Drum Lessons Discussion

[brett05]

My Daughter just got her first drumset after being a percussionist for a year. As her dad, I am hoping some of you can help me out.
She's getting lessons from her Grandfather for Christmas. I am thinking of just hittin gup some of the local places and test them out befor ecommitting to one long term.

How long should a lesson be time wise? 30 min? 2 hours?
Once a lesson is complete how much practice per day would be ideal to get the lesson learned?
When should one go back for another lesson?
How much "free style" play should she be practicing each day?
Are the rubber pads for the drum heads something she should use?
What about hearing protection?

I know, tons of questions. Probably have more as things are discussed. Thanks for reading.

 

[Omeletpants]

When I was young, I was forced to take piano lessons from a nun in a convent. Still trying to recover from that.

 

[Tjodalv]

30 minutes to an hour is standard lesson length.

An hour of practice a day.

Lessons once a week.

Get the lesson material down then let her do whatever. I'd encourage playing along with songs on the stereo.

I was never a fan of the plastic pads, their response (rebound of the stick) sucks and doesn't really duplicate a drum head well.

Get some ear plugs: these, these, or something similar are good. Avoid those cheap ass foam things.

And if the instructor doesn't make her work on this find one that does. It's boring and a pain in the ass (eventually), but it's a great rudiment book.

 

[clonetrooper264]

My Daughter just got her first drumset after being a percussionist for a year. As her dad, I am hoping some of you can help me out.
She's getting lessons from her Grandfather for Christmas. I am thinking of just hittin gup some of the local places and test them out befor ecommitting to one long term.

How long should a lesson be time wise? 30 min? 2 hours?
Once a lesson is complete how much practice per day would be ideal to get the lesson learned?
When should one go back for another lesson?
How much "free style" play should she be practicing each day?
Are the rubber pads for the drum heads something she should use?
What about hearing protection?

I know, tons of questions. Probably have more as things are discussed. Thanks for reading.

I am not a drummer, however I have a sister who is as well as a bit of musical background myself so I'll do my best within that context.

Lesson length I've found among younger/newer players is shorter and as they progress they get longer lessons. Perhaps this is just a savings move on the parents' part to see if the kid is committed to the instrument or not. I have seen younger students with longer lessons (1 hour or more) but they are quite advanced for their age. How does one get to such a level? It leads to your second question.

Practice in some ways is more important than the lesson itself. If your kid never practices, it doesn't matter how good the teacher is or how long the lesson is. I personally dislike tying length to how long one "should" practice, but I've generally seen recommended times span from 30-60 minutes. It'll end up being up to your kid though. If she doesn't want to practice, then it'll be useless trying to make her do so for like 45 minutes or something.

I don't have a good answer for going back for second lessons and such so I'll defer to more experienced people on that.

I'm not totally sure what you mean by free style, but I'll interpret that to mean something like playing along to her favorite songs or just messing around and having fun. I don't see any issue with that myself. Keeps the practice time more fun. Perhaps it can also serve as a practical application of stuff she's learned too.

I don't know what those rubber things do, but most of the drummers I've seen have them so...sure?

Definitely have her wear ear plugs or something to protect her ears. Drummers will lose hearing guaranteed without them.

 

[Tater]

When I was young, I was forced to take piano lessons from a nun in a convent. Still trying to recover from that.

Didn't Taco play drums though? I'm sure there is a good story behind that.

 

[winos5]

Didn't Taco play drums though? I'm sure there is a good story behind that.

Taco played Ommy like a drum....

 

[brett05]

If TJ's being sincere can someone post it for me? I have him on ignore from interactions in our distant past. Thanks!

 

[clonetrooper264]

30 minutes to an hour is standard lesson length.

An hour of practice a day.

Lessons once a week.

Get the lesson material down then let her do whatever. I'd encourage playing along with songs on the stereo.

I was never a fan of the plastic pads, their response (rebound of the stick) sucks and doesn't really duplicate a drum head well.

Get some ear plugs: these, these, or something similar are good. Avoid those cheap ass foam things.

And if the instructor doesn't make her work on this find one that does. It's boring and a pain in the ass (eventually), but it's a great rudiment book.

qfb

 

[brett05]

qfb

I still can't see it clone. Can you cut and paste it for me? thanks so much for helping.

