Biggest Mistakes That Young Drummers Make

[brandondrury]

Hey drummers,

I was wondering what you experienced drummers considered to be the biggest flaws that you see in younger, less experienced drummers. Feel free to rant about anything and everything!

Brandon

[Geisler]

I know it's going to sound fuddy-duddy, but I'd say:

1) not wearing hearing protection
2) poor posture

Seriously guys, we should all be protecting our ears as much as possible. I have some really talented friends who don't play any more because their ears decided to pull a Shatner.

Poor posture is one way of compensating for lack of strength or technique. Start with good posture and work to get stronger and improve your technique, you'll get much farther in the long run. As an extreme example, I know a drummer who hunched over so much he gave himself hernias. I think he had to stop playing for a year or so. When he finally "straightened up" he didn't lose style or groove, and his playing actually got better.

[lumpy]

Just speaking for myself when I was a wee drummer I skipped the basics and tried too hard to emulate my heroes. I was a Bonzo junkie and even went so far as to use giganto marching drumsticks cause I read somewhere he used them to get his heavy sound.

I also should have spent more time learning to read charts. Over the years I've taught myself, but my skills are lacking.

Another bit of advice I would give to the younguns' is find yourself a mentor; even if said mentor plays a different style than what interests you, and soak up anything they can teach you either formally or informally. If you live in a musically retarded part of the country like me this can be quite difficult but is well worth the effort.

Lump

[snoopy]

a couple things....

Playing way to hard

Playing way to loud

Not playing WITH the band.....you know laying down a groove and a fondation that the music rides on

Keeping things simple....until the song needs to become complex (a double kick roll in each measure is not always the best thing)

[brandondrury]

Playing way to hard

Playing way to loud

For what type of music, snoopy?

I've spent a lot of time with Malcolm Springer and I've never met a guy who was that obsessed with drummers hitting the drums with obscene fury! He told my buddy Ben (drummer) to break 10 sticks his first night. Malcolm insists that the only way to get the rock drums happening. I guess he'd know. He's engineered for some of the biggest producers on the planet.

As far as drummer volume is concerned, I've found that certain drummers sound as if the snare is totally dominant when you sit in listen in the room. These guys tend to sound great in a mix.

Malcolm may not agree, but from what I've seen, you are better off finding a guy who can keep his cymbals under control than finding a guy who simply kills the snare.

Brandon

[snoopy]

...Just my thoughts....

[brandondrury]

I wonder who's right or who's right for a certain music style or if there is a "right" at all.

Brandon

[teacup]

The weight of the drumsticks is always majorly important in the sound. You should never play with sticks that are too heavy for you or it will sound too loud for the rest of the band. That's about the only tip I have other than playing "with" the band and not leading or falling behind.

[Geisler]

Originally Posted by teacup

The weight of the drumsticks is always majorly important in the sound.? You should never play with sticks that are too heavy for you or it will sound too loud for the rest of the band.

I don't understand your statement. Do you mean heavy sticks will give the tone some kind of quality that makes it "sound" loud, or do you just mean heavy sticks will be louder and the drummer might overpower the rest of the band?

[TAlderson]

Having been to many open mics/coffeehouses, I can say that the biggest problem with any band, but especially the drummer, is trying to play too loudly. Sure, your song may be a heavy, driving metal song, but if no one can hear your vocals/guitars, it just sound like shit. The best drummers are those who realize that the important thing is balance, and so don't play really loud. They also tend to focus on their technique better.

-Tyler