Originally Posted by
NPYYZ
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.
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