Is Learning The Drums Hard?

So here it is… the burning question.

 

You’re interested in learning how to play the drums, but you’re nervous about making the commitment, scared that you’ll find yourself spiraling down the abyss of self-torture and hair-pulling frustration.

 

At the risk of making things even more complicated, I’m going to give you a bit of a mixed answer. I believe the drums are both one of the easiest and hardest instruments to learn at the same time.

 

Let me explain…

 

Getting started on the drums is pretty simple. Most instruments have a bunch of skills and techniques that a beginner has to learn before they can even think about playing a song or sounding good.

 

With drums, however, all you really need to know is how to hold the sticks correctly. Once you have that down, it’s just a matter of hitting stuff!

 

I can generally take a student from knowing absolutely nothing about the drums to playing their first drum beat and drum fill in about 30 minutes. In about a month, most of my students can read basic drum set music and play along to simple songs.

 

Now for the not-so-good news.

 

Once you have the basic grooves and fills down, the wall can hit you pretty quickly.

 

Drums are one of the few instruments that require you to have a pretty high level of coordination between all four of your limbs. Coordination is the ability to play rhythms with two or more limbs together smoothly and efficiently. Depending on what you’re trying to learn, some drum grooves can take months to get a decent hold on them.

 

All in all, it generally takes between 1-2 years for a drummer to go from knowing nothing at all, to being able to feel comfortable playing songs with other musicians. As with anything, the more time you put in, the faster you will see results. While this might seem like an eternity, I believe any time learning the drums is time well spent.

 

Why learning the drums is worth it

Honestly, I hate thinking in terms of easy and hard when it comes to learning the drums. We humans are wired to gravitate to the easy things and run away from the things that seem hard. As with most things in life, the biggest payoffs come at the end of the most challenging tasks.

I like to think of drums as a challenge, a chance to grow and become a better version of ourselves. The drums have been such a rewarding part of my life in so many ways, and I believe they can be that for you.

 

Drums are a blast

I can’t think of an instrument that is more fun to play than the drums. I remember pulling up to the house on my 12th birthday to see an old white chevy box truck sitting in the driveway with the hatch open and a set of glossy black Mapex drums gleaming from the truck bed. I was over the moon! I spent the next few hours wailing away. Very few experiences in my life have been more fun and exciting than that day.

Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of traveling, playing, and teaching drums with people all over the world. No matter where I go, It’s guaranteed that a mob of kids (and quite a few adults) will form whenever I pull out a set of drums and start playing. Seeing the sheer joy on a kid’s face when I hand them a pair of sticks and let them bang away is amazing. There’s something about hitting things and making lots of noise that get your juices going!

 

Drums teach you to work well with others

 

Drums are the ultimate support instrument. It’s the drummer’s job to make the song, and everyone in the band sound good and feel as comfortable as possible. To accomplish this, a drummer has to be a great listener and communicator.

Drummers need to know a song better than anyone in order to set up the transitions between sections. They need to be sensitive to the vocalist’s phrasing and dynamics to provide the necessary energy and foundation without overplaying and distracting the audience from the lyrics.

The drummer needs to be aware of what the bass player is playing so that the kick drum part compliments it and doesn’t clash.

If you’re playing with a conductor, the drummer has to be super attentive to help convey the tempo and dynamic cues to the rest of the band or orchestra.

Playing drums and learning how to listen and flow with other musicians has translated into helping me become a better listener and communicator in my everyday life.

 

Drums help you meet really cool people

 

Some of my closest and dearest friends have been made by jamming with other musicians and interacting with people at different churches, venues, and clubs. There’s something unifying about music. I don’t think there is a person alive that music hasn’t impacted their life in one way or another. Being able to play an instrument automatically makes you relatable to almost everybody. One of the coolest parts about playing drums is walking off the stage and getting approached by people in the audience who enjoyed watching and hearing you. My social media pages are filled with people from all over the world whom I’ve been blessed to meet while playing drums. It’s truly rewarding!

 

The quickest way to get better at the drums

 

So… You’re obviously here because you have some degree of interest in learning to play the drums. While there are no shortcuts to progressing as a drummer, there are efficient ways of learning and ways of learning that will send you meandering down a rabbit hole of aimless practice that will get you nowhere fast. Here’s what I’ve found to be the quickest way to get better at playing the drums.

 

Start with the fundamentals

 

Every skill you’ll ever learn has a set of fundamentals that will give you a good foundation and set you up to progress more quickly and efficiently. Drumming is no different. It’s easy to jump in head first, full of youthful exuberance, and try to start jamming to your favorite songs. Before you know it, you’re throwing your sticks across the room in frustration because you have no idea how to pull off what you’re hearing.

 

I’m not suggesting that you shouldn’t rock out and enjoy yourself. Nobody dreams about playing the drums so they can spend hours working on technique and playing stick control exercises. What I am saying is that every drummer needs to carve out a little time every day to work on the basics. This includes things like:

 

• Proper grip and hand technique
• Rudiments
• Learning how to read music
• Learning how to learn songs

 

Click HERE to download my free checklist of the core skills I believe every drummer needs to know.

 

Find a good teacher

 

With all the great books, apps, and online courses available, nothing can replace the value of having a good teacher. A good teacher can:

 

• Observe and give you personalized advice
• Notice flaws and potential problem areas that you may be blind to
• Turn you on to new music and ideas
• Use their network to connect you with other musicians in your area

 

Play as much music as possible

 

Once you have a good grasp of the fundamentals, nothing you do can get you playing better faster than playing along with recordings and jamming with other musicians. Playing music gives you a chance to take everything you’ve learned and put it into practice. It’s easy to sound good in isolation but playing music, especially in a band situation, will give you a great view of what you’re good at and the areas you need to improve. The feedback you get from other musicians is invaluable, plus the feeling you get when you’re playing with other people is worth every minute of hard work you’ve put into learning the drums.

 

If you’ve decided that you want to dive in and start learning the drums, I have a youtube playlist just for you where I teach short 5(ish) minute lessons aimed at getting you from knowing absolutely nothing about the drums to being able to play your first grooves and drum fills. Check it out here!