Your drums are not just instruments that you set on a stage and play, and then take home again for practice without ever touching them for maintenance or cleaning. The truth is, if you don’t want to take the time to clean them and keep them properly tuned, you are not true to your trade. Depending on the type of drums that you have, there way be variations on the maintenance that the manufacturer recommends. How you care for your set depends also on the material from which it is made.

So, if there isn’t a rule regarding drum care, what do you do? As with your clothing, you follow the recommendations of the manufacturer. When you buy a new outfit, you check the label for laundering instructions – or you should – and the same is true of your drum set. Cymbals for the most part can be cleaned with a window cleaner, but how you clean your drums needs to be depends upon a variety of factors including material of the skins and of the outside. Steel is not recommended, though sometimes used, and there will be a different method than other material, which is usually simply soap and water or even glass cleaner for a shine.

As a drummer, you should be proud of your skins and want to keep them clean in between performances. It doesn’t take more than perhaps a half hour a day to keep your set looking in top condition, but you want to make sure that you know exactly what you need to do before you even take the set home. If you order your drum set online, be sure you read all of the instructions regarding care and maintenance before you ever set up the kit, because some kits require oiling before you ever use the drums for the first time. Failing to do that when required can result in your drums sounding out of tune or not blending in with the rest of the musical instruments in the band.

Bear in mind that your drums are a major investment, and if you want them to last you for years to come, you have to take the time to take care of them from the day you first own them. You do not simply leave them to collect dust when you are not using them nor do you only take them in for maintenance when they don’t sound as good as they did when they were new. Regular cleaning and routine maintenance will be your drum kit looking and sounding new for many years to come. It is unnecessary to buy a new set every few years if you take care of what you have from the start.

If you think that beginner drum lessons merely involves banging the drum every now and then, think again. Playing the drums is not as easy as it looks TV and during concerts. Always remember that playing the drums require timing and skills on your part. Learning these skills will take a lot of time and practice. In fact, many accomplished drummers such as those who are playing in the drums and bugle corps spent hundreds of hours practicing their drumming skills before they were able to perfect their playing.

To learn to play the drums perfectly, it would be a good idea for you to take drum lessons. There are many music schools in the country that are offering drum lessons so you will not really have much problems finding one that is suitable for you. To find the best music schools, ask for referrals from friends and family members who are also into music. If you are still a student, you may also ask your teachers and school administrators for help in finding a good music school. Asking referrals from people that you know is very important because this can give you some ideas on what you can expect from a certain music school. Moreover, since these people know you and care about you, they will be more careful is giving you referrals and will make sure that you get the best education that you need. In event where you do not know anybody who can give your referrals to a good music school, it would be a good idea for you to conduct your own independent research. The library and internet can offer you a wealth on information when it comes to music schools.

When taking drum lessons, it would be a good idea for you to have your own drum set or drum kit. Note that a musician should feel comfortable with his or her own set of musical instruments so it would be best for you to practice using your own drums. Companies like http://Yourdrumset.com are offering a wide variety of drums, musical instruments and accessories such as, drum stand, cymbal stand, hi-hats, drum hardware, series, EX, ELX, masters, bass drum pedal, snare drum, sensitone, tympani, marimbas, chimes, drum sticks, drum thrones, drum racks, African drum, afro percussion, bongo drum and conga drum, so you need not worry about finding the right musical instruments.

Taking your time is choosing your musical instruments. If you are not sure what type of drums is suitable for you, it would be a good idea for you to discuss this matter with your music teacher. You music teacher will have some ideas on what suits you best so do not hesitate to ask him or her about her opinion.

Practicing with a metronome will improve your time keeping dramatically! What… you say you can already keep time? Try to keep time with a metronome for about twenty seconds. It will show you how good you really can keep time. If you have never tried it…try it! You will see there is room for improvement.

In order to be an outstanding drummer you’ll need to keep good time, and practicing with a metronome can help you do that. A metronome can improve your time keeping almost by magic. And, we know how important time keeping is, particularly for a drummer.

You may wonder what the big deal is and think, “No one is gonna be able to distinguish any small changes in tempo in the middle of a song.” Well, that may be true, but the major importance of keeping good time is at three different places in a song…

1) The times when you break away for a fill and come back to the original rhythm. 2) If the song contains pauses and later returns to the original rhythm. 3) If the song contains different tempos and returns to the original rhythm.

