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








_________________
-Bringin Back The Breakdown-

The only lesson I've ever taken was watching my older brother play...i wish i would have though..still might if i find time... would still like to learn to read music and stuff... couldn't tell ya what a paradiddle was to save my life.








_________________

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

If someone gives you a chart, you won't be "keeping up with the drummers that have." Also, good technique is a lot more efficient to learn in lessons. Lessons give you a focus that keeps you honest with yourself and good teachers guide the student to learning what the student wants to learn.

tchfunkta wrote:

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

If someone gives you a chart, you won't be "keeping up with the drummers that have." Also, good technique is a lot more efficient to learn in lessons. Lessons give you a focus that keeps you honest with yourself and good teachers guide the student to learning what the student wants to learn.

so your saying that you cant read music unless you have taken lessons? my father never took a lesson in his life, he can read music just fine, and he is an amazing player. there are plenty of really good self taught musicians out there. myself im half and half, i have taken lessons, but i consider a lot of my knowledge and skills to be self taught.

ZaQ[MTG], don't let the bastards grind ya down! being self taught does not make you any less of a drummer!








_________________
www.myspace.com/thenewdisasters

Lessons for a year or two and then teach yourself

king_friday wrote:

tchfunkta wrote:

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

If someone gives you a chart, you won't be "keeping up with the drummers that have." Also, good technique is a lot more efficient to learn in lessons. Lessons give you a focus that keeps you honest with yourself and good teachers guide the student to learning what the student wants to learn.

so your saying that you cant read music unless you have taken lessons? my father never took a lesson in his life, he can read music just fine, and he is an amazing player. there are plenty of really good self taught musicians out there. myself im half and half, i have taken lessons, but i consider a lot of my knowledge and skills to be self taught.

ZaQ[MTG], don't let the bastards grind ya down! being self taught does not make you any less of a drummer!

A lot of drummers who don't take lessons never learn to read music. You can find as many exceptions as you like, but it's true a lot of the time. I didn't say he was necessarily any less of a drummer, just that lessons give you a strong focus and helps you stay on track as far as how to practice in a productive manner.

yeah, good point. but it is possible to learn to read music on your own. hell i didnt know how to read music until about 5 or 6 years after i had been playing and taking lessons! i was taking lessons from a local drummer, he was a damn good drummer and a damn good teacher. after about two years or so, he set down a piece of music and say play that for me. i just kinda looked at it, looked and him then told him i didnt know how to read music. his jaw dropped and he just kinda starred at me, he had no idea. usually when he was teaching me something he would play it first, and i just learned by listening to him. he was really suprised when he found that out, and suprised i was able to pick things up so quickly and play them well.









Last edited by king_friday on Tue Oct 23, 2007 1:39 pm; edited 1 time in total
_________________
www.myspace.com/thenewdisasters

I'm kinda glad I took lessons, only because it opened me up to genres I wouldn't have explored otherwise and have definitely played a role in my style of drumming. But for the past three or four years I've self-taught everything including double bass so I'm definitely saying that self-taught has helped me in many areas.

Lessons, Self taught is harder and takes longer to learn








_________________

There is nothing wrong with being self taught, just as long as you're teaching yourself the right things. And thats easy, just look up different things on the internet. youtube is really great for that. The only lessons I ever took were from DVDs of Tommy Igoe and Marco Minneman. Oh and of course the master of the shuffle, Bernard Purdie. So as long as you kinda set out a schedule of what to learn and look up how to do it online/books/DVDs you should be fine. Oh and dont be afraid to put your own "twist" on the things you learn. Thats what sets you apart from everyone else!

Ive been playin for about 12 years. Through the first 9 I took lessons every week. I really enjoyed it and learned a lot. I have very good technique and know all the 'basics.' I think lessons are great and I also think every drummer should start taking lessons that way they have a foundation built on proper technique and music. Music being the ability to read and write it. (Yes I know you dont NEED to take lessons to learn how to read music). I dont however think theyre necessary to be a 'good' drummer.'

