How did you start?

[Gapster]

Hi all, and HNY to everyone. Here's hoping 'we' all have a fit and healthy 2017!

I'm coming up to 58 this year and have just been bought a set of Yamaha drums for Xmas. Never played before but like a few others have always wanted a set.

My simple questions are:

When you started did you play along with music or grind away with the basic exercises, or both, and are there any 'negatives' for going 'freestyle' when you are a complete beginner? (Apart from annoying any spectators).

[jgziegler]

Stick control (book), go out, buy it, practice it...

[commercial link removed. see forum rules. - Tom] start at the tier 1 level...

Come back in 2 months for more advice At this point, playing along to music doesn't make sense, get your fundamentals right, then playing songs becomes effective...

Welcome to DC!

[kay-gee]

Lets face it. 58 aint 18! Approach it any way you want to and don't let anybody tell you not to.

all the best...

[inthpktplayer]

Really depends on what your end game is. If you're looking to learn to play the drums, then IMHO you should learn the basics and fundamentals. Doesn't mean you can't goof around and follow along to your favorite songs as well. If you want to just bang around and make noise and solely have some fun with it, then slam away to your favorite songs and enjoy. Either way it's good to have another drummer on the planet.

Here's a page out of Stick Control:

[OldeEnglishD]

I started this last August at 44. My main goal was to have fun, but I also have an 11 year old son who wanted to learn with me. We started taking lessons right off the bat from an established teacher and to me, that has been the best decision we could have made. We have learned the basics, rudiments, proper grip, etc. Each lesson builds a new skill, which has helped us get comfortable around the kit, which makes playing more fun! I may never be in a band or play a gig, but I still value what I am getting out of the lessons. I usually do 30 minutes a night from our weekly lesson and then jam to a song or 2.

[SpazApproved]

My dad has had a band since he was 13 and is still playing to this day at 65

I grew up sitting back stage watching his drummer and wanting to do what he does.
My dad would often get me up on the kit and play 4 or 5 songs at every show.
I'd go home and play for hours trying to replicate and copy his drummer.
Been playing now for 30 years.

[Ricardo]

An older neighbor boy got a set of Ludwigs and I would play his drums in his garage.
We learned to play along with old 45 records........Beatles, Stones, Hermits.

A year later, my parents bought me a small used set for my Birthday.

[drummer]

When you started did you play along with music or grind away with the basic exercises, or both, and are there any 'negatives' for going 'freestyle' when you are a complete beginner? (Apart from annoying any spectators).

No negatives. Do what you want. Most play with music first and gradually learn the rudiments, etc. Relax and enjoy. Don't overthink it.

Most importantly.... WELCOME TO DRUMCHAT!

[Johnny G]

I was 8 when I could reach the pedals on my older brothers kit. He showed me some basic technique and then put the headphones on me with Creedence Clearwater Revival. Soon it was followed by Led Zeppelin, and that was the real inspiration!
So, now after 40 years of playing, my practice sessions are pretty much always a mix of working technique and just messing around with sounds, patterns, and grooves.
No wrong way to start. It all depends on what you want out of drumming.
Have fun and welcome aboard the greatest ride on the planet!

[jgraham798]

Hello Gapster!

I bought my first set of drums at 58 too, simply because I have always wanted a set.

I do practice my rudiments but I love to play to a song and get the timing right.
I don't always do the fills or cymbals as I mainly concentrate on getting the timing correct and all of my limbs to work together.

Some days everything is good, some days not so good....but I do it for the fun of it and the fun of learning.

It has humbled me quite a bit and I have a new found respect for drummers. It never really looked as hard as it actually is. :-)

[FlayOtters]

Play along with songs and learn exactly how other drummers do it.
Rudiments are for marching bands

[Goro]

Played on pots and pans at about 4 with my mom's paintbrushes. My brother got guitar lessons and a guitar. By jr.high he switched to bass and played heavy metal and hard rock on our stereo. I would sit there with my pots and try to play along with the drum parts. My parents thought I would "fad out" so never bought me a drum set. But I was determined. By 18 I moved out got a job, by 20 I bought my first drum set.

