Smoke on the water - for drummers

[aussiejoe]

Hi all,

Just wondering (as a drumming novice) if there is a song or beat that would considered a simple first achievement on the road to improving drumming skills.

As a guitarist, Deep Purples "Smoke on the water" riff was seen (in my generation at least) as a good starting point to say you had made some progress with your playing, and it is fun to play.

Without easy access to an actual drum teacher Im left with using Internet based teaching sites which are very helpful, but it would be handy to know at what point in my playing I was considered up to speed by being able to pull off a particular song/beat.

Does this make sense to anyone or am I just rambling???

[Hercules]

Hi aussiejoe,

Sounds like you're more in the rock music vein
- any AC/DC stuff has a solid basic beat to get your 4/4 hh/kd/sn co-ordination going
- Fleetwood Mac for lighter basic 4/4 feel (e.g. Gypsy)
- Charlie Watts is deceptively good but you can start expanding your rock chops playing Stones stuff
- and it never hurts to lash out and try something harder that you really like - Smoke on the Water for e.g. is moderately difficult - Ian Paice is a very good player with fast hands

[PumaPhreak]

Rosanna by Toto

[aussiejoe]

I was thinking maybe some Beatles and The Monkees as well?

Im pretty much a classic rock guy (from a guitarist point of view) but Ive got to learn to hear music with a different ear as a drummer

[John.b]

Hi Joe, to be a decent drummer you need to be able to turn yourself on to any style and enjoy it. Every type of music has something to offer and there are always crossover points, ie were one style of drumming will become relavent to another style.

Theres no point in copying another drummer. Play along to a number with your own feel, and develope your own style.

There's loads of good 60's / 70's stuff. Alot more variety than there is today.

I started with the Kinks and the Animals, plus lots of 60's Soul and Blues.

Good Luck Mate.

[stickinthemud]

I was thinking maybe some Beatles and The Monkees as well?

Im pretty much a classic rock guy (from a guitarist point of view) but Ive got to learn to hear music with a different ear as a drummer

I'm A Believer (Monkees, of course) is a very good standard song with a solid rock beat, some quick, simple fills, and few eighth-note crescendos. A good "milestone" for mastering the basic beat, hitting the stops, and coming back in on time.
Other good basic Monkees songs:
Stepping Stone
Last Train to Clarksville
No Time

By the Beatles:
Hard Day's Night
All My Lovin' - Rock shuffle - important!
Back in the USSR
Get Back
I Saw Her Standing There

This should get you started!

[aussiejoe]

Thanks guys

As a beginner it is difficult to know what should be within my capabilities and whats better left alone for sometime down the track a bit.
cheers

[cstoliker]

[Synkopat]

I'm a beginner also these are the first songs I learned:

Back in black by AC/DC (Challenging dotted notes for begginners, basic and solid rock beat)
Come Together by The Beatles
Last Kiss by Pearl Jam
Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen (Some nice time signature changes and speed changes)
Take It On the Run (The beat is pretty challenging but it is a cool beat to learn, the arragements for drums are very fine)
Fix You by Coldplay (a beat similar to that of bossa nova, very fast , very syncopated)
Creep (Same cool beat as Take It On The Run but faster)
Every Breath You Take (basic rock beat, cool tasteful fills, don't be deceive by its simplicity it demands stamina to endure the speed and not lose the tempo)
Another One Bites The Dust (Perfect for practicing four on the floor)

[Colquhoun]

First drum kit song I ever played during a lesson was the Dave Clark Five "Bits and Pieces".
Quarter notes on the hi-hat, kick on 1 and 3 with the snare on 2 and 4.
Can't get any simpler than that.

[Synkopat]

Hi all,

Just wondering (as a drumming novice) if there is a song or beat that would considered a simple first achievement on the road to improving drumming skills.

...but it would be handy to know at what point in my playing I was considered up to speed by being able to pull off a particular song/beat.

Does this make sense to anyone or am I just rambling???

You know I've been playing for a year and a half now. I have not been able to practice as much as required due to work, wife and children. But I had the same concern that you have now. I said to myself, Alright I have learned these and those grooves and these and those fills but would I be able to play along to a song without screwing up, to keep the beat going 4 full minutes without rushing or dragging?. When I learned my first song I was thrilled, because I proved to myself I could do it. It is not only the basic drum skills but also one's ability to undertand the song, and each musical passage, to understand how the song is structured, how the drums add to it with a given fill or simple accents. It make total sense that you are making this question perhaps I empathize with you cause I felt the same need.

