supposed to be loudest (play with punch) followed by the snare and the hi-hat or ride being the softest. If you can get this balance right, the groove will start happening. Also listen to various good drummers to get an understanding of how they make the music happen. That will give you an idea as to what groove is all about. Some great musicians such as Steve Gadd, Vinnie Colaiuta, etc are great drummers to listen to.

Fills
Some drummers tend to overemphasize fills. They are supposed to be played sporadic and as an indicator for a change in verse or the ending of a chorus. You can incorporate fills at different parts of a song but keep it groovy. Meaning make sure your fills sound good, not go through the motion for the sake of it. A good way to practice fills is to experiment playing 3 bars of rhythm and the last bar with fills. Trying syncing them in your mouth before executing them. Don’t let your hand guide the fills; let your mind do it. Eventually your hand will play what your mind wants without you thinking about it. Another good practice is to copy exactly the fills from your favorite songs. Eventually all these vocabulary will help you develop your own color in executing excellent fills.

Solos
Whichever band you join, you will eventually have to do some solo to impress the crowd. Your band will expect you to come up with some ideas. A band-enhanced solo is a spin-off from your current playing songs where the musicians may give you a space of a few bars or so to do your thing. A good strong solo can only be executed with strong and powerfully refined rudiments such as six stroke rolls, paradiddles, singles, doubles and not forgetting a strong time keeping technique. Listen to various solos and pick some ideas from them. You may not be able to execute all the solo techniques of a particular solo by a professional but you may be able to do one or two of those techniques which you can add on with other ideas from other drummers.

Styles of playing
To be an all round drummer, learn to play as many different popular styles as possible. You can focus on a particular style but make sure you have a little idea on other styles as well. This will help you expand your current style of playing and experiment them in your playing technique. Some of the popular beats that you should be currently familiar are samba, 6/8 rhythms, African grooves, metal, heavy rock, jazz, fusion, country and some Latin patterns.

Last but not least, keep a relaxed composure when playing and make sure you enjoy what you are doing, which will translate to the audience when you play with confidence and feel.

Drummerforchrist.com would like to thank Matthew for contributing his articles on drums.

If you think you can write, please send your articles to us. We love to have your contribution too.

Article extracted at www.christiandrummers.net

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PASSION FOR YOUR DRUMS AND PASSION FOR GOD

When I think about passion, many various interpretations come to mind. Here are some dictionary definitions:1) intense emotion
2) any object of warm affection or devotion
3) strong feeling or emotion
4) a feeling of strong sexual desire
5) irresistible motive for a belief or action
6) something that is desired intensely

Now, let’s apply that in our lives, both as Christians & as drummers.

Wow, did I just write that? Is it really that easy? Well, I think, simply, no.

Got passion?
Passion for your instrument is probably a lot easier for most people. You get all the magazines, you got the latest kit, you’re on a first-name basis with the manager of the local music store, you’ve memorised as many famous-name drummers as your grey matter can handle, you got posters up on your walls with the latest Pearl export series, you have a set of sticks lying in every room of the house just in case the rhythm strikes you, you eat/breathe/sleep/walk/talk drums.. Are you starting to get the picture? There’s someone who is passionate about drumming! It consumes their life, their whole way of life is affected by their devotion to what they believe in. (That is not me, by the way, although it probably was at some point in my younger days!)

To be passionate about your instrument is not a bad thing. But does the same apply to your life and how you live it?

If you’re a Christian and a drummer, how passionate are you about your drumming? Moreso, how passionate are you for God? That has always been the biggest challenge for me.

Better drummers
I think that if more Christian drummers were as passionate about God as they were about their drumming, we’d see a generation of drummers impacting, influencing, effecting change and making a difference for God. AND we’d see even BETTER drummers with more-than-awesome skills!

The reality of the rockstar
I am sad to say that I still come across so many drummers who are Christians but there is more passion for the things of the world than of God. They want to be rockstars. They want glory for themselves. They want it all and their passion is, I believe, misguided. I believe there is so much more for Christian drummers today. I am not saying you should only play in church. We need good Christian drummers in the world. We need Christian drummers with passion for God. We need drummers who have intense emotion, an irresistable motive.

What are you passionate about? What drives you? Are your drums more important than God?

Drummerforchrist.com would like to thank Andrew for contributing his articles on drums.

If you think you can write, please send your articles to us. We love to have your contribution too.

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WOODSHEDDING
By Andrew S William

This is probably the most difficult part for many drummers. For some, it may come naturally while others struggle to even spend a few minutes a day on practice. There are no short cuts to becoming a great drummer. The more you put time on the kit, the better you become.

So how do you really plan to practice and what do you practice on a daily basis? Since we have barely entered the New Year, it is a good time to make a resolution for a committed daily practice on the kit. There are many ways to plan this. Here are a few suggestions.

