Drum Lessons

Learning the drums. 

For most musicians being the pulse of the band is a role taken with pride. Students’ characters are always present in their playing and improvising. At The Music Development we encourage this and allow the student to embrace this role in the band and as a solo performer. Lessons start with technical exercises, single strokes, double strokes and paradiddles. These exercises advance with the students’ progression and help develop a strong sense of timing. Next comes the drumbeat. The standard straight rock drumbeat is essential for students to learn first to establish a strong foundation for rhythm and timing. Next come drum fills. Fills are found at poignant moments in riffs and songs; 4 bars, 8 bars 16, 24 etc.  Again progressing as the student does. At grade 3 (12-24months) students are introduced to the drum solo. A ongoing project encouraging students to build and develop their own solo based on a format developed with us.

The Drum Solo

Starting with the “Rock Ending”, both feet moving and arms on the cymbals very fast and loud. Move to a fill across the kit ending on the low tom, here move on to a tribal type beat using the toms. Next experiment with drum fills across the toms each time ending with different number of hits on the bass and cymbals. A funk drumbeat here will provide a sharp contrast for the solo as a whole. Drawing to a close with more tom fills and finally the Rock Ending. 

This solo is extremely versatile and can be spliced into almost any song as an excellent way to showcase skills learnt. We encourage students to develop this skill from an early age being a great aid for auditions.