Looks simple, but isn't! (Drums & Percussion in general)

Name: sparksteroid

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Product:	Drums & Percussion in general
Date:	05.03.08 (62 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A band would be nothing without drums!

Disadvantages: Very very tricky to master.

What would music be without any drums or percussion? There would be no set out rhythm, no timing and nothing holding the song together. Drums are the backbone of the average song and without them ther is no power, no impact and lead for the rest of the musicians to follow.

Despite all the jokes over the years about drummers not really being musicians and all the rest of it (I'm sure you've heard them all!) playing drums and percussion is slightly more difficult and awkward than people assume.

As the bass or kick drum is played with the foot a certain knack is required to get this going in time with your arms. It is a tricky technique to perfect and can take months to master. Usually, though, once you have the knack and have mastered this you are half way there.

Being a musician since I was eight years old (a classically trained pianist and self taught guitarist) my first experience of attempting to play the drums was in my very first band. Our drummer is still to this day the best percussionist that I have ever had the pleasure of watching perform live.

I decided to try my hand at it and we stayed behind after rehearsals so he could teach me. Even after being a musician for so long and going along with all the usual drummer jokes, I must admit I was quite overwhelmed at how tricky this was.

We worked together for a couple of weeks and he helped me get my feet in unsione with my arms before we moved on to trying out the double bass drum! Now, if playing a standard 4/4 beat wasn't tricky enough, the footwork was now twice as difficult to master!

Since this experience I have a newer and fresher respect for percussionists and I now realize that their job is much more difficult than it seems. Do not ever listen to anyone that tells you playing the drums is easy, it's not!

Summary: A much misunderstood musical ability in the world of music.