DRUMMER CAFE

Hi, this is my first post here. I'm from Dominican Republic.

I've been taking drum clases for about a year and last saturday I finally got my first drumkit. I use to play with some friends on weekends, so my real practice is going to the music school 2 hours a week and practicing rudiments on my bed along with music. I'm going to get a metronome, don't worry about that.

A little about what I have done: first learned drum notation (and I'm continously reading music), after a month then moved to actually to the drums playing basic ryhtms and practicing rudiments on the various subdivisions; Also practiced a couple of Reed's Syncopation exercises and recently started practicing with "The New Breed"). Me and my schoolmates have memorized and practiced a bunch of Latin patterns (Claves, cascara, mozambique, bell rythms) and we also play tambora (A dominican percussion instrument used on merengue, our national rythm/ group of ryhtms)

Now that I have my drumkit, I have a lot of things going in my mind, I can picture myself spending the rest of my life practicing !!!

In contrast, some not-music-educated drummers here still ask my teacher what more he has to practice, because they can't think of anything more !  they don't even now what is an 8th note and play in gigs !!!

What I'm looking for is some advice other than my teacher's, basically when do I know I don't have to practice something I already do well

I appreciate anything you have to say.

When you *never* screw it up and can play it with any limb leading.

PS: There are some MARVELLOUS players on here in all types of music and I am sure that if you ask for advice or help they will willingly come forward.

So ask...........

Kind regards,
Alan M. Watkins

^^^ I'm not one of those  

I'm still quite horrible and probably will be for some time.

There's a lot to be said for improvising.  Just play along with records or your friends and make it up as you go along.

If you practiced for a year before getting your kit, you already have far more self dicipline than almost anyone else learning to play.

If you have the latin patterns figured out, you're way ahead of the game.  Now if you can learn to play them while using all four limbs and improvising, you'll have it made.

It also helps to spend some time studying a style that is completely unfamiliar to you; some style of music that you almost never hear on the radio and that none of your friends listen to. In my case (living in Canada), I'm studying Salsa percussion.  You might want to study the Blues or Country Western.  Those musics are a long way from Merengue.

Thanks for your tips.

I consider myself a beginner, because I have more things to learn than to teach.