What I realize after learning several songs is that they are like the final test for one to know how much one has internalized a particular groove, how well set is one's internal clock for keeping the tempo steady and how fast one can play without losing it. So I think it is a very good way. However I find drumming so vast that it would be difficult to select one particular song as a benchmark since we are talking of so many variables (speed, syncopation, solidness, feel, steadiness). The good thing is that in internet you may find grooves classified by level of complexity. My humble advice, if I may, is that you try to master as many grooves from as many genres that you find for each level (basic, intermediate, professional, etc maybe more partitions are required) and then select several songs with such grooves and fills but at different tempos. That would be a fun way to measure how much you have progressed. But as that wise philosopher once said you will realize that you know nothing since this is a never ending learning process (thanks god ). So don't be dissapointed. I suggest you buy the Groove Essentials DVD by Tommy Igoe it gives you a structured way for learning grooves and it covers the basic beats to more genres with some intermediate and advanced ones.

However I will take advantage of your thread and also ask the elders to come up with a list of tools that one should struggle to master before trying intermediate stuff and that are applied in most basic patterns in many genres. And I refer to more especific things, since the first thing we learn is that we must achieve limb independence, steady tempos, speed, feel, grooving, but what especific excersises or grooves or fills can help you achive a fair level in such things at least for a beginner?. I would dare to list the following:

1. Basic rock beat (great for developing solidness and feel)
2. The most used variations of the basic rock beat with 8th on the hat
Variations on the bass drum
-Bass drum on 1, &of2 and 3
-Bass drum on 1, &of3 and 3
-Bass drum on 1, &of2 and &of3
-Bass drum on &of4 and on 1
Variations on the snare drum
-Snare drum on 2, &of2
-Snare drum on 4, &of4
3. The most used variations of the basic rock beat with 4th on the hat
Variations on the bass drum
-Bass drum on 1, &of2 and 3
-Bass drum on 1, &of3 and 3
-Bass drum on 1, &of2 and &of3
-Bass drum on &of4 and on 1
Variations on the snare drum
-Snare drum on 2, &of2
-Snare drum on 4, &of4
4. Hihat opening on the &of4 to make the washing sound
5. Playing hihat on the &'s of each beat and the bass drum on 1 and 3
6. The infamous four on the floor (the bass drum in every beat of the measure with the snare on 2 and 4)
7. 16th note on the hat with snare on 2 and 4 and bass drum on 1 and 3
8. 8th on the ride alternating between the bell and the bow keeping any variation of the basic rock beat.
9. Rock shuffle
10. Swing shuffle
11. Ocassional 16th on the bass drum for instance in the "ah" before 1 and before 3
12. Ghost notes on the snare in the "ah" of 2 and "e" of 3 with 8th on the hat and the bass drum on 1 and 3
13. Ghost notes on the snare in the "ah" of 2 with 8th on the hat and the bass drum on 1, 3 and the &of3

Cheers

[aussiejoe]

great post Synkopat, thanks for the encouragement.

Ive had my kit for 4 days now and have spent about 4 hours in total on it (damn commitments). Ive been trying the basic quarter note pattern HH 1/2/3/4, bass drum 1/3, snare 2/4 with some success, at least with the coordination of hands and feet, but putting on the metronome and scope feature shows how hard it is to maintain an even tempo along with the coordination.

Still, its a start and I dont expect to be Keith Moon after 4 hours (maybe after 8 though)
cheers

[Synkopat]

The Reason by Hoobastank has a basic rock beat in most of it. Ignore the very ocassional fills the guy does or some accents in the hat and it would be a cool song to play along to work on the basic rock feel, You can keep trying with 4th notes on the hat and then move on to 8th notes.

Play it a several tempos for at least 12 measures until you got it right always with the metronome before attempting to play along to the song. Then try the fills.

I strongly suggest you try to get some lessons so you can start with a good foot on the technique ground.


the good thins is that you appear to have plenty of time to practice so I can assure you that at that pace by the end of three months you will be playing far better than I do now

Another good advice I took from the forum, record yourself, that's the only way to really tell how well (or ugly) you are souding.

Keep drumming man, this is a heck of an addiction.

[Freis968]

Sure, how about YYZ?

LOL, just kidding, that is too great a feat for someone beginning...although my first drumset I acquired was in 1981 and Moving Pictures had just come out. So, what did I do? I came home set up my little white oyster pearl four piece and started off with Tom Sawyer...HaHaHa

I played along as best as a beginning 13yr old drummer could...which was quite horrendous. But I started shooting for the stars early!

But to answer your question. Some great albums and songs I learned to play along with were:

The Cars - First album - The Cars
Hurts So Good - John Cougar Song - as he was known then.
Another One Bites The Dust - Queen Song
Eliminator - ZZ Top Album
CCR aka Creedence Clearwater Revival- anything by them - perhaps their Greatest Hits Album
Moving Pictures - Rush - shoot for the stars bro!!!

[aussiejoe]

Im sure Neal Peart has an extra arm tucked under there somewhere

I love Rush for the drumming and the guitar work, great band!