Beginner Drummers Guide to Playing Drums (Part 2)

After choosing a drum kit that would suit your needs, setting it up, and learning to tune it on your own, a beginner drummer has to learn the fundamentals of music theory. This includes learning how to read drum lesson sheet music, how to count time, and how to perform the first drum beat.

Playing solely by ear through improvising and without training makes you uncertain of the quality of your work. If you know how to read drum notations, it would ease your way through some of the symbols you will encounter in the next lessons on the site. Terms like hi-hats and bass drum would make you think of which foot pedal to step on. The ride cymbal and crash cymbals in good timing would give the desired effect. Right at the middle, the snare drum would be the base around which you would drum.

Combining notes and creating melodies becomes easy once you know what quarter notes, eighth notes, and sixteenth notes mean. You would learn how to count quarter notes in a 4/4 time signature. Inculcating the basic 4/4 time signature would help you work on other time signatures. This would control the tempo of your singular performance as well as set the pace for the whole band. That’s why counting time is so important.

From the first drum beat, you would progress on to performing simple variations in your drum beat. There will be a regular rhythm and measure to it. You will play the drums with much power but within control. Because you would play better, your music would be more appreciated.

Playing by ear and integrating it with music theory is a whole new experience in sound quality. By training your ear to distinguish notes and discern sounds, you will experience music in the fullest sense. Symbols will have meaning, and you will speak the language of composers and songwriters. Each note will have significance for being there, and the work would be incomplete without it. You will be more attentive to the finer details. It will make you more critical of your own work and that of others. If taken positively, it would help you create better musical songs and compositions.

Just as experienced drummers are admired for having the guts to take the most basic of lessons, aspiring beginners earn the respect of other musicians with the time and effort they devote to formal learning. This gives both professional and amateur drummers alike a sense of direction towards a common goal which is excellence in music.