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Thursday, March 30, 2006

Here's How to Get the Sticky Stuff Off...

Have you ever had that dried up duct tape residue on your cymbals, drum heads, or stands? Go to the store and invest in a bottle of "Goo Gone." You can probably get it in the cleaning supplies isle. This stuff is incredible and really cleans things up.

I post a bunch of other great stuff in my

weekly newsletter. Most of which will never

be posted here, so make sure you sign up!

7:54 am est

Saturday, March 25, 2006

You Can Increase Your Learning by Teaching

When you're able to articulate your points on any given subject, it's then that you truly understand it. That's why teaching what you know about drumming is such a powerful motivator. Realizing that you understand what you are telling someone else greatly increases your confidence level, therefore increasing your level of playing.

I post a bunch of other great stuff in my

weekly newsletter. Most of which will never

be posted here, so make sure you sign up!

9:08 am est

Always Warm Up Before a Performance

I'm amazed at how many drummers, and a lot of other musicians don't bother to warm up before a performance. Personally, I'm a little tense before I play in front of a crowd, so I like to get loosened up first. I usually spend about ten minutes or so running through some different parts of the songs to get mental clarity and scrape of some rust. My advice is to alway invest some quality time warming up before playing out somewhere to not only get loosened up, but to get focused as well.

I post a bunch of other great stuff in my

weekly newsletter. Most of which will never

be posted here, so make sure you sign up!

8:55 am est

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Why Practice Drums with a Metronome?

Practicing with a metronome will improve your time
keeping dramatically! What... you say you can

already keep time? Try to keep time with a

metronome for about twenty seconds. It will show

you how good you really can keep time. If you have

never tried it...try it! You will see there is room for

improvment.

In order to be an outstanding drummer you'll need

to keep good time, and practicing with a metronome

can help you do that. A metronome can improve

your time keeping almost by magic. And, we know

how important time keeping is, particularly for a

drummer.

You may wonder what the big deal is and think,

"No one is gonna be able to distinguish any

small changes in tempo in the middle of a song."

Well, that may be true, but the major importance

of keeping good time is at three different places

in a song...

1) The times when you break away for a fill and

come back to the original rhythm.

2) If the song contains pauses and later returns

to the original rhythm.

3) If the song contains different tempos and

returns to the original rhythm.

A metronome is such a vital tool in music

education that most teachers of guitar, piano,

and violin all utilize the power of metronomes

within their lessons. How then, even more

important for the time keeper of a band to

practice with a metronome.

I can't strees enough the importance of practicing

with a metronome. Once you go out and invest in

one, start out by setting it at 80 beats per minute

and play along with a standard 4/4 disco beat.

This is a good pace to begin. It will give you

enough time between beats to concentrate and

land your beat in sync with the beat of the

mertonome.

You will see that when you first start practicing

with a metronome it can become very

discouraging, but then you will eventually get the

hang of it and keep pretty good time. Then it may

become a little boring. It's at that point where you

must challenging yourself a little bit more.

Adjust your metronome to a few more beats and

increase your speed. Not so much where you

will sacrifice your form, though. You don't want to

become sloppy. Once you feel like you are really

getting good at staying in sync with the metronome

using a 4/4 beat and at various speeds you

should begin to practice a variety of different

rhythms, also at various speeds.

Practicing with a metronome will improve your

drumming dramatically, so if you don't have one,

get one. You will be amazed at how much it will

increase your level of playing.

I post a bunch of other great stuff in my

weekly newsletter. Most of which will never

be posted here, so make sure you sign up!

4:42 pm est

Could it Have Been the Temperature?

I have the heat turned down in the room I play my drums in because of the high price of natural gas. I don't know what the temperature in the room actually is, but I guess it's probably forty to forty-five degrees in there.

Anyway, I was just finishing up the ending to Mr. Roboto by Styx and then it happened... my right kick pedal went straight through my bass drum head.

Now, it might be because of the temperature of the room, but I'm not for sure. All I know is two things... I've been playing with this same head for seventeen years, and it costs approximately sixty bucks to replace it, depending on where I buy a new one.

Well, anyway, who said drumming was cheap?

I post a bunch of other great stuff in my

weekly newsletter. Most of which will never

be posted here, so make sure you sign up!

4:09 pm est

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

How Do You Play Your Bass Drum?

I'm really surprised at how many drummers play their bass drum with their "heel down." When you play "heel up" you will have more power, more speed, and more control. If you have been playing "heel down," give the "heel up" a try for about three weeks and feel the difference.

I post a bunch of other great stuff in my

weekly newsletter. Most of which will never

be posted here, so make sure you sign up!

8:42 pm est

Don't Have Time to Practice? Think Again!

If you're like me you may not be able to get to your drum set for one reason or another as often as you like. In those cases you can still practice by tapping your hands and feet. The idea is to go through the drumming motions so you form muscle memory. It may sound ridiculous, but it works! Now you have no excuse to not practice.

I post a bunch of other great stuff in my

weekly newsletter. Most of which will never

be posted here, so make sure you sign up!

8:35 pm est

Sunday, March 12, 2006

The Value of a Drummer

Drums are the backbone of most bands. Because
of this fact the other musicians rely very
heavily on the drummer to provide a strong
beat that will keep a song together. A
drummer who is off beat, or off tempo, will
lead the entire band astray. Therefore, if
the drummer is weak, the whole band will be
weak.

Since the drummer provides the foundation for
the other musicians to follow, the drummer is
the anchor of the band. Being the anchor
of the band, the drummer must have
confidence. Confidence is what makes a good
drummer a great drummer. When you have
confidence in your ability to play and
confidence in your instrument, success is
inevitable.

Many wanna-be musicians are drawn to the
drums for the opportunity to learn an easy
instrument. Even though the drums are one of
the few instruments that can be self-taught,
the drums are not easy instruments to play.
The techniques and concepts relating to drums
are fairly easy to understand, but learning
to play the drums takes great coordination, a
sense of timing, and patience. All of which
can be developed with time.

If you are a drummer in a band, then you are
the anchor of the band. The other musicians
are relying heavily on you to provide a
strong beat that will keep everything
together. Other musicians may be able to
cover their flaws when playing their
instruments as a group, but not you.
Everything you do behind your set will not
only be heard, but felt. There will be
nowhere to hide if you are a poor drummer!

The drummer is vital to a band, and a great
drummer can make up somewhat for other
musicians who may not be at the same level of
expertise. So, continue to practice daily,
and never be satisfied with your level of
progress.

I post a bunch of other great stuff in my

weekly newsletter. Most of which will never

be posted here, so make sure you sign up!

5:55 pm est

Do you develop a sore on your finger when you play?

I used to get a huge blister on my finger from playing with my ring on. I guess I didn't have enough sense at that time to take my ring off before I sat down to play. It doesn't bother me anymore, for some reason. Maybe my ring was too big and it flopped around. Who knows? If you have this problem with getting a sore on your finger from your ring, wear some drumming gloves, or get a better fitting ring.

I post a bunch of other great stuff in my

weekly newsletter. Most of which will never

be posted here, so make sure you sign up!

10:10 am est

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Danny Brown

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