Joining a Band

[jweaves5]

Hey all im new to these forums and just had a quick question. I've never played in front of anyone but have been teaching myself drums and songs for the last 4 months or so. Me and a couple of my friends want to start a band. I don't want to be a joke if we start playing i think ill be fine. But i was wondering what should i make sure i know before doing some practices and stuff along those lines. thanks alot guys!

[hitswthstix13]

being in a band myself i would suggest originality and the ability to keep consistent time. those are the two major things involved in drumming to original music. Other styles of playing and being able to do more stuff comes in time.

Consistent tempo i would rank as the highest, being that most other musicians can't do that hahaha. You said you've played along with songs so that should help with the tempo thing, but without something keeping you in time it will be tougher.

[jweaves5]

being in a band myself i would suggest originality and the ability to keep consistent time. those are the two major things involved in drumming to original music. Other styles of playing and being able to do more stuff comes in time.

Consistent tempo i would rank as the highest, being that most other musicians can't do that hahaha. You said you've played along with songs so that should help with the tempo thing, but without something keeping you in time it will be tougher.

yeah im pretty good with timing and stuff, I just need to learn how to work the toms in better and more rhythmic fills. just really need to get a laptop to watch some youtube vids as im drumming :D

[hitswthstix13]

I just need to learn how to work the toms in better and more rhythmic fills. just really need to get a laptop to watch some youtube vids as im drumming :D

that surely helped me, what a lot of the drummers here suggest, and what i can attest to is listening to other drummers and bands and taking their fills and modifying them in some way to make them yours

[nio]

JW, you must keep things simple. Fills are mainly used for transitioning from one section to another...for example, verse1 -> chorus1, chorus1 -> verse2, etc... Fills don't have to be complicated at all. It could be as simple as a single tom hit followed by a cymbal....whatever the song calls for. Try to visualize and hear the fill in your head. If you can do that, then you can probably play it. Good Luck !

[Brady]

Welcome to DC jweaves! Hope you can find all the information you might need on this forum. I agree with the posts above. Also, when my band started out we began playing covers (songs from others bands). Did this for awhile which really helped a lot. It also expand our ability to work together as a team. Thats all a band really is - a team. You work together in a team and you need to work and play off each other in a band.
All the best!

[jweaves5]

Welcome to DC jweaves! Hope you can find all the information you might need on this forum. I agree with the posts above. Also, when my band started out we began playing covers (songs from others bands). Did this for awhile which really helped a lot. It also expand our ability to work together as a team. Thats all a band really is - a team. You work together in a team and you need to work and play off each other in a band.
All the best!

alright thanks alot guys. Yeah at first well be doing all covers from easy punk rock like Blink 182 to Led and Hendrix i can play a select few of Bonhams masterpieces but i definitely need work in that area haha. And Mitch is no slacker either :P

EDIT: and personally my type of music is the classic era but i love some newer stuff too but Keith Moon is my idol drumming wise and Bonham so I'm trying to play some difficult and very weird and revolutionary drumming pieces. So im just trying to expand to kind of be ahead of the band so when we do hit that harder stuff ill only continue to keep growing

[Quadcam79]

a band is 25% about the music and your skills and 75% about dealing with people with different personalties, marketing, business, promotion etc etc.. in other words it's alot of work. it's fun but if you're like me and take on the band leader role it can be a lot of stress too. good luck

[gonefishin]

Welcome to the board JW.

All good advice so far......nothing wrong with starting a band, but before you commit to playing for the public make sure you are ready first, dont rush into it.

Practicing with some friends will help your skills improve greatly. After you have been together for a while you will know when youre ready to play live....just relax and have fun.

Good luck with the band.

[weezy]

Keith Moon is my idol drumming

Time to throw out your hi-hat stand and just hit crashes and the ride.

Seriously though. Regarding fills, it's best to ask "what does the song need?" As pointed out earlier, they're best used to transition from one section of a song to another. A good fill should set the tone for the next section. IE if your transitioning to a slower part, the fill should have a slower fill (quarter notes, eigth notes tops). The oposite also holds true. Going from a rocking section to a swing or shuffle feel might call for a tripplet based fill. Simple fills, played well and in time, will sound better than complex fills that are played sloppy. Anyway, listen to lots of music and play along. You don't have to play it note for note, just get the feel.

[jweaves5]

Time to throw out your hi-hat stand and just hit crashes and the ride.

Seriously though. Regarding fills, it's best to ask "what does the song need?" As pointed out earlier, they're best used to transition from one section of a song to another. A good fill should set the tone for the next section. IE if your transitioning to a slower part, the fill should have a slower fill (quarter notes, eigth notes tops). The oposite also holds true. Going from a rocking section to a swing or shuffle feel might call for a tripplet based fill. Simple fills, played well and in time, will sound better than complex fills that are played sloppy. Anyway, listen to lots of music and play along. You don't have to play it note for note, just get the feel.

haha so true but i also play some RATM and blink as i said before. haha Moon the Loon is beast though with or without hi hats. haha but hey he DOES use em on Who Are You! lmao

[MartyM]

Jweaves5, first of all welcome..now to mention something that i don't believe has been said, when in doubt of you and your bands readiness to play in front of people..simply record yourselfs the best way you can and really listen to the music..see if you can find the flaws ( if any ) first before others do. enjoy the music!