Then after a couple years of lessons go out on your own and explore everything the drumming community has to offer. Periodically go back to a teacher, a professional one if possible, and have them show you their acquired knowledge. Having taken lessons from Dave Weckl, Sonny Emory, and Steve Arrington (let me pick those names back up real quick... lol) I can attest to the value of someone far advanced in experience.

-mike

either way! the majority of drummers who have made careers out of drumming! the people we look up to such as neil peart, buddy rich, so on so forth have been taught by someone else! having a teacher provides a way of focusing, and progressing in a steady way! the drummers i know who havent been taught through lessons progress too quickly in the playing department but havent got the necessary technique and background rudimental skills necessary to progress to a higher level! my two cents!








_________________
Tama Superstar Fusion Custom
Zildjian Avedis Cymbals
Tama Roadpro Hardware
Evans Heads
Vic Firth Sticks
Sure Mic's

king_friday wrote:

yeah, good point. but it is possible to learn to read music on your own. hell i didnt know how to read music until about 5 or 6 years after i had been playing and taking lessons! i was taking lessons from a local drummer, he was a damn good drummer and a damn good teacher. after about two years or so, he set down a piece of music and say play that for me. i just kinda looked at it, looked and him then told him i didnt know how to read music. his jaw dropped and he just kinda starred at me, he had no idea. usually when he was teaching me something he would play it first, and i just learned by listening to him. he was really suprised when he found that out, and suprised i was able to pick things up so quickly and play them well.

I agree, it's possible to learn to read music on your own, but there's not always a lot of motivation to do so without a teacher. Being a mix of both self taught and lessons is great and possibly ideal. I've taken lessons for many years and recently graduated college and am on a break from lessons right now and it's been nice. But I'm doing more teaching now which teaches you sometimes even more than taking lessons.

I taught a new student 2 weeks ago who had been playing for a year and was mostly self taught and was a bit of a hot shot. I spent a little bit of time having him play stuff and figuring out his abilities, impressed with some of the things he could do after only a year. He mentioned being stuck and not knowing what to practice so I asked him to play a simple rhythm from Syncopation (an eighth/quarter note measure) and he couldn't do it at all. Things got a little awkward and after the lesson he sent me an e-mail saying he wasn't going to do lessons anymore. For each his own, I suppose, but learning to read isn't always something people want to take the time to do without lessons.

Far more important than lessons is actually playing with real musicians. You can learn to sight-read like there's no tommorrow and play different styles backwards and forwards but until you start playing with a band it won't matter as much. Playing with other musicians will teach you interaction and improvization and finding your place in the music. It's one thing to be great in your basement but another to be great with a band, lessons or not.

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.








_________________

Dr. Rodney McKay wrote:

Well, I only know one thing and that is that flying darkness that eats energy can only be very, very bad.

http://www.MySpace.com/PageFive

Well personally i say bollocks to lessons, and the whole crap about being less of a drummer cause you haven't taken any lessons is crap aswell. In my opinion you get more recognition and respect because you are self taught and that you have the ability to do so. I first started playing drums in my school orchestra, it got me started i had 1 lesson basic four beat bass snare. I have no idea how to exp[lain it because i dont know all the terminoligies.
even though i'm self taught i found a book called art of the drummer and I've found it fantastic so far, takes you right back to the beginning. which i found helpful.








_________________
Just keep in time that's all that matters.

When I first started playing (long ago, in a galaxy far away, ha!), you learned how to play drums by watching/listening to other drummers, or by taking lessons. I generally taught myself, and had some basic lessons on posture/stick handling/etc. These days, however, with the huge amount of media available (books/vhs/dvd), it is entirely possible to take 'lessons' from the masters without leaving your home. I can't tell you how much I have learned from watching instructional and performance dvds. I would classify this type of info as lessons, albeit informal ones. I think that taking formal instructions is beneficial, but not absolutely necessary, especially if you have concrete goals and the motivation to meet your goals.

i have lessons but theyre really just my teacher just comes over and teaches me different stuff for ideas to jam with.








