Getting your hands on drumming skills is no rocket science. All you need is consistency, practice, perfect mentor mentoring your skills and there you go. Practice doesn’t make you a master but trust me a perfect practice does that.
I always suggest my young drummer enthusiast to keep too slow yet persistent. Get yourself a kit which is not complex. This will help you to get a kickstart without getting demotivated on the very first step.
I will share how I learnt drumming these are quite easy steps. You just need to concentrate on basics and rest will be automatically achieved. Therefore, without much ado, let’s learn the essential tips to play an electronic Drum Pad. Steps to Play Electronic Drum Pads
Grab the equipments and accessories you need
Apart from patience, time, determination and consistency, you need to have the right equipment as well. These things include a set of drumsticks, drum pads which are less noisy, metronome for a constant tempo (or look for drum pads with inbuilt metronome), rudiment book to get expertise in reading music notes, etc.
I think this is enough to start with. Once you get hold on your basics then you may go for a drum set to maintain your confidence and enhance your skills.
Expertise on basics
- There are two techniques to hold your drumsticks, namely traditional and matched. Note that never hold the sticks tightly as it will constrict the bounce you need off the drum head. Next, always hold the sticks a few inches down the centre.
- The traditional method was used in marching when the drum was carried over the right shoulder and slanted down towards right. However, as I found matched technique more convenient, let’s swiftly discuss that.
- The name is matched because the drummer holds both sticks in the matched or same way. In this, you hold the sticks over the top of the stick.
- Place the stick between the thumb and region of the index finger between the two middle knuckles.
- Use the remaining fingers to aid the stick but don’t grip the sticks tightly. Now without using your arms, play the drum through your wrists only.
Master the rudiments
Learn the basic rudiments only, they will serve as your foundation for your drumming enthusiasm.
- The single stroke roll (RLRL RLRL) is the way you alternately hit the drum using each hand. Whereas in double stroke roll (RRLL RRLL) you alternately stick the drum but through double strokes. Once you master this and work on your temp then you move on to the next technique.
- In the advanced technique, when you normally hit the drumhead, your stick bounces off and the bottom end of your stick rebounds into your fingers.
- Another rudiment is paradiddle (RLRR LRLL) in which you hit two strokes with an alternate hand and next two with your same hand. This is helpful while doing fills on your drumset.
- In buzz (RLRL), you use alternate sticking. In this, when your stick bounces off the drumhead, you press it against the head that creates a buzzing effect.
- Then in the flam (LRRL), you hit a single stroke with an additional small stroke of the opposite stick which is added before the main stroke
Drum Kit
- After having a good hold on the rudiments, get yourself a drum kit. You can either go for an electronic drum kit or an acoustic drum kit. After getting one, check out the different parts of your kit.
- The largest drum is the bass or kick drum. It creates pulse of the song
- The snare drum is generally a centre drum in a conventional 5-piece drum kit. It’s sound comes from its shell.
- The toms are located on the top of the bass drum. Also, cymbals and hi-hat that enhance the accents to your music are included in the kit.
Wrapping Up…
I have covered almost all the initial steps a novice drummer should keep in mind while you are still learning to get expertise in your hand and leg movements. Once you become a prodigy, you are good to go then you only have to keep honing your skills as much as possible. Keep exploring!
