Blog Musician

Beginner Drum Lessons DVD: Learn Fast

A drum solo is an individual’s creative expression when playing the drum kit. It is the ability to create a percussive piece that adds depth to a song and to showcase one’s talent. Many famous drummers such as Billy Cobham, Neil Pert, Elvin Jones, and Jon Bonham have highlighted their expertise by performing incredible pieces. Great solos can be performed by anyone as long as there is room for imagination.

This is your spotlight where you can command everyone’s attention. Make sure there is a purpose for each stroke of the drum stick. Your drum set will not play by itself, you are the creator, make some noise. It is not necessary to create a masterpiece performing a solo. By keeping the solo precise and to the point, your creation can be of any length given the flow of the performance. Now is the time to take your listeners on a percussive journey that they will never forget.

Depending on the type of music, begin your solo to match the flow of the music. You might not want to perform a hard and fast solo to slow, smooth, easy listening jazz nor drum softly to hard, power-driven metal. Make your solo tasteful. Let it make a statement and signature of what you are creating. Utilize all the instruments of your drum set such as your snare drum, bass drum, toms, cymbals and other instruments that accompany the drum set. The final step in developing a solo.

Musicality is the purpose of playing any instrument is to play music. And music should be kept foremost in mind whenever practicing. Even when playing a rudiment or technical exercise it should be thought of musically and how it can be applied to music.

However, most of the drummers choose the ones that provide sustainability, a good quality tone, excellent durability along with a great blend of depth and attack. A few drum heads may consist of a ring or a dot in the middle. These are considered excellent for tonal focusing. They also help in longevity of the drum skins by straightening the head from the middle.

Learn the 7 essential rudiments (at least) accurately and up to speed. (Especially the single and double stroke rolls). Know and recognize all the styles and be able to play variations of each. Have a thorough understanding of rhythmic note values and sight-reading.

Go to drum clinics! What can I say, if you don’t walk away inspired by a great clinic, then you probably shouldn’t be playing. Set goals for yourself. No matter how small the goal, it gives you something to strive for and gives you a sense of purpose in life. Life is more fulfilling when you’re moving forward.

Use the Web! The internet has become a tremendous source of information over the last 20 years. It can be used for finding drum lessons, drum teachers, drum fills, drum shops, drum links directories, artist pages, manufacturers’ sites, drum clinic dates, and even drum forums and newsgroups covering just about every drums and percussion subject you can imagine.

Tags: Music