_________________
And on the pedestal these words appear: "My name is Drumosaurus, king of drummers, listen to my grooves ye Mighty and despair! Nothing beside remains."

"that's a big crock of condensed owl crap"-Eva

ACDC-30 years, one drumbeat.

Hi guys first post here

I am a classically trained pianist who learnt drums from scratch without lessons

Its all good so long as you know enough theory from "somewhere" to know what you

a) want to do
b) "need" to do to serve the song

Personally I see speed is a dead end - I used to think speed was amazing - I fell in love with players like Dennis Chambers who could rip on single strokes like nobodys business - so after my initial phase of just playing basic beats I started on single strokes then doubles - at ridiculous speeds - I worked every day and eventually could play 300BPM 16th note singles for short periods. Big Wow, no-one cares. But from a drumming technique perspective there is very little "techique" to actually learn. It doesnt matter if you know that a para diddle is just a pair of singles and a double. Most musicians dont know either, they just say play a fill that goes "Blap Blap Brrrr" And thats basically it - everything is made up of different combinations of those two different things - singles and doubles

Reading is a different matter, I have built my career on being able to read. If you are serious about being a pro you need to be able to say one word when people call and thats YES. YES i can do that date (unless you cant), YES I can read your bands material even though you guys get off jamming in 13/16, YES I am not an alcoholic

Of course if you just wanna jam in a band for a bit you dont NEED these things but better musicians will get tired of your lack of knowledge pretty quick and you will get left behind.

Stu

Just as SGarret said, both are important.. and trust me, I know this. Almost 7 years ago I began playing and teaching myself and I don't regret this, I'm really glad I did... this lead me to begin a training that you must endure on your own.. developing listening skills (ear training) and the projection of 'feeling' on the kit. I'm not going to brag about it but I was doing rather well by myself and I was proud of my achievements as a drummer!! Just about a year ago I met this drum teacher who convinced me to try getting a couple of lessons from him.. and oh man I'm so glad I did!! Armed with my nicely trained ear, taking lessons and executing whatever I was told to was so much easier for me compared to other students... I know this because my teacher has told me so. This convinced me that my self-teaching process was as important as what I am doing now, taking lessons.

Yes, I sacrificed my "reputation and respect" for being 100% self-taught... but that's a sacrifice I decided to take in order to become a better drummer... and damn, it was well worth it.








_________________
"Master your instrument, master the music... then forget all that shit and just play."
-Charlie Parker

www.myspace.com/elfungo
www.last.fm/user/m0rtem
http://www.youtube.com/m0rtem

Once again I'm not bashing lessons...

to me this whole thing comes down to people that have taken lessons...a majority of people that have approached me have been so full of themselves, its sick. ow dare any

drummers are supposed to community...and that involves all walks of life and approaches to drumming...how dare anyone tell me or anyone else that there is a right and wrong way to learn and play...drumming is a personal form of expression and who has the right to say that one form of expression is better than the other...

i come from deep hardcore and punk roots...and in the scene is a family and community that is rivaled by no other type of music scene...cause people truly understand that were all here cause we love music and love people who play music...regardless of how they got there...

the idea of being better than someone based on education is ridiculous...

with love

ZaQ








_________________
-Bringin Back The Breakdown-

well i prefferably would rather just stay self tought. The only help ive really gotten so far is tuning tips from my friend Mark at the local Music shop. I sorta know how to read basic kit sheet music. But just incase i think im going to ask the "professional" band people i know to help me with that. Anyway, people who've taken lessons have the advantage of proper technique. But in my opinion its alot more fun to just have fun and playdevelope your own way.








_________________
I am the pothic

im self tought. derrick pope and mike johnston are my only teachers. lol but i surround myself with great drummers all the time. you just gotta submerse yourself in the whole thing. its gotta be a lifestyle man. and shogun....you rock as always, everytime i see a post from you dude, i have to watch your vid lol!








