It’s been a little under a year since I started playing the drums. Since then, I’ve gotten a proper drum kit, and, though I’m still firmly in the beginner camp, I can at least play a decent money beat and throw in some fills here and there. I have some rudiments I practice regularly, and I have gotten into a rhythm (get it?) for practicing that I really look forward to. Drumming has become my end-of-day zone-out and have-fun activity of choice.
The hardest part of the whole process for me was finding the right format for getting good drum instruction. I tried (a lot of) YouTube videos, signed up for a couple of online drummer courses, and also took quite a few in-person drum lessons from no less than 3 different instructors. What has so far fit the best for me, though, is using the online video education platform Drumeo. I’ve found their newest “Drumeo method” learning path is pretty cool in terms of giving me a few lessons to do each day (around 15-20 minutes of practice), after which I’ll work on one of their song tutorials or play alongs. It’s super fun and easy to just sit down and play with some guidance that I don’t have to think about.
Now that I’ve gotten into my groove, I want to keep pushing myself. I’ve yet to play with other musicians, so this next year I’d like to set a goal to practice and perform a tune with Vivian (her on her saxophone and me on the drums). I’ve got to get some more hip-hop content to work with too. Beyond that, I’d also like to get some better cymbals (mine are so tinny/clangy) and set up a way to play my lessons/music both out loud (via a speaker) and in headphones while I play.
I don’t really mind whether I make a ton of progress or not, though. Just by playing, I’ll inevitably get better, so I just want to focus on that. And since these damn things are so fun to play, that should take care of itself.
Comments welcome!