Hi
thisisoriginal,
The people at this forum
are super friendly.
I think you'll have to accept though that people take your posts as they are written. You can't dance around the truth and change your meaning as you go along.
And by that post I didnt say that were a bad idea. I just don't have the money.
This is what you actually said:
"Ive tried lessons. Its not worth it. To me that is, I spend hours on end watching, and learning from drummers, that are teachers, and have had lessons, then I watch the ones without lessons, and they seem so much better, IMO, because they break out of that feels comfortable, now don't get me wrong, lessons do help, but its all for different kinds of people."That doesn't say you can't afford lessons, but that you prefer the way drummers who haven't had lessons play. You also imply you get as much out of watching drummers as you would from lessons.
That might be true up to a point, but I think lessons would be great for you.
You'll learn to play properly
and broaden your horizons, then you can decide if you want to play in a raw style or not.
I've been there myself.
I spent years studying drums. By the time I was 18, punk was the big thing. It wasn't cool to sound like you could actually play!
I eventually developed a style that incorporated raw grooves and energy and combined that with good drumming practices and technique. I can play a two hour, high energy show, no problem. Lot's of unschooled drummers flake out after 30 minutes, or suffer terrible muscle strains.
Floor toms.....
I've played a lot of alternative music. IMO, the floor tom is one of the most important elements. A lot of alt. drummers substitute the hi-hat for floor tom grooves. As has been mentioned, there is also a current trend for drummers to
only have one tom, the floor tom (Steve Jordan, Questlove). I played a few alt/rock festivals this summer. Many of the drummers only had a floor tom, many were riding the floor instead of hi-hat. It's a tribal, jungle kind of vibe.
I use my floor the same amount as my other toms. If I play a regular fill, I often play a couple of toms and a snare in that fill. In that case at least one of the toms would be the floor. I also find it an effective practice to play 8th notes on snare and floor tom at the same time, like coming out of a guitar solo, or making a big entry into the final chorus.
Rock music of all kinds focuses heavily on low sounds. The bass guitar and bass drum underpin the groove. The floor tom can help to emphasise that if and when needed.