_________________

Yamaha Stage Custom
Sabian AA, HH, Sig, XS20 - Remo/Evans
Pro mark - Yamaha/Dixon Hardware
www.myspace.com/blessedblack

What's with this "you get more respect if you're self taught" bullshit? You guys that are saying that do realize that you're being exactly like the snobs the OP is complaining about, right? Personal integrity is paramount to be but I fail to see how either taking lessons or not does anything to the integrity of your playing. The only thing that matters is whether or not you can get the job done. If you can't, you'll replaced by someone who's more capable. That's really all there is to it.

A lot of people think lessons are just learning beats and fills. Incorrectumundo. While that is part of it, a teacher can show you where your grip is holding you back, where your seat height might end up causing you problems in the future, how you can improve your foot to play faster and cleaner, how to properly position your gear, and above all they teach you the theory of playing drums. You can learn all of this on your own or you can use the benefit of significantly more experience than you have to improve leaps and bounds over self teaching. You can learn all of the rudiments and pretty much any pattern you want to play on the internet but you don't get that second set of trained eyes and ears to help guide you.

Think about it like this. You can wander around with a compass trying to find your way or you can use a map. Neither makes you more of a man but one is significantly more efficient.








_________________

Dr. Rodney McKay wrote:

Well, I only know one thing and that is that flying darkness that eats energy can only be very, very bad.

http://www.MySpace.com/PageFive

beautifully put garrett








_________________

Yamaha Stage Custom
Sabian AA, HH, Sig, XS20 - Remo/Evans
Pro mark - Yamaha/Dixon Hardware
www.myspace.com/blessedblack

xadamskix wrote:

either way! the majority of drummers who have made careers out of drumming! the people we look up to such as neil peart, buddy rich, so on so forth have been taught by someone else! having a teacher provides a way of focusing, and progressing in a steady way! the drummers i know who havent been taught through lessons progress too quickly in the playing department but havent got the necessary technique and background rudimental skills necessary to progress to a higher level! my two cents!

Well.. I've seen Buddy Rich in an interview say "I can't read a lick of music".. and just read in a magazine article him saying he's never taken a music lesson and something to fact of he did walk through Berkeley once to meet a friend(out of sarcasm)...

I think it's not extremely necessary to take lesson..but extremely helpful...it all depends on the drummer...from what i learned in studying buddy rich, him starting at such a young age and jumping right into the jazz scene back in the day maybe it wasn't so necessary for him to take formal training. Really depends on the individual drummer's situations,aptitude, natural talent and goals.








_________________

SGarrett wrote:

What's with this "you get more respect if you're self taught" bullshit?

That's why I put it with quotation marks... and it's partially true, dude, or at least in my case it is. Call me a snob or whatever, but at the time I did feel certain satisfaction for being able to play even better than people who were taking lessons. Don't get me wrong, though, I never went out there and bragged about it, on the contrary, I was really really modest about it... it just was just some inner satisfaction that told me I was doing things right.

And I agree with you, man, while you can learn patterns, rhythms, beats and even theory by yourself, guidance is absolutely invaluable.









Last edited by mortem on Tue Oct 23, 2007 6:27 pm; edited 1 time in total
_________________
"Master your instrument, master the music... then forget all that shit and just play."
-Charlie Parker

www.myspace.com/elfungo
www.last.fm/user/m0rtem
http://www.youtube.com/m0rtem

Been taught for all years I've been playing Percussion. That'd be ten years of lessons, both formal and informal. Woot Woot.

