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Thread: The basics of teaching drums?

  1. #1

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    Default The basics of teaching drums?

    I'm going to be giving some kids some drumming lessons soon. They are around 8-10 years of age and have had no prior experience or lessons of any kind with drumming. Could anyone give me some advice on what would be a good place to start? I'm thinking first explain the different parts of the kit, holding a stick properly and basic snare drum patterns, but if anyone has any more suggestions I'd love to hear them. I haven't had any substantial teaching experience before.

    Also, I'm somewhat hesitant to jump into reading music and rudiments. While I understand they're an integral part of drumming, keeping it interesting for kids is a big thing and in my experience, things like that take away from the "fun" aspect of it. If anyone has any experience with this, I'd love to hear it too.

    Thanks in advance.
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  2. #2

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    Default Re: The basics of teaching drums?

    Starting with the parts of the kit and grip and whatnot is what I do. I then do the most basic of basic rhythms - RLRL on the snare, then add the kick in on every beat, teach them about quarter note rests, eighth notes and then try to put it all into a basic rock beat.

    Just remember, they are kids so remember to take it easy on them. Some will pick it up quickly, some won't. If you are able to, have a chat with their parents as to how their kid is going, maybe explain to them how they can help them practice through the week etc. Be dynamic with them, congratulate them when the nail something. If they don't quite get something, do the sandwich technique - tell them something they did right, then tell them what they need to fix, and then reaffirm with them that they did a good job.

    Hope that helped man. All the best.
    Last edited by drumstix; 05-04-2013 at 12:15 AM.

  3. #3

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    Default Re: The basics of teaching drums?

    almostMatt1, that's really good of you to take this on. drumstix nailed it. I have a son who's 9 years old. His attention span is approx. 10-15 minutes, then he gets bored and his mind starts to wander. It's part of that age.

    Also keep in mind that these kid's ears are still developing so sonic ear fatigue may hinder some of your future students ability to catch on and you may find some that won't like the noise too. Provide ear plugs.

    Use a metronome. If sight reading is too much for them, make them at least play to a metronome. You'll need to rig the nome to some speakers so it will be loud enough for your students to hear if you decide to do group lessons.

    Most importantly, show much patients. My kid has every opportunity to learn to play the drums but he rather do something else with his time which is completely okay with us. Just as long as your students are happy, they'll keep coming back. Good luck and thanks for 'paying it forward'.

  4. #4

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    Default Re: The basics of teaching drums?

    What I do for a metronome is use a y-split jack going into two sets of headphones. Cheap and that way, you both have the click right in your ears.

  5. #5

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    How exciting! Remember to be patient and work with them instead of against, you're going to be dealing a lot with "I just wanna hit things" type situations. Some things you can talk about are proper posture, holding the sticks, how to set up the kit, how to tune, reading music/tabs..
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  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by almostmatt1 View Post
    I'm going to be giving some kids some drumming lessons soon. They are around 8-10 years of age and have had no prior experience or lessons of any kind with drumming. Could anyone give me some advice on what would be a good place to start? I'm thinking first explain the different parts of the kit, holding a stick properly and basic snare drum patterns, but if anyone has any more suggestions I'd love to hear them. I haven't had any substantial teaching experience before.

    Also, I'm somewhat hesitant to jump into reading music and rudiments. While I understand they're an integral part of drumming, keeping it interesting for kids is a big thing and in my experience, things like that take away from the "fun" aspect of it. If anyone has any experience with this, I'd love to hear it too.

    Thanks in advance.
    Getting them familiar with the kit is a must. They have to know what each drum/cymbal is called and what it's function on the kit and in music is.


    I gave a few neighbourhood kids some lessons years ago. I started out showing them the drum kit, explaining it to them. Then I chose a very basic song , I used the Rolling Stones honky tonk woman because of that simple rock beat. I would play the beat for them on the kit, at speed and very slowly, explaining to them what each limb was doing and why. Then I let them hear what I had just showed them by playing the record. (yes we had records back then)

    As things progressed I set them up with the book Progressive steps to Syncopation for the modern drummer by Ted Reed. It has a ton of sticking exercises in it. There are also several lessons that can be played on the kit - kick, snare, hi-hat , ride, and again many many variations.

