Best way to proceed?

[Bruce Dorminey]

I'm a 52 year-old natural born drummer who hasn't played since college.  I recently took it back up on my old set of Ludwig acoustics --- 5 piece with Ziljian ride and crash and hi-hat of course.  I've been practicing a few rudiments on a practice pad, but mainly just playing to songs on a netbook for the past two months almost daily; at least 45 minutes a day.  I've made good progress and feel I am about 70 percent of the way back to where I was before my decades long hiatus.  Question is:  Do I continue as I am now, do I seek a good professional drummer to study with; or do I go back to rudiments and music study?  I'm good enough now to join a bar band but feel as if I'm still making daily progress on my own.  I'm good on old Chicago tunes; the Stones; and other straightforward rock rhythms.  I'm open to suggestions.  My goal is to take my drumming to the next level and worry about what to do with it later.

[KevinD]

Hey Bruce,

Glad to know you've picked up the sticks again, and it sounds like you've been making some great progress in getting back on the horse.

At this point I would suggest that you seek out a drum teacher who can give you an evaluation on where you are right now, and then help you to work toward your goals as a player.  That is sometimes harder than it appears.

For instance, if your goal is to get into a great bar band that does some classic rock and blues, then try and find someone who can help you tune up for that situation.

It is helpful when speaking with prospective teachers that you review your goals and determine how the teacher can help you before you arrange lessons.

I remember a case where a student in in his early 30s wanted to be a good straight ahead rock drummer. He had been self taught, but wanted to get on the right track to prepare himself for working situations. He started studying with a well respected local pro. 90% of the material that was covered in lessons was geared toward legit percussion studies....While certainly useful, and playing etudes can and things like can be fun and challenging, it was not what the student was really seeking to do, and it wasn't helping that person reach his goal of being a strong rock player.

The teacher was't really interested in helping him with playing rock and probably wasn't the right person to study with for that goal.
Now if the student was 15 and had designs on being a percussion major in college..then that would be the right fit.

So bottom line is it is a great idea to study with someone, just make sure it is the right person for the situation.

Goog luck!

[Larry Rankine]

Hey Bruce!  Welcome to the Cafe!  You sound exactly like me a couple years ago!  The only difference is that I stopped playing at the end of High School and picked up the sticks again at 54.  I can say with certainty that you're starting out in the right spot here at the cafe.  There's a world of learning and sharing done here on a daily basis and you get to "hang" with a lot of very accomplished pro's in the drumming community.  They have helped me immensely in my journey back into drumming and I'm sure you will find the same thing too!  Best of Luck in achieving your goals!

[Rik Shannon]

Practice to everything you hear that you want to play (some very cool beats in new music BTW) then find a couple of bands looking for a drummer and go play. Make sure you have decent time...Have fun.

[Chip Donaho]

I've started over so many times that I can't remember when I quit. Now I run into the same problem many times over. "You play really good, but you're as old as my Dad."  ::)
I've played with some very good musicians over the years. But still end up with the same problem. So here I am, same problem different year.  :-\