Homki890








_________________

I think you should be Prouder of having taken lessons. IMO it shows you care enough about the drums to want to be the best. You gotta respect a man who has enough self respect and go get it to drag his ass to a lesson every week. I'm stuck in a world of non-drummers. I took lessons long as I could, then my teacher moved. There's no place within an hour or so of me to take lessons from. Which makes me feel like I got pushed in the deepend without knowing how to swim sometimes. Soon as I can I'm taking more lessons. I get sick of looking at a piece of music and going "Duh, what are all those funny shapes and lines?" Drums are more than a hobby to me, it's my passion. And I get sick of half assing it. Some people want to know how to play something, I want to know why I'm playing something.








_________________

mortem wrote:

SGarrett wrote:

What's with this "you get more respect if you're self taught" bullshit?

That's why I put it with quotation marks... and it's partially true, dude, or at least in my case it is. Call me a snob or whatever, but at the time I did feel certain satisfaction for being able to play even better than people who were taking lessons. Don't get me wrong, though, I never went out there and bragged about it, on the contrary, I was really really modest about it... it just was just some inner satisfaction that told me I was doing things right.

And I agree with you, man, while you can learn patterns, rhythms, beats and even theory by yourself, guidance is absolutely invaluable.

Like I said, you can learn all of the same stuff. It's just how long it takes you and how efficiently it's learned that's different. It can take months of trail and error for a self taught player to learn what a good teacher could show you in one or two lessons. I recommend that every beginner take at least one month of lessons for exactly this reason. And at some point you're going to plateau with your skills and you'll need a good teacher to continue advancing. (note that I'm using "you" in the generic sense, not talking directly to you )








_________________

Dr. Rodney McKay wrote:

Well, I only know one thing and that is that flying darkness that eats energy can only be very, very bad.

http://www.MySpace.com/PageFive

I took lessons as a kid to learn to read music. What I ended up walking away with was disipline (tho I can't spell it)
It gave me a focus and a routine as far as practicing goes, taught me some fundamentals & gave me a place to start from.
Since then I've forgotten everything about reading music... never had to since, but the fundamentals are never lost, they apply to everything that you do no matter what you play.

Myself... I could care less about the "theory" of music, I wanted to experience it for myself rather than have someone lecture me on how music is "supposed to be played" and turn into a science rather than an emotion. But I do admire people who do study it & embrace it.... someone's gotta teach the next generation.

For the most part everything I've learned behind a kit has been self taught, by watching others and most importantly LISTENING & FEELING. But I never forgot what I learned in the lessons.... except the reading part!!

Do people respect me more or less? who knows.
I play cuz I love it..... not to gain respect








_________________
Sneaking into the lives of strangers and letting them fall apart to a new rhythm just to feel better

Either way, if you are into it, success can be found. I think over 20+ yrs. I may have had 3 formal lessons. But think about it, if you are paying close attention to somebody playing something, aren't you getting "a lesson"? Some guys can pick up just hearing, some guys just watching, and sometimes you need someone to help make sense of it all. Lessons are not bad, I just consider myself "self-taught".








_________________
I PROUDLY ENDORSE MEDICINE MAN DRUMS AND SALUDA CYMBALS, and Bud light.

JAdrums2k wrote:

Myself... I could care less about the "theory" of music, I wanted to experience it for myself rather than have someone lecture me on how music is "supposed to be played" and turn into a science rather than an emotion. But I do admire people who do study it & embrace it.... someone's gotta teach the next generation.

Please don't misuse the word "theory." Everyone in your band, including you, uses theory when you play. Theory doesn't tell you what to play, it explains the basis of sound and how it can be used. Ignorance is not bliss, and every time your guitarist tunes his guitar, he's using theory developed by others. The actual notes in your bass player's bass line have been established by people besides him. When you play sixteenth notes for the last bar of an 8 bar phrase of 4/4, that's theory. Don't act like only the educated use/need it. Some of us do more than just jam with buddies, we play in bands with charts and sight read for gigs.

tchfunkta wrote:

Please don't misuse the word "theory." Everyone in your band, including you, uses theory when you play. Theory doesn't tell you what to play, it explains the basis of sound and how it can be used. Ignorance is not bliss, and every time your guitarist tunes his guitar, he's using theory developed by others. The actual notes in your bass player's bass line have been established by people besides him. When you play sixteenth notes for the last bar of an 8 bar phrase of 4/4, that's theory. Don't act like only the educated use/need it. Some of us do more than just jam with buddies, we play in bands with charts and sight read for gigs.

