SGarrett wrote:

Both are important. If you're not teaching yourself something you're relying too heavily on other people. But if you're not taking any lessons at all you're making the road more difficult than it has to be.

very true. lessons are great! but you need to do alot of experimenting on your own to create your own style. i think that taking lessons, you usually have a playing style that reflects your INSTRUCTOR rather than YOURSELF. i only say that because i learend how to play by listening to my favorite drummers band over and over until his beats were imprinted on my brain! and i played alot like him for a long time, its only till recent that i started making my drumming my own.

Wow long old thread hey! This is my view on it all...

I've had lessons on and off from day one, first at school then with a private teacher, currently at DrumTech. I've also sat and worked out parts by ear and tought myself things. So I guess you could say I think that lessons should compliment your own ideas and home education.

I do consider lessons to be indespensible though. My reasoning is this; you can take a book, read it and work out the grooves. You can see umpteengazillion videos on youtube (ranging in quality), but NOTHING can actually compensate for sitting down with a player who's got their shit licked.

An example... I thought I had Moeller technique and the freestroke nailed after working on Dom Famularo's book "It's Your Move". I was then lucky enough to study with him and he picked out the tiniest little things that make the most incredible difference. THAT is where lessons are invaluable.

A good teacher will combine encouragement with honesty. If you're not doing it right, they'll let you know as opposed to gloss over and move onto the next page. They aren't afraid to take time over important and sometimes boring things that others skip across. I also think studying with a variety of teachers is important to keep you from becoming a drumming clone of one in particular.

I'm not saying if you're self taught you are neccissarily a poor drummer or that lessons will make automatically make you better than someone who's had none, but does it not make sense to get advice/tuition from the best players you can find, to improve your own playing?

Of course it's all dependant on how far you wish to go. If you just want to play along to some songs a few lessons on technique will probably suffice. If you want to be a successful hired gun, go find an ace teacher who has that experience. For me it's the latter which is why I've worked hard to study where I have and with the players I have.








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RobCrisp.co.uk

well i was "self taught" for the most part, after playing for about a year and gettin a grasp on what drumming is all about, then i took a summer of lessons to make sure i was doing things correct. and i tell ya it helped a lot, they guy showed me things i would have not thought about, showed me ways to practice for speed, endurance, the right ways to hold sticks, ways to not hurt the back, all kind of good stuff. But that was all the lesson i had, and i highly reccomend it. i dont think its totally needed to be a good musician, but its not going to hurt at all, and theres always something new to learn no matter what your expieriance is








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Yes, i do ride a dogsled from my igloo to the polar bear back riding competitions ran by ancient eskimos................

Self Taught played at least 3 or four times each week for the past six years and if ever I stopped playing for no more than a week. It was easy I guess at first, I just played a beat and builded on top of that. I taught myself all styles by listening to the drummers and the musicians around them. I always practice.

Self-taught works for some and is the downfall of others. Learning things the wrong way is a hinderance, Fact. You learn from your own experience, either self-taught or through having a teacher. If it helps, go for it.

both!








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Learning things wrong will slow you down, a lot. Practicing right is essential to improvement. I played for 2 years before starting to take lessons, and I've made more progress in these 2 months than in 24.. I do an hour + lesson every 2 or 3 weeks, and likely will for at least a year or two. I also get along well with my teacher.

Freedrumlessons.com has a bunch of great videos I still refer to from time to time. I love that site. I actually own the rock drumming system, but feel freedrumlessons.com has more useful content in some ways.








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ZaQ[MTG] wrote:

Everywhere i go and play shows i always get 2 or 3 people who ask me where i took lessons at...my reply...."I'm Self Taught"

thus follows gasps and weird faces...all of a sudden I'm less of a drummer cause I've never taken a lesson in my life...but have no problem keeping up with the drummers that have...

I've never liked the ideas of lessons...of course they open up many doors to proper technique and essentials...but they never were for me...

I'm not bashing lessons...I'm just saying that its more than possible to learn without them

Dido!

It makes learning new techniques easier, you gotta learn how to learn.








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Metal.
www.myspace.com/legionsofassyria
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www.smyspace.com/triggermetal

Edge3591 wrote:

Lessons, Self taught is harder and takes longer to learn

Too true.

I took lessons from 4th grade to 12th grade. I know less than many self taught people, but I was interested in the orchestral part of music and in high school, either you read music or you are not really any kind of an asset to the group. I can read sheet music for drums. I can make out music in general but the real hurdle to get over:

If you dont practice, self taught or lessons, you dont go anywhere.

ps; I used to have really bad practice discipline. Im now way behind where I should be for someone who has been plaing since the 4th grade...but dont forget, - we have all taken a lesson from someone...thats how we got here.








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Han Solo: Fast ship? You've never heard of the Millennium Falcon?

Luke Skywalker: What a piece of junk!

Han Solo: She'll make point five past lightspeed.

Chewy: Word

I dont think one is necessarily better than another. I think u can do a lot less and still get places when u have lessons, but if u love drums, not having lessons isnt going to stop u. If anything i think u will learn more from being self taught because it takes determination to improve and try new things and by listening to things u can get an idea of sound rather than paper.
Point is if u dont make it (in a sense of quitting or jsut being a crappy drummer) self taught, than u were never going to make it with lessons. Thats my outlook anyway.








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Zildjian, Wuhan & Istanbul cymbals
Pearl & Mirage kit.
Crappiato Snare
Steve's Back! ..............kinda

I guess for me, the best thing about lessons is getting a working drummer to observe my technique and give me pointers. I used to play much less from the wrist, and I've got several types of beats to practice that I might not have looked at otherwise. But I'm always open to new music anyway.

Either way, sure, you need to be determined and not give up when things might get frustrating.

i am self taught, for me it comes right down to lessons being to expensive to afford so i have no choice but to use the internet and this site to guide me around, i took me forever to buy the drums,cymbals,hardware, ect and lessons on top of that would bankrupt me.

with that being said im sure lessons would have helped me in 10 fold but i have to do it the old fashion way

I took lessons but they were jsut to help me get started.

This seems to be a bit touchy, but I will add my 2 cents. I am a drummer and a trumpet player. On the drums I am not formally trained, meaning I did not go to an instructor on a regular paid basis. On the trumpet, I went to instrctors for 8 years. As a drummer I did get lessons from my concert band conductor in rehearsals when he was "ranting" at the percussion section. I would peruse the method books in the music stores, I listened and asked questions of other drummers and even had some members of our pit give me pointers. I can even read some charts(not tab). I would practice for hours on what we discussed and what I saw and heard. I even to this day seek out other drummers at local venues and chat them up over tuning, technique and general drumming. I have taken drum lessons, but I need to get some formal help to refine my technique and help me change my bad habits.

I do believe "self-taught" should be renamed to INFORMALLY TRAINED.








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Practice is the great equalizer of the determined over the gifted

You know, I think for a lot of people it comes down to: not being able to afford lessons, or not wanting to humble themselves. I am incredibly fortunate to have the chance to take lessons from a professional, and I don't take it for granted for a moment. If you have a good enough financial situation to pay someone for private lessons, appreciate it.

But learn from everywhere! These forums can be incredibly helpful if you spend some time reading and asking questions. I've never seen anyone get an attitude if they didn't give one first - on these forums.

I'm in a really good mood today because I got my toms tuned just right








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