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Take up drums at age 56?

I know this technically has nothing to do with high end audio but I know there are some drummers here that might be able to help me along here....or tell me to skip it altogether. And it does have to do with music.

I'm almost embarrassed to even post this. I'm 56. I have never played a musical instrument other than dabbling with a harmonica. I do not read music. I am certain that I'll never perform for anyone or play in a band.

But I've always wanted to play drums.

And now I have enough money to get a simple cheap used drum kit and I have a basement that is isolated enough to not bother the neighbors. (I actually have an acquaintance who refurbishes used drums who can probably hook me up).

So I have a couple of questions:

1) Can you teach yourself to play drums? Alone or with YouTube etc? Are actual lessons required? Can I skip the practice pad and start with a kit?

2) Is there any point? In other words, even if I were to learn to play are the drums the kind of instrument that you sit down and play for your own pleasure the way you would a guitar?

My realistic expectation is that I'd get a simple kit. Try to do something with it. Find that it is much harder to do than it looks, especially for a guy with two left feet. It sits in the basement for a while and then I sell it for a big loss but hopefully at least happy that I tried it.

Any other thoughts on the matter?

(If totally inappropriate for this site I have no problem removing the post.....especially if someone points me to a better site for the topic.)


n80
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,400 posts
 
@n80, I just recalled a piece of advice from an old master I read years ago: when going about your everyday life activities, use your weak hand instead of your strong one. Brushing your teeth, opening doors, cooking, even try writing with your lesser hand. Using it more will develop it's abilities, the same way your better hand developed.
n80 OP
2,100 posts
 
@bdp24 , @lowrider57 , good advice guys. Will start working on those things because this is never going to work well until I improve the dexterity of my left hand.

I am also learning drum notation. Not sure how useful it will be but it is not hard to learn.
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,467 posts
 
I found George Stone Killer exercises with accents worked best for me. It forced my left to be the equal of the right. Accents helped me keep the hands relaxed and use the weight of the stick and rebound. Repetition creates muscle memory. Use a soft or gel practice pad - less rebound forces you to use better technique.

I use Sound Brenner metronome app and play 100 bars at half a bar R handed and half a bar left handed, then repeat 100 with a full bar each hand, then 100 again one bar and a half each, and final two bars of 1/8 th notes for 100 bars. This is at a low metronome setting which is then increased by 5 bpm and the whole thing repeated again and so on and so forth - gradually increasing speed by 5 bpm until I feel tension or start mucking up. I alternate between playing evenly at various volume levels and between accent both the first and last notes played with each hand.

STAY RELAXED

Of course everyone is different.

Also don’t underestimate how long it will take to get strength and strong nerve feeling in the left hand. We are talking years of work with several hours a day.

I would say that starting with proper technique is essential - bad habits take time to correct and have a way of returning as soon as you are pushing hard.

Hold the sticks like a bird in your hand - gentle pressure from index and thumb with the other fingers cradling your bird  - barely touching and providing a spring-like counter balance to the rebound. Control is a combination of wrist and those other fingers. Snapping the wrist down and squeezing the other fingers can create powerful accents and a great rebound if you train to accept the stick rebound (relax hand as the tip hits the skin)
n80 OP
2,100 posts
 
@shadorne : "Use a soft or gel practice pad - less rebound forces you to use better technique."

It is interesting that you mention that because when I watch videos of these guys demonstrating various rudiments and how fast they can do them the practice pads they are using look and sound hard as a rock. Heck, I'm pretty fast too if I'm banging on a wooden desk top.

Currently with this electric drum kit it is simple to remove the smallish snare unit from the rack and use it is a practice pad. It has a mylar head which feels less tight than real snares I have seen.

I will look up the exercises you mention. 

I've got the Sound Brenner app on phone but the control unit on these electric drums have a great built in metronome which I use most of the time.

One problem I'm having real difficulty with is that I can't get the snare settings right. In other words, each strike sounds about the same. It is hard to differentiate a ghost note, from an accent, from a regular strike. I've messed with the trigger and threshold settings but just can't get it right. I may have to post on the Alesis forums to see what others have done but it could just be the limitation of a cheap electric kit.

I probably need to take lessons just so I can get some time on an acoustic set.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,400 posts
 

@n80, you've discovered the main failing of electronic drums, that of dynamic graduation. Don't worry about that for now, there's nothing to be done.

Excellent advice from shadorne, the George Stone book is the standard. He also brought up the wrist, which is SO important. You can spot an untrained drummer a mile away by his use of the elbows as his "fulcrum" rather than his wrists. "Snapping" your wrist creates a much more "percussive" sound than playing from your elbow (the snare drum really "Pops!"), plus will allow you to play with less effort. Sure, you can raise your arm up high and slam it down to play louder, but snap your wrist just as the stick approaches the drumhead. It makes a huge difference in the sound produced: much more "attack", even if the SPL created is equivalent.

While I'm here, a musical tip: Everybody learns by watching and listening to others, and some things we do, we do so without thinking of the "why". We play things simply because we have learned "That's how you're supposed to play". It wasn't until I heard Levon Helm's playing on the first two Band albums that I realized one doesn't have to do what every other drummer was doing in the late-60's: hitting a crash cymbal at the end of EVERY fill. Levon didn't unless doing so served a musical purpose, just one piece of musical wisdom I learned from The Master. I then noticed the same was true of my favorite studio drummers: Hal Blaine, Jim's Gordon and Keltner, Roger Hawkins (who plays a killer press roll, which he uses brilliantly), Al Jackson, Earl Palmer, other greats.

The better the musicians, singers, and songwriters you are working with, the more they will notice and appreciate not just what you do play, but what you don't. The number one complaint about drummers is over-playing. Play in service to the song, the singer, and the other instruments, and you will be in demand.

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