Like I said I admire & respect anyone who studies theory.... I just never did formally. No disrespect intended.
I get what you're saying tho.

I don't jam w/ buddies.... I've made a very fine living playing in & touring with bands for the past 20 years








_________________
Sneaking into the lives of strangers and letting them fall apart to a new rhythm just to feel better

JAdrums2k wrote:

tchfunkta wrote:

Please don't misuse the word "theory." Everyone in your band, including you, uses theory when you play. Theory doesn't tell you what to play, it explains the basis of sound and how it can be used. Ignorance is not bliss, and every time your guitarist tunes his guitar, he's using theory developed by others. The actual notes in your bass player's bass line have been established by people besides him. When you play sixteenth notes for the last bar of an 8 bar phrase of 4/4, that's theory. Don't act like only the educated use/need it. Some of us do more than just jam with buddies, we play in bands with charts and sight read for gigs.

Like I said I admire & respect anyone who studies theory.... I just never did formally. No disrespect intended.
I get what you're saying tho.

I don't jam w/ buddies.... I've made a very fine living playing in & touring with bands for the past 20 years

So when someone says hey, play a beat with the snare on beats so and so and change the groove when I hit the four chord, do you stare blankly? Or they write out a pattern in an odd time for you to play against? I mean, I know you can do a lot of stuff without knowledge of theory (and make a career), but at a point don't you want to know what you're actually doing? I couldn't imagine playing for 20 years and not being able to do sight reading gigs or big band gigs, etc. because I didn't take the time to be serious about learning the ins and outs of music. I find it amusing that you could "care less about theory" when you use it but don't understand it. You certainly didn't make up sixteenth notes, chords, and overtones. Why take pride in ignorance?

I've never had a lesson, and I wish I did. It probably wouldn't have taken me 17+ years of learning the finer points of playing progressive metal and I'd have an easier time of it.








_________________

Bong wrote:

Either way, if you are into it, success can be found. I think over 20+ yrs. I may have had 3 formal lessons. But think about it, if you are paying close attention to somebody playing something, aren't you getting "a lesson"? Some guys can pick up just hearing, some guys just watching, and sometimes you need someone to help make sense of it all. Lessons are not bad, I just consider myself "self-taught".

THANK YOU!

Watching someone play is a lesson in itself.

I've been playing drums seriously for about a year now and I have never had a lesson. I'm a quick learner when it comes to a lot of things and when I compare my drumming from a year, or even a few months ago, I see an out-of-this-world difference. I have improved in every aspect of drumming and I'm still learning. A lot of people ask me how long I've been playing and if I have ever taken lessons and when I reply that I have been playing for a year and that I'm self taught, theyre amazed, not disappointed.

I'm not trying to be an asshole, I'm just saying that lessons may work for one, but knowing that you have taught yourself something new is a greater joy. You can go at your own pace without having someone breathe down your neck and as stated earlier, you can watch other drummers play and get a lesson that way.

Mark Threat wrote:

Bong wrote:

Either way, if you are into it, success can be found. I think over 20+ yrs. I may have had 3 formal lessons. But think about it, if you are paying close attention to somebody playing something, aren't you getting "a lesson"? Some guys can pick up just hearing, some guys just watching, and sometimes you need someone to help make sense of it all. Lessons are not bad, I just consider myself "self-taught".

THANK YOU!

Watching someone play is a lesson in itself.

I've been playing drums seriously for about a year now and I have never had a lesson. I'm a quick learner when it comes to a lot of things and when I compare my drumming from a year, or even a few months ago, I see an out-of-this-world difference. I have improved in every aspect of drumming and I'm still learning. A lot of people ask me how long I've been playing and if I have ever taken lessons and when I reply that I have been playing for a year and that I'm self taught, theyre amazed, not disappointed.

