VENT! and question.

[Aaaidn]

First off, I've only had 3 or 4 lessons to date, shocking I know. But I don't feel I'm getting what I want, I practised basic rock beats and rudiments and all the basics on my kit prior to looking for a teacher. But all any teacher I go to see wants to do is go from the beggining, I'm paying an amount quite frankly I can't afford to sit there and go through syncopation and 8th and 16th note rock beats with 8th note fills. Not very thrilling, not hard, not what I want. I just really cannot be bothered with this, its very aggrovating.

So I'm considering giving up lessons, but I have an issue. I get very bored playing slower songs because 1) I'm a metalhead used to fast music, and it just isn't what I'm wanting. and 2) They just aren't "Hands On" enough for me if you understand what I mean. Not paced enough and just are too basic, like simple bass on 1 and 3 and snare on 2 and 4.
But then the next level up seems too hard for me.

So what would you recommend in my efforts to teach myself?
Which sites have good sheet music? For either warm up or full songs?
Which songs are faster tempod, without being stupidly difficult for begginer drummer.

Thanks for reading all of this, and living with my general vent.

Aiden.

[DrumRookie]

Have you told them your experience that you have?
In my mind, it just seems that they want to see if you developed any bad habits from when you started out on your own, so he can help you correct them, so that in the future you won't hinder your playing. It sounds like you may want to tell them you don't have a lot of cash to spend on lessons directed towards beginners, and that you want to be more challenged. I think that you may also want to prove this to them by showing them what you know.
I think you can pick up a lot of bad habits learning on your own ( when I started out, I got a lot of misconceptions and stuff about basic stuff, like holding a stick), so if your able to get lessons, I would highly recommend them.
All the best!

[ntn2it]

Welcome to the wonderful, and sometimes frustrating world of drumming. It is a never ending discipline that just gets harder and harder, year after year.
You can't rush some things. Drumming and proper technique are one of them.

Maybe this instructor is trying to get a grip on what you know and don't know. 3-4 lessons might seem like a lot to you because you are paying for them, but relatively speaking, that is not a lot of time. Getting down the basics, ie: rudiments and proper sticking technique, are crucial to expanding into the next level of drumming. Give your instructor specific details of what you can do now, what you want to do later, and work together to formulate some exercises that will make both of you happy. Set goals and work hard to meet the goals.

If you talk to your instructor and he/she is not interested in your thoughts and you feel as though you need to move on, then do so right away. Don't wait. You are only robbing yourself of productive learning time. If you use a different instructor be upfront and specific in your goals. Communication is the key here. I can't stress that enough.

I hope this helps. I'd hate to see you give up too soon and not realize your full potential.

[Aaaidn]

I have previously told myteacher of my experience and it picked up for all of 10 minutes. That's why I'm a bit annOyed.

[pastor_bob]

Aaadin, if you have discussed your needs with your teacher, and you are still unhappy, then you should find a new teacher. Chances are, that if you are unhappy, you teacher will be as well, and it would be best for you both to part ways.

The only thing you have to be clear about is whether the communication has been one way. If you are telling your teacher how to teach you, and you are not really listening to why your are doing what you are doing, because you are impatient, then you should consider that as you find your next teacher.

My teacher has been a good teacher, but even saying that there have been times I have been frustrated because I wasn't learning the things I wanted to learn. It was when my teacher showed me the things that I wanted to learn that I realized that I didn't have all the skills to get there yet. I usually apologized on the next lesson, and got back down to business.

Most drum teachers are not either just good or bad. They simply are the right teacher for us, or they aren't. You have to make that call.

Oh, and BTW, don't make the mistake of getting locked into one genre of music. You will regret it down the road.

[Pearl MCX Man]

May I suggest you get a full drumming Dvd for beginners up to professional that way you can move ahead through the lessons at you pace without paying out big $$$. Just a suggestion cause there are alot of good drum videos out there. I wish I could tell you the names but I can't because of the forum rules so PM me if you are interested and I will help you.

