Help me get started!!

I'm a guitar player that is tired of not having a drummer around. I have a kit in my studio and have been banging away. What do I need to practice to get going. any good videos? Any tips for a beginner?

You could always get videos: http://www.foreverdrumming.com/faqs.html

You could also take private lessons and have someone being able to watch what you do right and wrong.

There's also a couple of books - "Drums For Dummies" and "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Playing Drums" (no kidding, they're both pretty good)

Total newb myself, but here is what I am doing:

1. Stick Control For teh Snare Drummer, book by George Stone

2. Progressive Steps to Syncopation... book by Ted Reed

3. Tommy Igoe DVDs ("Getting Started on Drums" and "Groove Essentials"

4. taking some lessons

I've been doing ok just with 1-3 on my own. I want some lessons to make sure I'm not doing anything wrong technique-wise.

In my opinion, the best way to learn is to start with the basic rock beat. Count 1-2-3-4 in your head, hitting the high hat with each count. Repeat until you feel pretty comfortable doing this, and it starts to feel natural. Then, spice things up! Throw in a bass drum hit on the 1 of each phrase. Repeat until comfortable. Then toss in a snare drum hit on the 3. This is your basic rock beat. Play this again and again and again and again until you cannot mess it up! Once you have this as a foundation, you can do all kinds of things. Experiment with putting bass/snare hits on different counts, always keeping it steady with the high hat. Once you've tried every possible combination, and feel comfortable, you'll be well on the way to becoming a solid beginner. Hope this helps.

YOU GOT IT!!! THIS IS ROCK AND ROLL!!!

Thanks guys it sure feels good to bang on the drums.

Agogobill: Hilarious! I used to sit there with my Casio SK-1 keyboard and rock out! Nothing like the Japanese to get a brother cracking up!

Seriously though, it's surprising (embarassing) how many drummers get by on just these basics, some rolls and a couple tom fills. What's not to like?

1st take lessons to learn how to properly hit yer cymbles. i havn't taken lessons and i have a craked cymble. 2nd idk ummmmm good brands:

gretsch

ludwig

pearl

mapex

good cymbles:

zildjian

paiste

sabian

good stix:

vic-firth

pro-mark

good heads:

remo

evans

good hardware:

gibraltar

yamaha

w/e

Originally posted by Wideyed Gecko Agogobill: Hilarious! I used to sit there with my Casio SK-1 keyboard and rock out! Nothing like the Japanese to get a brother cracking up! Seriously though, it's surprising (embarassing) how many drummers get by on just these basics, some rolls and a couple tom fills. What's not to like?

It's all what gets you started ... I grew up with a lot of jazz - that's what I wanted to play on the drums but it was way, way out there. I also liked a lot of the rock that was happening - Hendrix, Cream, Tull, etc., and that was easier to play, so I took a few basic lessons and learned that rock beat.

Mitch Mitchell and a few others mixed jazz in with their rock playing and it gradually became easier to get a "feel" for jazz. Without that swing feel, it's not jazz.

I read where a lot of my favorite drummers got their early inspiration from seeing Peter Criss. Now, as much as I hate KISS and all it stands for, I have to give a ton of credit to Peter Criss for getting people to start playing drums.

(I'm glad most didn't carry along the penchant for the clown get-up )

It's all good.

Thank you I will work on this.