    I had them work on their stickings , RLRL LRLR RRLL LLRR and the million other variations, once they got comfortable with each sticking exercise I would mix it up by having them accent a left on the rack tom and a right on the floor , instead of just staying on the snare the whole time. I would also give them a simple rock beat to work on each week, as this progressed I would add more kick beats, maybe a ghost note on the snare, a basic fill or two.

    Sometimes I'd have them take the sticking exercises and apply them to the kit like R=snare , L=kick , (single kick only) while playing quarters or eighths on the hi-hat. There is so much you can do. I kept it fairly at first simple because they were all beginners, as they progressed I amped it up.

    It also helps a great deal to have two kits. I had two 4 piece kits set up. Kick, Snare, rack tom, Fl tom, Hats, Ride, Crash. This way if a kid was not getting a certain beat down, we would each sit at a kit, I would play the beat and have him play along with me. Once he got it I would stop and he'd be playing it solo. Kind of like teaching your kid to ride a bike , you jog beside them until they feel confident they you let go and hope they don't crash.

    The kids I taught seemed to really enjoy the Rock beat portion of the lessons more than the sticking portion. So I took each kid on a kid by kid basis. If there was something specific they wanted to learn we could go that route as well.

    Good luck and most importantly be patient , as you know learning to play drums does not happen overnight.

  7. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by NPYYZ View Post
    Getting them familiar with the kit is a must. They have to know what each drum/cymbal is called and what it's function on the kit and in music is.


    I gave a few neighbourhood kids some lessons years ago. I started out showing them the drum kit, explaining it to them. Then I chose a very basic song , I used the Rolling Stones honky tonk woman because of that simple rock beat. I would play the beat for them on the kit, at speed and very slowly, explaining to them what each limb was doing and why. Then I let them hear what I had just showed them by playing the record. (yes we had records back then)

    As things progressed I set them up with the book Progressive steps to Syncopation for the modern drummer by Ted Reed. It has a ton of sticking exercises in it. There are also several lessons that can be played on the kit - kick, snare, hi-hat , ride, and again many many variations.

    I had them work on their stickings , RLRL LRLR RRLL LLRR and the million other variations, once they got comfortable with each sticking exercise I would mix it up by having them accent a left on the rack tom and a right on the floor , instead of just staying on the snare the whole time. I would also give them a simple rock beat to work on each week, as this progressed I would add more kick beats, maybe a ghost note on the snare, a basic fill or two.

    Sometimes I'd have them take the sticking exercises and apply them to the kit like R=snare , L=kick , (single kick only) while playing quarters or eighths on the hi-hat. There is so much you can do. I kept it fairly at first simple because they were all beginners, as they progressed I amped it up.

    It also helps a great deal to have two kits. I had two 4 piece kits set up. Kick, Snare, rack tom, Fl tom, Hats, Ride, Crash. This way if a kid was not getting a certain beat down, we would each sit at a kit, I would play the beat and have him play along with me. Once he got it I would stop and he'd be playing it solo. Kind of like teaching your kid to ride a bike , you jog beside them until they feel confident they you let go and hope they don't crash.

    The kids I taught seemed to really enjoy the Rock beat portion of the lessons more than the sticking portion. So I took each kid on a kid by kid basis. If there was something specific they wanted to learn we could go that route as well.

    Good luck and most importantly be patient , as you know learning to play drums does not happen overnight.
    That's exactly what I do, albeit with two electronic kits going through a PA, together with a drum machine or metronome. Same with using some basic books like "Syncopation" and so forth. One thing I sometimes do is to pull out and get both of us to play on an acoustic set, putting time aside to explain and show parts of that set, get them to examine various bits and pieces and get them to be familiar with it. Or I'll pull out and play percussion with them whilst they'll play on any of the sets.....doing things like that help to keep things fresh.
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    Back when I was teaching, all the kids wanted to just jump on the kit and start rocking out...that's not how it works. So I would tell their parents to buy them a pair of sticks, a practice pad and a book of rudiments...that's it. And the look of relief on those parents faces when they realized that starting out wasn't going to break their pocket book was priceless lol.