[Dad3353]

Good evening, Aiden...
The fastest way to be able to play fast is by playing slow. There is no 'magic bullet'. Play slowly, then gradually (I mean gradually, not immediately...) speed Up. Example : play rudiments, or whole kit exercises at 60 bpm (yes, with a metronome, or click...). Then play all again at 62 bpm. The next day play at 62, then repeat all at 64. Repeat as required. If you feel yourself making mistakes, reduce by 10 bpm and continue the process.
You must be clear with either your current teacher, or future same, as to what your objectives are. If the teacher is not willing to match them, then change. Be warned, however, that if you are asking the impossible, you will not have any teacher for quite some time.
With drumming, as with much in life, it's the first forty years that are the hardest, after which things get (slightly...) better.
Hope this helps.

[dropdtune]

Try another teacher, or try Tommy Igoe's DVD 'Groove Essentials' I and II. It is very easy to learn from (he teaches all grooves slow then fast) and it costs as much as one drum lesson.

[dropdtune]

Sorry in my last post I believe I was not supposed to mention the name of the DVD, due to forum rules. apologies mods

[ChrisDrumsSSD]

Speaking from personal experience, the same exact thing happened with me. I quit after about 5 lessons because I already knew the basic stuff, 1&2&3&4, blah, blah, blah. I wanted to get in to the music that I listened to HEAVY and FAST. So, I got a double pedal, found some not too difficult songs and beat myself up trying to learn them until I finally got it. Here are some songs you can play(tabs can be found online), these ones aren't too difficult.

Waking the Demon - Bullet for my Valentine
Chelsea Grin - Recreant <---- This song is SUPER easy, but really fun to play!!

I also have some songs from my old band, all of it is material that I wrote, the songs are fairly easy, I can e-mail you the tracks if you would like? It's metal stuff! Just PM me if you'd like those!!

[kyle102565]

ive taught myself with the help of online free lessons in the beginning, simple beats, rudiments and fills.
i forced myself lastnight to just play stroke rolls and parradiddles on the snare and i was RUSTY.
thats what i get for just playing to music for the past six months. if you decide to teach yourself dicipline yourself to practice a few rudiments every night.
i got up to a 10 stroke roll lastnight and it almost killed me after 10 mins at 140 bpm.
not a stellar performance at all.
but i must admit i prefer to put the earbuds in and play to the music i like but i pay for it in technique.

[trickg]

Part of it might be that your teacher is seeing things you don't and wants to go back to basics to improve some fundamentals you might not be doing well yet - steady, even rhythms, solid time, etc. Then again, some teachers have a single approach, and that approach doesn't always work for everyone. Something else to consider, but there are A LOT of people out there "teaching" music who probably have no business doing it - they aren't very good teachers.

It's hard to say what category you fall into. If this was on one of the trumpet player's boards I frequent, the veteran players would be admonishing you for not trusting your teacher and telling you to do what you are told. My take is that sometimes you have to trust your instincts when it comes to knowing what you do and what you don't need from a teacher, and find someone who is a better fit. Or, to that end, there is a tremendous amount you can teach yourself if you know how to practice and are disciplined in your approach. There is a BIG difference between playing and practicing, and a lot of inexperienced musicians don't really understand that concept. Sometimes you have to dig into the boring stuff so you can build the kind of technique you need to play the fun stuff.

Good luck with it and keep us posted on what you wind up deciding.

[TPO]

If you aren't getting on with the teacher, get another one. Lessons are too expensive to pay for if you aren't getting anything out of it.

However, don't be surprised if other teachers aren't all that different in wanting to pursue the technical aspects rather than just learning to play a particular uber-fast song.

I've been playing about a year and a half now, taking lessons most of the time, and I've found there are essentially two things that I'm learning.