A metronome is such a vital tool in music education that most teachers of guitar, piano, and violin all utilize the power of metronomes within their lessons. How then, even more important for the time keeper of a band to practice with a metronome.

I can’t stress enough the importance of practicing with a metronome. Once you go out and invest in one, start out by setting it at 80 beats per minute and play along with a standard 4/4 disco beat. This is a good pace to begin. It will give you enough time between beats to concentrate and land your beat in sync with the beat of the metronome.

You will see that when you first start practicing with a metronome it can become very discouraging, but then you will eventually get the hang of it and keep pretty good time. Then it may become a little boring. It’s at that point where you must challenging yourself a little bit more.

Adjust your metronome to a few more beats and increase your speed. Not so much where you will sacrifice your form, though. You don’t want to become sloppy. Once you feel like you are really getting good at staying in sync with the metronome using a 4/4 beat and at various speeds you should begin to practice a variety of different rhythms, also at various speeds.

Practicing with a metronome will improve your drumming dramatically, so if you don’t have one, get one. You will be amazed at how much it will increase your level of playing.

Muscle memory is the terminology used by physiologists to describe the phenomenon of skeletal muscle activity that is learned and becomes essentially automatic with practice.

Muscle memory plays a major part In the world of drumming as well as other things. Think of when you were first learning to ride a bicyle. You had to concentrate very hard to make all your body parts move in just the right way, as well as balance just right so that you could ride. it seemed very difficult but once you got the hang of it, then riding became a very natural feeling. this same thing happens in drumming. When playing a new beat at first may feel very awkward and difficult but with some pratice and repetition that beat begins to feel good and gradually becomes much easier. After some practice these motions require less concentration.

Scientists have discoverd internal brain stuctures that work together with input/output brain structures to form fleeting images in the mind. using these images we interpret input signals, process them and formulate output responses in a deliberate and concious way. Scientists refer to this as kinesthetic memory or neuro-muscle facilitation. where “seeing, thinking, and doing” gets cut down to just “seeing, and doing”. muscle memory comes into play by eliminating the thinking process. your muscles begin to know just what to do. and this is when one developes efficentcy to become a much better drummer. once you are capable of playing a beat with out thinking then your mind is free to think of how to make that beat more creative by adding fills, accents, etc. The motions of the basic beat are now almost effortless.

It takes a certain amount of time for your drum beat to feel effortless. First you must create the new motions or pattern, the next step is feeling at ease with those motions. this will not always happen over it can take sometime depending what time signature you are playing. I feel Sometimes its best to make a recording of the new material you are working on. That way when you want to play it again you will have that tape to help guide you.

When the motions of the basic beat become almost effortless. That is where the saying practice makes perfect comes from. How can you be at ease with a beat that now seems hard to you now? Practice and practice some more. and eventually you will be playing that beat with the same amont of effort it takes to walk. When you can play a drum beat and keep a conversation or read a book that is a good indication that your muscle memory has developed just right.

Helping you march to your own beat!

What does it mean to be an “organized” drummer?

When your band plays a song, do you play that song the same
way every time? If not, you should. Here’s why…

It can all be summed up into one word called
“predictability.” So many drummers will never play a song
the same way twice. This, many times, throws the other
musicians off, potentially causing a drag in timing or
increasing the chances of a mislead cue.

As the drummer in a band it is your responsiblity to provide
the foundation for the music. This meaning that everything
you do behind the drum kit is vital. Anything you do out of
the ordinary, or something the other musicians are not used
to hearing you play in a particular song really has the
potential to screw things up.

Experimenting is definitely a good thing, and that’s why we
practice, but there just comes a time when experimenting is
over. You must decide what you’re gonna do and then stick to
it. Never throw in something that the other musicians are
not expecting or you can end up with some serious choas.

Predictability is a must! The other musicians must know what
you’re going to do before you do it. An outstanding drummer
is predictable, prepared and organized, ready to bring his
or her goods to the table. Personally, it has always
bothered me when a band mate would come to play and he or
she would just not be ready. Situations like that are just
not fair to everyone else who is ready.

It’s been said that when prepardness and opportunity meet,
success occurs. I don’t know what kind of “success” your
hoping for, but one thing is for sure, you will more likely
meet with it by being organized when opportunity knocks.