Drum Lesson 2 - Introduction to Drum Kit

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Wow, a little over a week has flown by since my first drum lesson on Monday, March 11, 2013.  Since that time, I have practiced about two hours a day on the musical theory and applying the theory to the snare drum based on the the instructions that my instructor provided. I believe that I have done a great job in getting down the basics from the first lesson; as I will need to in order to progress forward in the next lesson. I included two posts on the first lesson, if you missed either of these post, you can find them here: Drum Lesson 1 - Musical Theory and Drum Lesson 1 - Applying the Theory.

Down to business, my second drum lesson! Today Jack and I met at his studio inside the Hurstbourne Willis Music Store here in Louisville, KY. We jumped right into the lesson with what we had discussed that we would tackle from the end of the previous lesson: Hi-hat, kick drum and snare. Properly named, Introduction to the Drum kit.  But he also informed me there will be two additional items that this lesson will focus, the first is that I will be introduced to the most basic note combinations that I would encounter during a session, either live or in studio, second is that the musical sheets that will be provided will assist with my limb independence.

Note Ledger

Jack pulled out his classic yellow sheet music paper and proceeded write "Intro to Drum kit" on the first measure and the identifiers for the hi-hat and the kick drum on the second measure along with the snare drum (introduced in the first lesson). This would just be for reference, but also a reminder as to items that will be included in this lesson.  The hi-hat sits on the first line of the bar for and the kick drum is on the last space of the bar and the as in the previous lesson, the snare drum sits on the second line of the bar.  I have diagrammed these out on a measure bar to the right labeled Note Ledger..


He told me that we are going to start with eighth notes on the drum kit, then proceeded to write out five measures.  He then had me work through them, making sure that I count each of the notes in sixteenth note form (1, e, &, a, 2, e, &, a, etc..See Drum Lesson 1 - Musical Theory a refresher or to get familiar with keeping time).   I had trouble at first getting my timing down, but once I did, it only took me a couple tries while Jack and I counted out loud and I played the notes.  Below is the full sheet of eighth note combinations that he wrote out for me walk through.

Intro to Drum Kit - Eighth note Exercise

Since I did so well with the eighth notes, he wanted me to get the best of my time, so he pulled out another sheet of his classic yellow sheet music paper and on the first measure wrote, "Addition of Sixteenth Notes." He told me that this would have been my next lesson, however since we had time and I did not seem to have trouble with the eighth note measures, onward we shall go.  I must say, this compared to the first sheet of music, sort of blew my mind. Below is the sheet music that he laid out for me to walk through.

Intro to Drum Kit - Addition of Sixteenth Note

I had trouble at first, but after a couple of start and stops, I was able to get through each line a couple of times. Something important that I did, that I just naturally did, was if I missed a note I was able to get right back on track with the next note.  He informed me that this is a very important trait that a drummer has to have, as he pointed out, if playing a gig and a stick breaks, cymbal comes loose or something else happens, I need to be able to pick up in the song where everyone is at in the song.  THEY WILL NOT STOP FOR ME! This applies to whether you are playing in an Orchestra, in the studio or in a local pub playing live.

Well there it is! The second drum lesson of my journey and it was packed with a lot of vital insight into playing the drums.  It starts out a good introduction to the drum kit with playing various notes on the hi-hat, snare and kick drum. The provided exercises will assist in developing is a solid understanding of the majority of the basic notes that a drummer will encounter while playing a gig live or in the studio. Finally, the exercises above will also assist in developing your limb independence.

If you learn nothing else from this lesson, but the various notes from the exercises and learn to play them well, put in enough practice, you can be well on your way of playing the drums well. I wish you the best on your own musical journey, until next time when I'm sure my drum instructor will build upon this lesson like the last. I'm off to continue my practice to in hopes to get this nailed before my next lesson! As always, if you have any questions, leave me a comment below or you can send me a message on Google+.