Playing the drums?

[FirebirdHatesRice]

Just wondering if anyone on the boards here is good at playing the drums? Me and a few friends are thinking of starting a band, just to jam at first but who knows...anyways, we've got the guitars and I was seriously considering doing drums. I was just wondering how hard they are to learn? I can find a decent set on ebay for around 300 bucks, so that isn't the issue, but how hard is it to begin to basically get a feel for what you're doing? Anyways, if anyone has any feedback I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks,
Brent

[j_downey50]

I used to play...

a little tip:
Don't get a drum set and expect to be able to play along with any songs. Start out learning the bajillions of different beats. Then start experimenting with them. Throw in an extra snare or bass beat. It'll take a while before you're good enough to play in a band.

[firebird4u99]

Yeah take his advice it took me over a year before I could just listen to a song and copy the rhythm.

[AaronG]

my dad is seriously the best drummer i have ever heard, and like the others have said, it takes time. also, dont skimp on symbols, my bro just bought a cheap set, and they sound terrible.

[MTMike]

I've played the guitar for 13 years, have great rythm & musical aptitude, but I play the drums like a drunk monkey. I just cannot play them at all - it's not like playing other instruments

All I can say is make sure you get a good set, and practice, practice practice!!

[dmw319]

i play drums along with other stuff, check it out here: www.purevolume.com/dmwacoustics

[Predator Bird]

i took drum lessons for years. start w/ the most basic beat by hitting the bass on 1 & 3 and the snare on 2 & 4, then add in hi-hat. once you have that down start progressing w/ different bass beats. don't expect to pick it up in just a few hours. it takes a lot of practice. the most important thing is keeping a steady beat.

[AlienInv8r]

I've been playing drums for roughly 10 years now. If you want to get good in a shorter period of time, then lessons are definitely where it's at. Teachers can help get you on the right foot pretty quickly. It can be learned on your own as well, some of the best drummers in the world learned on their own, it'll probably just take a little longer.
Anyways, a few tips about learning-
1) Don't get discouraged. You're gonna sound pretty bad when you first start, but keep at it. It takes a lot of dedication to be good.
2) on the same note from sounding bad, you'll want to buy a practice pad or muting for your drums when you practice. I can guarantee if you dont that your neighbors will hate you for the horrendous noise your making while learning. The pad will let you practice quietly, but they feel close to a real drum
3) start tapping your fingers and play along to everything you hear. Go buy a set of sticks now while you're waiting to find the set you want. But start practicing with sticks now, get used to them and start developing your technique.

As far as equipment goes, you can start on a cheap set to learn. The important parts are going to be your pedals and hardware. Try to get a nice bass pedal and decent hardware to play with. Most cheap drums can be made to sound decent enough with head changes and good tuning, but crappy hardware can really discourage you. Cymbals are expensive, and you can slide with certain ones from the cheap lines. If you buy cheaper ones though, buy them in person. I hand-pick all my cymbals and to this day my favorite cymbals is a little no-name $20 splash, above my expensive cymbals, just because I hand-picked it out of like 40 of the same cymbals and this one sounds great.

But definitely give playing a shot, it's a lot of fun and girls love it :D . Shoot me an im if you have any questions, and of course the shameless plug for my band >
http://www.shift5.com/

http://www.purevolume.com/shift5

[StudlyCamaro]

i second the lessons idea, i know i would suck right now if i didnt (dont take this as me saying im good, i would just suck more if i didnt take lessons)

[FirebirdHatesRice]

I definitely plan on taking lessons, and by no means do I plan on being good any time soon lol. Thanks for the tips you guys.