1. Songs, I mostly teach myself by listening and trying stuff. Slow at first then buliding up. This is the fun part of drumming. I have from time to time asked my tutor to help me figure out a particularly tough part, but to be honest he's never really shown me something I couldn't have worked out for myself, except for things that it turns out I don't yet have the skill for. So while I enjoy going over songs with him, it's not massively productive. In fact the main thing it has taught me is that to do these harder songs I need to work on....

2. Technique, i.e. rudiments, sticking technique, independence exercises, counting, etc. This is what I now focus on the most in my lessons, as this is much, much harder to teach yourself properly and where a tutor will provide real value. It's not as much fun as songs, but this is how you expand your abbilty which then feeds into learning harder songs. If you want the most value from the money you spend on lessons, this is where you want the teacher to be working, and if you are patient and slog through it you'll find the harder songs just come naturally.

[almostmatt1]

You have to crawl before you can walk. All this beginning stuff is drumming's crawling, and so perhaps that is what the teacher is trying to work towards, yaknow? It's perfectly normal to want to rush into all that fast brutal metal stuff but that simply can't happen before you can "crawl". Took me 3 years to understand that.

[Dagon2000]

I may be reading between the lines here but it sounds like you don't want to play slow songs because you find them easy and feel you already get the gist of what the majority of them have to offer as far as beats go. On the other hand, you want to play the faster metal music but aren't able to do so yet. If this is true - then i would agree with your teachers approach. You have to start slow, like it or not - if you can't keep a steady, consistent beat at 80 BPMs, you aren't going to keep a steady beat at 200 BPMs and greater.

Record yourself playing the slower stuff and then be honest with yourself when you review it - are you on beat all of the time? Do you leave out a kick once in a while? Do you leave out a snare pop? Is your right arm doing the same as your right leg when it shouldn't be? Are your fills smooth?

If you can answer yes to all of this honestly, then sit down with your teacher, go over the recording and tell him why you think you should be in more of a "fast track" lesson plan. However, if you review and the answer is no - then you need to work on the slower stuff before you can get faster. Make sure you clean it all up and it's tight, then you can move on to faster stuff. Don't be surprised either when the "faster stuff" isn't as fast as you want. There's a long line of building up speed between playing power ballads and playing Slayer.

[jafo]

I have previously told myteacher of my experience and it picked up for all of 10 minutes. That's why I'm a bit annOyed.

As with anything else that requires propper technique, whether you "know" something or not, a good teacher will evaluate your skill set from the beginning. If said teacher fails to do this and just takes your word for it, they would have no idea why your having trouble accomplishing the next more complicated beat or lesson or task.

To me your answer lies in your question or comment. You feel your beyond beginners lessons but cannot quite grasp the faster BPM, and your teacher is starting you at square one. That tells me, that your not ready for the faster tempo your wanting to play or your teacher I'm sure would be more than happy to go there with you and teach you skills for that.

Key word here is patience. As others have said, crawl before you step, step before you jog and jog before you run. Obviously your teacher was not happy with your technique or ability to move on to the next level.

I say either stick with them or find another teacher. Be careful though, also previously mentioned that there are alot of teachers that should not be teaching really. These will be glad to take that $30 off your hands for whatever you want. The instructor knows best, and one that wants to start you out at step one I would trust way more than one that just will teach you whatever you want for the money.

Just my 2 cents.

[trickg]

Something else to think about is that there a lot more to playing drums than just hitting the right things at the right time. Even on slow songs, if you aren't playing expressively and with some nuance, it just sounds bad. Kind of clunky and thuddy - there's a lot of technique necessary to play that kind of thing and make it feel good and sound right.

[marko138]

With every passing day I want to take lessons more and more. Someday I'm gonna do it.

[kyle102565]

heres a lil test, download Chicagos "Old Days", if you can hammer out ?uestloves chops, no problem, you dont need a teacher.
i dont mean come close, i mean NAIL it.
an old motto comes to mind: when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.

[jafo]

I actually have a harder time with slow songs or beats vs. faster tempo songs.