 

[clonetrooper264]

I still can't see it clone. Can you cut and paste it for me? thanks so much for helping.

30 minutes to an hour is standard lesson length.

An hour of practice a day.

Lessons once a week.

Get the lesson material down then let her do whatever. I'd encourage playing along with songs on the stereo.

I was never a fan of the plastic pads, their response (rebound of the stick) sucks and doesn't really duplicate a drum head well.

Get some ear plugs: these, these, or something similar are good. Avoid those cheap ass foam things.

And if the instructor doesn't make her work on this find one that does. It's boring and a pain in the ass (eventually), but it's a great rudiment book.

 

[brett05]

Thanks TJ for the very useful information.

Do they need to be plugs or can they be headphones?

 

[Tjodalv]

I suppose headphones would be fine, I just always used the silicone plugs for practice and shows.

 

[Monster]

I know its likely too late but I love electronic drums at home. You can put on headphones and not drive everyone nuts.
The models now let you plug your phone in and jam with your songs.
If she loves it practice won't be a problem. Play... play all the time.
Nothing is better than practice.
The instructor will teach a basic beat at a time, learn them like chewing.
Find songs with difficult rythems and play along until it's natural.
I also strongly suggest a double bass pedal later... opens up some cool stuff.
However get solid traditional first as the proper use of the Hi-Hat is a forgotten art.
Watch the greats as well... I would say the old ones like buddy rich first.
Gives you good ideas... there is no limit to your drum imagination.

Then of course the boring and most important stuff.
Rudiments... learn to love learning them.
Vic Firth I believe has some great books on them.
You master those you will be able to incorporate them in so many ways.
Again the limit is imagination.

If you bought a standard set get plugs for everyone in your house.
If she loves it you will hate it.

I adore playing and once believed I was awesome, until I saw Mike Portnoy... or Moon, Bonham, Watts, Weiss, Carry, Peart, Rich... the list is endless.

It will be a life long love affair... and let's face it, great female drummers are cool.

PS: I never took the percussion side serious... but those guys are truely fantastic.
I wanted to rock... those guys do it all... piano with sticks.
Elton John once went to the Soviet Union and was allowed to bring only one other musician.
He brought a percussionist!

Best wishes and good luck.

 

[Crystallas]

......bought his daughter a drumset.

j/k, good luck with everything.

 

[Omeletpants]

Elton John once went to the Soviet Union and was allowed to bring only one other musician.
He brought a percussionist!

Cause they were dating

 

[Monster]

Cause they were dating

Very possible...

 

[WCL]

TJ nailed it.

She definitely needs time working on rudiments (and Stick Control really is the bible for that) on a practice pad. The best thing I ever did, though, was put on headphones and play along with music. I would play for a couple of hours every day after school and up to eight hours a day in the summer. That was the best training I had. It's also fun and keeps you interested.

But still, I wish I would have had someone to instill some fundamentals early on. There are so many ways to approach hand and foot technique that you really need some guidance to make sure you're being as efficient as possible.

I played for 20 years, but I haven't played for a few. My plan now is to set up a regular practice pad and a bass pedal practice pad in front of a mirror and work through Stick Control. I'm gonna break everything down to its fundamentals and build it back up. I don't think I'm going to touch an actual drum for awhile. I wouldn't suggest that for a beginner, though, since it's boring. But if I would have done a little of that when I started out, I wouldn't feel compelled to do it now.

I'd suggest weekly lessons which should be around 30 minutes. During the week, maybe she practices that week's lesson for about 30 minutes a day and then plays along with her favorite music for as long as she wants (or as long as the rest of the household can stand it).

Good luck to her. It's fun.

 

[Tater]

Great advice WCL. My best practice (guitar and bass) was always playing along with tunes I liked. I'd get determined to learn a guitar solo and wouldn't stop until I learned it. Doesn't rerally apply to drums, but some good advice I got early on was the learn the very first note. Then, the next note is either higher or lower. After a bunch of practice, I could pretty much hear a song and have a really good idea how to play it before even trying. This was before the days of tablature and available online music chords/sheets.

 

[brett05]

Thanks everyone.