Are you a new drummer or currently still learning from a teacher? Take up classes and practice your homework plus a set of regular rudiments on a daily basis, such as singles, doubles on legs and hands, paradiddle and so forth. Try to log in at least one hour a day. Half, if you are struggling with time. If you put in at least two hours a day, I assure you in no time you will become an accomplished drummer.

Research has shown that if you can do something consistently for one month, it will become a habit. I started my two-hour practices a few years ago and in the beginning it was a struggle. Later I found it difficult to go a day without practice. Eventually you will find your learning curve becoming shorter. Meaning you will accomplish more in a shorter time than you first started. Now I put in about one hour plus practice a day and achieve more that what I used to in two hours, six years ago when I first started.

If you take for example an hour of practice, break up the time to do specific tasks. Such as 5 minutes each for 6 different rudimental exercises making a total of half hour on rudiments. Use the other half hour to do class homework or songs. Be strict about your time. Use a clock or watch to precisely measure each practice. Trust me, 5 minutes is a long time for any rudimental practice, so keep a watch on the clock.

You will consciously see a tremendous improvement in your ability to play each month.

Put in that time and no one can take away what you will have accomplished through those hours of sweat!

Drummerforchrist.com would like to thank Matthew for contributing his articles on drums.

If you think you can write, please send your articles to us. We love to have your contribution too.

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PLACING GOD BEFORE YOUR DRUMS
By Matthew Ian Hains

God has given you a wonderful gift, a great talent, your skill with rhythm. What are you doing with that skill? Perfecting it? Practicing it? Keeping it locked away in a cupboard? Showing off? I think, sometimes, we focus so much on the gift, we forget the Giver! We get carried away with all the excitement, the passion of it all, our drums begin to become more important than anything else. Our focus drifts from the Giver…to the gift. And so the gift becomes our tool for our gain, for our pleasure only. What a sad place to be in, obtaining all the glory for yourself and giving none to God.

Now, don’t get me wrong here. When your job is drumming and percussion (you lucky dude!), if you acknowledge God as your provider and the reason you can do what you, that’s cool. Your heart is right. It’s when you deny God with your actions, when it’s all about yourself and your ambitions; that’s when you’re on shaky ground as a Christian. There must be a reason God gave you the gift that he did. Did you ever consider that maybe it was for His glory and not yours? Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.” [NIV] Matt 6:33 “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” [NIV] Exodus 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before me.” [NIV] How does looking at it this way change the way you approach the use of your gift? Enjoy the rhythm! Written by Matthew Ian Hains Extracted from http://www.christiandrummers.net/2007/07/02/placing-god-before-your-drums/#more-92

Drummerforchrist.com would like to thank Andrew for contributing his articles on drums.

If you think you can write, please send your articles to us. We love to have your contribution too.

Note : Do not send any copyrighted article from any websites or printed materials. Include footnote / references should you extract a portion from the source.

PLAYING WITH PASSION
By Andrew S William

What is so predominantly obvious about most drummers is that although each drummer can do various stints and styles of playing, one can only be good at a particular skill. Something that comes natural for him or her while an attempt to master other skills in drumming would take three times the effort.

For example, what comes natural as playing solo for some drummers can be difficult when it comes to keeping a simple groove. Some are academically inclined, they understand playing drums with reading notes easier compared to some who have a natural skill to play by ear.

If you look at the drumming world, most professional drummers can play almost any styles, but what separates them from other drummers is that they possess a specific signature  in their playing method. For example, Jason Bittner who can play jazz received The Modern Drummer Poll 2005  Metal Drummer award.

Terry Bozzio, although played for the master musician Frank Zappa, found his forte and talent in performing as a soloist. Akira Jimbo is a paradiddle variation groove master among other styles and played for the band Casiopea, but now spends more time performing as a one-man band. (Playing drums while producing keyboard and bass lines.)

Even though Thomas Lang is so technically skilled, Mike Dawson and others write his music transcription. The list goes on and on.

To my knowledge the only all round master drummer is Vinnie Colaiuta, but you will recognize his inclination is more towards phrasing in most of his styles of playing.

So what is your forte? What comes natural to you as a drummer? Is it grooving? Soloing? Phrasing? Transcribing? Reading notes? Certain styles of playing, such as funk, metal, jazz etc?

Although it’s important to have a little bit of skill in everything, you can only excel in one particular area. You will know what is your gift, if you desire it so much every time you get on the drums and that which will come natural to you.

So work on your strength, not on your weakness, by working on the weakness of your strength.

Foot Note:
The writer Andrew Sargunam William is a drum teacher and advisor. For further information, kindly contact drumins@streamyx.com or Hp; 012-3192080