drums boring?

I've been fooling around with the drums for about 2 or 3 years now...with the yamaha dtx electronic kit.

The songs in the drum module keep me going, but now I've been through all of them, and there is so much absence of sound when playing by yourself.

I don't even understand how people buy an acoustic set for themself at home, since the electronics have tons of kits and songs built in.

Am I just not cut for a drummer if I'm getting bored? Or is it a lot more fun playing the drums in a band? What's left to do when you can only play by yourself?

btw, I've never had any lessons or read any drum tabs whatever those are or anything like that.

What's a guy like me supposed to do? I was thinking of starting the guitar....is the learning curve hard for the guitar? Is the guitar fun playing by yourself?

jsut play along to cds you like, and yes playing in a band is pretty fun, and it also adds to your skills and expierience (it can be tough keeping solid time with four others). It sounds like you dont try new things and that why your bored, mix it up.

I've played guitar for maybe 5 or 6 years now, and drums for about 2 months. To me, they are both TONS of fun to play, even alone. I can just jam around along to nothing for hours on end on guitar. Same with drums. I can just play a nice groovey beat for days without getting bored. Maybe it's just...but I love the instrument(s) so much, that I can be playing the most basic repetetive thing, and it's still fun.

But yeah, it's possible to get bored. Try doing something new. Try a new style of drumming that you don't know and learn that. If you're bored, just try to add more techniques and skills to your vocabulary.

Then join a band. That's more motivating than anything else.

Then plays shows. That's even more motivating.

Man I love music...

Ernie

The biggest challenge sometimes seems to be challenging our own abilities.

Try playing around with time signatures. 3/4, 6/8 and 9/8 are some of my new favorites.

Many electronic genres of music are almost exclusively beat centered. What makes drum n bass or hip-hop instrumentals interesting?

Maybe you can play with creating your own sounds for your kit, instead of using presets.

I've always thought it would be fun to use an electric kit as a bass. Playing basslines on the toms' tones.

I play drums in my band and it's much more entertaining than just playing out of my book solo or practicing the rudiments on my practice pad.

The reason you're getting bored is because you've used the drums songs and probably haven't been doing a lot experimenting. I say play for 10 minutes straight with no song or whatever, and play erratic bass beats, odd time signature snare beats, do some rolls, some fills, and open/closed hi-hat beats.....this way you'll see where your weaknesses lay. Then instantly you have something to practice and when you see yourself getting better it'll the most entertaining thing of all.

If you are getting bored, i suggest you either take lessons, for at least a year so you can learn new concepts, rudiments, etc. then after that you can start playing fast and experimenting with other beats and techniques. Or you can look for some friends that play guitar to jam with you so you know what it feels like to have someone to play with.

What are rudiments btw?

rudiments make up your drumming foundation. They are things like:

single stroke rolls

double stroke rolls

triplets

5-17's note rolls

single paradiddles

double paradiddles

triple paradiddles

single/double bass beat exercises

limb independence exercises....

the list can go on for a while. here's a good site that has links to all the rudiments:

http://www.drumsdatabase.com/

it has links to guide you through the above stuff and a ton of other drum-related topics....pretty neat site

don't waste your time.

You're telling him not to waste his time on rudiments? On the contrary, I think they can help greatly with chops, and allow you to apply them in your music when needed.

I think that if you are this confused or lost then maybe you should take a lesson or just give it up and take up guitar. Playing drums in a band is much more exciting that playing for yourself. Maybe find some people to jam with?

I think guitar has a longer learning curve than drums but it's an easier instrument to master. Kinda depends on where your natural talent leans towards. I play both and drums are more of a challenge for me.

"I think guitar has a longer learning curve than drums but it's an easier instrument to master."

Easier to master? Nah, I don't think so. It's easier to get going, and it may be arguably easier to sound good and playable, but they are both VERY difficult to master, and take quite a bit of talent and dedication.

I never learned playing along to songs (guitar, bass, or drums). I used songs to teach me skill and techniques, but I always just sorta jammed. That's way more fun (for me) than playing along to songs. If you think drums are fun, then find a way to make it less boring. There are alot of good suggestions in this thread. I think you should at least give them a try before you decide to give them up. Then switch to something else if you still don't like it.

For me, there was never a point where I wanted to switch. I just like learning instruments, and if I picked one up, it's because I wanted to play it. But everyone is different. That's part of the beauty.

Ernie

Maybe you should try to learn how to play Latin. You won

Drums by themselves aren't boring. A good dynamic drum solo always keeps me interested!

Not to knock the Yamaha DTX electronic drums or anything, but you'll be amazed how much harder it can be to play real drums. Just yesterday I was in Guitar Center and was goofing off on a top-end Roland kit....I play at LEAST 25% better on those things for some reason.

If you're bored, you just need to find a new challenge. Find some people to jam with and write music with. Play to other music that's not programmed into your kit. Play a steady beat at an extremely slow speed and make it groove (very difficult). Turn the metronome waaaay up and see how long you can keep up.

Hell, just take your kit apart and rearrange everything backwards so you have to play lefty (assuming you're playing righty).

Possibilities are endless...a whole lot more endless than what the geeks at Yamaha programmed into your kit anyway.

I find it grows a bit boring on me sometimes when I've been jamming for awhile or I'm just not in the mood, but when I'm on the right day and really get some solid beats down then it's a great feeling but that's not always the case, mainly coz my kit is crap and I need some lessons urgently

Guitar is really fun to jam on by yerself, I do it occasionally even tho I'm not too good, I love messing with effects on dad's electric, and the acoustic is fun just coz it makes a nice sound anyway, and it's easier to play. Don't force yourself into playing something just for the hell of it if you don't enjoy it, keep searchin till you find somethin you REALLY get into, and stick with that.

I've found that drumming can feel boring, especially when you are first starting. At the beginning, I could only play simple beats and every fill started on beat three and ended on the one. Playing in bands all the time, those simple beats can get monotonous real quick. Then when you think of the drummer's "place" in a band, its commonly recognized as the foundation; meaning that drums are rarely leading a song (meaning they drive and support the lead) and in most cases are not used melodically. Therefore, a strong consistent backbeat and tempo is the only requirement of the drums (pink floyd, eagles). This can be seen as boring, as I did when I first started. I wanted to have a much more "in there" style (Bill Bruford, Jon Fishman). For a long time I seriously considered playing guitar, seeing as I tried to play the drums as if I was playing lead guitar. The more I played though, the more tricks I started to learn. As I became more comfortable on the drums, I started to create real thickness and flow. At that point, I realized that I was just starting to really learn how to play...this is after 10 YEARS of playing as a hobby (of course, once you start doing it professionally, your rate of growth is quadrupled). The biggest lesson I have learned so far is this: Simplicity combined with natural flow and thickness equals emotional intensity. Its this emotional intensity that drives me forward and inspires me to continue pushing myself. I love the weird, odd-time, complex drumming style, but in order to successfully execute those emotions, you have to have the feel. And no matter how simple a beat is, if you can feel the rhythm and put that thick emotion into each note, it will never be boring...for me, its always very satisfying and inspiring.

And yes, you can learn to do this by just playing drums by yourself. The thickness and flow are extensions of your internal talent, and in my opinion have much more to do with your mentality than they do with your physical coordination, although you really do need both. But in the immortal words of George Clinton, "Free your mind and your ass will follow".

Very well said.

Ernie