[xweasel]

I started playing when I was 9. My parents bought a Pearl Export kit in 1993 (a year before I was born) because my mum wanted to learn. She's a bassist and my dad is a keyboardist so I've been surrounded by music since I was born. So anyway, that means I had access to a drum kit whenever I wanted. I initially tried playing harmonica and trumpet, but I never really got into them. Two of my older siblings played drums, so I guess I wanted to be cool too and copied them. However, I stuck with it and now I'm the better drummer in my family

I started out playing to AC/DC tracks and learned some basic rock grooves that way. I then moved up to comparatively more complex stuff like System of a Down and Metallica. I didn't really start learning rudiments until about a year after I started playing.

[MDK]

Yeah I would recommend getting an instructor for atleast 5 or 6 lessons and explaining to him what your goals are. The tough part is finding a competent teacher, ask them questions about their teaching style and experience. I started at 39 (now 50). I play out and all but due to full time job, family, and life commitments I am at best an experienced beginner and I am ok with that.

I would also recommend playing to whatever music you like, just sitting down and doing rudiments all the time is why a lot of people give up, you gotta do them but you also have to have FUN!

Only other thing I would recommend is come here often, there are alot of very experienced drummers who are more importantly good people willing to share their experience with others. Welcome to the wonderful world of drumming.

[jgziegler]

Play along with songs and learn exactly how other drummers do it.
Rudiments are for marching bands

I tried that method, made little progress...then started learning the fundamentals, started making progress...

play along works with guitar, if you want to get good on drums, it doesn't...

[kay-gee]

I tried that method, made little progress...then started learning the fundamentals, started making progress...

play along works with guitar, if you want to get good on drums, it doesn't...

if you want to get good

This being the key phrase. The OP doesn't really state what his exact goals are. I'm suggesting that at 58, perhaps drumming is just a fun pursuit. Have fun at it and don't sweat all the other stuff. Like in guitar world, there are the serious giggers and recording guys, but there are also the more casual campfire types. Neither should be less fun than the other.

all the best...

[inthpktplayer]

Rudiments are for marching bands

That's an interesting take on things. I think that you can apply the rudiments to fills across the drum kit and really create some interesting patterns and fills that set you apart from the average drummer that single sticks all his fills from snare to ride to floor tom. That's whats cool about this, we each have our own interpretations of the music.

[N2Bluz]

The first rule of drums is; there are no rules.

[late8]

I was born and raised on Okinawa Japan while dad served with the U.S Army during the Vietnam war. Chopsticks were common utensils we used during meals and at an early age, I found use for them as drumsticks and used pots and pans for drums. That's how it all started for me; chopsticks and pots and pans.

I had to move out of the house in order to pursue drums. My parents would not support my efforts so at 18, I moved out. By 19, I had my first lesson and by 20, I bought my first kit. I've been a weekend warrior for 37 years. I never had any dreams of making drumming a fulltime job.

[N2Bluz]

Were those nylon tip chopsticks? They give more attack to the sauce pots...

[DrumWhipper]

I got started banging on tupperware bowls after I saw a one armed drummer named Rick Allen play, lol. I would pull my left arm into my shirt and try to play his beats. I was maybe 7 years old. Fast forward a few years, and I joined the school band at age 10. At age 13 I began playing a full kit at church. Now, at age 36, here I am playing for my church in addition to gigs on the side. It's been a fun ride for sure!

[late8]

Were those nylon tip chopsticks? They give more attack to the sauce pots...

lol! Gosh if I knew one day there would of been nylon tipped drumsticks, I'd be Rich today and not just by name....

[slinky]

self taught myself, never took a lesson. Played along to records and radio on a pieced together drum set. Then started jamming with a high school friend after i bought a shell pack. We'd spend hours just jamming. He is a guitar player.

Lessons are great and all but it can be done without too.

[-bongos-]

I was 7. My next door neighbor had a killer red Ludwig double bass kit. He was nice enough to give me an old snare drum and a pair of sticks. My parents then followed up with some lessons. I play y'all through middle school, high school, and college.

[rickthedrummer]

It comes down to "How bad do you want to play"?

I started at 10, no drum teachers in my hometown, so no lessons.

I learned by listening to records and writing down what I thought the drummer was playing in my own form of tab.

I could play Morello's "Far More Drums" before I ever knew that there were rudiments.

Been at it for 60 years. Met a lot of drum teachers over the years and not 1 has told me that I play "incorrectly".