    You have to start with the fundamentals...how to properly hold the stick, the correct way to stroke, watching stick height, using "sticking" instead of relying on bounce, etc. then you can move to rudiments. This wasn't very exciting for them but its that solid foundation that you can build on.

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  9. #9

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    For the first lesson, get them introduced to the kit, teach them a few rudiments. To keep their interest though, show them what drummers can do. Show them a few clips of ringo, chad smith, etc. You want to keep their interest.
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  10. #10

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    rudiments - 10 minuets

    beats/grooves - 10 minuets

    fills/something fun - 10 minuets

  11. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by RHD03 View Post
    Back when I was teaching, all the kids wanted to just jump on the kit and start rocking out...that's not how it works. So I would tell their parents to buy them a pair of sticks, a practice pad and a book of rudiments...that's it. And the look of relief on those parents faces when they realized that starting out wasn't going to break their pocket book was priceless lol.

    You have to start with the fundamentals...how to properly hold the stick, the correct way to stroke, watching stick height, using "sticking" instead of relying on bounce, etc. then you can move to rudiments. This wasn't very exciting for them but its that solid foundation that you can build on.

    My $0.02
    i totally agree with this.... playing on a set from day 1 is a big mistake... learning about the drum set should come AFTER the student learns how to play on a pad and read music... you have to crawl before you walk..... use the set as a treat only to be played on AFTER they EARN it by learning the lessons that your trying to teach them... teaching them how to read music is the important part of drum lessons...if you are just showing them how to play a set of drums ,without teaching reading,rudiments and all the fundamentals you are just teaching a kid your bad habits!!!!

    starting the kids on the set gives them nothing to grow into, its like being born as a teenager and skipping your childhood years ... they will have no foundation........ do those kids a favor and teach them the correct way to play drums .... build them a good foundation so that they can continue building their talent on that foundation...
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  12. #12

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    I wouldn't take a student unless he had played another instrument in a group setting, i.e. 6th grade band. Let him learn music first, how to read it, scales, key signatures, treble & bass clefs, basic chord structures. Then go to the basics-long rolls, single stroke rolls, buzz rolls, paradiddles, and some exposure to the set.

    They should be musicians first, then let them evolve into percussionists.

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    I taught the first lesson on Tuesday night.

    It went quite well. I taught an 8 year old boy, and it turns out he's been getting lessons for a year instead of being a complete beginner. He knew what the basic parts of the kit were, but, that seemed to be all he knew... He told me about his old teacher and the lessons he'd been getting for a year. They were group lessons, and sound as though they couldn't have been much less efficient. There were 4 of them in a half hour space, and the teacher was tending to them all separately. He knew what the parts of the kit were but didn't seem to know much else.

    So we started with the basics. I got just the snare and sat down with him, showing him how to hold a drum stick, how to sit properly, and started with some basic rudiments. I was quite impressed by the fact that he clicked onto the fact that control and clean playing is extremely important very quickly. After a few basic corrections like posture, we started on single stroke rolls and double stroke rolls.

    We had a bit of time on the kit, but it was more to get comfortable with where the different pieces go. Overall it was a good experience, and he had lots of fun. Looking forward to next weeks lesson.

    There's another student that I'll be teaching soon who's in his 20's, though also has minimal experience. It'll be a much different experience teaching someone with more maturity and patience than an 8 year old, and I'm looking forward to seeing how that goes.
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    Rock on! I started teaching as well, about 2 months back - 8 year old that went from nothing to now playing a basic rock groove and just starting in on rudiments. Matt I will PM you as I think we could help each other out. We're learning just as much as our students are!

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