I'm not trying to be an asshole, I'm just saying that lessons may work for one, but knowing that you have taught yourself something new is a greater joy. You can go at your own pace without having someone breathe down your neck and as stated earlier, you can watch other drummers play and get a lesson that way.

Those of us committed enough to take lessons know that they're not about having your neck breathed down and many teachers are flexible with what pace you want to go. And guess what... you can STILL watch other drummers and get a lesson from them that way. It's not one or the other. And a year is a short time, tell me 10 years from now that you still don't want lessons and I'll be surprised. Of course you're a lot better than a year ago, you're new and haven't plateaued yet. People who can read music can watch a drummer play and actually write down a thing or two that they see (a fill, a groove, a hemiola pattern, etc.). Why would you keep yourself from knowledge and take pride in it?

personnaly I was in the school band and learned alot from the conductor telling the drummers what to do. when I finnaly got my first set at 12 I actually knew what to do better than most of the drummers. and after another 3 years I 've taught my self so much from listening, repeating, and watching other drummers my high school band teacher is begging me to give up saxaphone for drums. I would, but I like being well rounded. lol.








_________________
YAMAHA, Zildjian, REMO, DIXON, Vic Firth

i started out being self taught, playing along with cds and watching drummers i liked on mtv (back when they still played music videos). then i hit a brick wall and didn't progress any farther. so, i took lessons. i ended up taking lessons on and off for a few years, and i've been out of it for a while now just because i haven't had time to go back, but i do plan on it. i'm not saying everyone hits a brick wall that didn't take lessons, that's just what happened to me. and, with lessons and studying technique as well as learning to read, i now progress much quicker when i learn something new. plus, one of the most important parts of my daily practice routines is working out of various books. you definitely don't need to take lessons to learn how to play, but just to open up new doors for yourself as a player it does help. i was a punk/rock drummer when i started and i still am, but it's fun for me to throw funk, samba and even jazz inspired fills into playing with my hard rock band.

however, anyone that tells you you're not a real drummer if you haven't taken lessons is full of crap. i dealt with people like that in high school.

Back in High School, I played in the Concert Band, as most of us older drummers probably have done. The one thing I took into my drumming carreer from this was being able to read sheet music. 90% of my skill comes from being self taught, 10% comes from a dear friend that was in a touring rock band back when I was just a kid. Being able to apprehend drum tabs really helps me learn new songs. I'll take one of our set lists, and write in the drum tab next to the song, so I don't end up with a brain fart on stage!
Make your drumming carreer easier on yourself...learn to read and write drum tabs!
You'll be glad you did when you start playing in a band!








_________________
www.mistycreekband.com

keith bushey wrote:

Back in High School, I played in the Concert Band, as most of us older drummers probably have done. The one thing I took into my drumming carreer from this was being able to read sheet music. 90% of my skill comes from being self taught, 10% comes from a dear friend that was in a touring rock band back when I was just a kid. Being able to apprehend drum tabs really helps me learn new songs. I'll take one of our set lists, and write in the drum tab next to the song, so I don't end up with a brain fart on stage!
Make your drumming carreer easier on yourself...learn to read and write drum tabs!
You'll be glad you did when you start playing in a band!

*Comprehend. Apprehend is what cops do when they catch a criminal.








_________________

Dr. Rodney McKay wrote:

Well, I only know one thing and that is that flying darkness that eats energy can only be very, very bad.

http://www.MySpace.com/PageFive

keith bushey wrote:

Back in High School, I played in the Concert Band, as most of us older drummers probably have done. The one thing I took into my drumming carreer from this was being able to read sheet music. 90% of my skill comes from being self taught, 10% comes from a dear friend that was in a touring rock band back when I was just a kid. Being able to apprehend drum tabs really helps me le