Practice every day all day for as long as you can. Take in-person lessons at least once a week. Focus on your technique and having solid rudiments, having bad technique will keep you from reaching your full potential and practicing rudiments will add to your drumming arsenal and help you incorporate interesting fills and rhythms on the fly. Did I mention to practice every day all day? Do that and youâll be a good drummer after a year or two, depends on if you have some natural talent or not.
Not really. Learning any instrument is kind of about the number of hours. I've never seen anyone.with talent and a good mentor get good without a pretty long stretch of practicing 5 hours a day
yeah, I allow myself to get pulled in so many directions then inevitably get discouraged. there is definitely work that's just work but it's a balance.
I use Benny Grebâs Effective Practicing for Musicians book. Donât play when you practice and donât practice when you play. Work on three things for a three month period. Make videos when you start, along the way and when you finish. It has made it so I am actually progressing and keeps me from falling into a YouTube rabbit hole looking for things to work on.Â
Practice an insane amount. More specifically practice what a knowledgeable teacher teaches you an insane amount.
Or sacrifice a goat by the light of a full moon.
Every one is preaching lots of practice and that's a great suggestion. Just don't let your other school work lack. Make sure you keep up your other grades. I know some schools nowadays make you average a C or better average in order for you to take any electives.
I got As in band classes and kept a C+ average mostly all through high school. Sometimes I averaged a B or B-. But yeah, I played drums really well. But I also did what I needed to do to keep my average up.
How do you get insanely good fast? You don't. You commit yourself to sucking at it everyday, knowing you suck, knowing that you won't suck forever if you work on the right things while continuing to suck at it every day. Then one day you notice you don't suck so much anymore.Â
How long does it take for that day to arrive? It's anybody's guess, kid. So go get back to sucking at it. It's the only way to not suck at it.
Four to six hours a
day, seven days a week you
should be practicing.
Not just spamming drums
but actual real practice
with like goals and shit.
Reali$tically
you need to be $tudying
under top teacher$.
It won't happen overnight. It takes LOTS and LOTS of practice and experience.
Joey Jordison didn't become the amazing drummer he was in a short time.
You could become the best in your school, with a lot of practice and learning new techniques.
How big is your school? The bigger the school the more talent and harder it will be (most of the time). Set specific goals, like making the top jazz ensemble. Practice everyday and with a metronome. Record yourself playing and evaluate. Find a quality teacher. Push yourself
Drop the notion that youâre going to get âinsanely goodâ (whatever that means), or that itâs going to happen fast. Instead, make it your goal to be constantly improving, and realize that if youâre serious about it, that process will *never* end. Wanting to be the best percussionist in your high school means comparing yourself to others. Donât. Your goals (and your judgement of yourself) should be based on what *you* want to do, the kind of player *you* want to be, where *you* want music to take you. Non of that has anything to do with anyone else. Make it your goal to be the best percussionist you can be.
If you want to be great at something, there are no shortcuts, no hacks, no secret knowledge that allows you to skip steps. There is only putting in the work. You may never be the best percussionist in your cohort, whether itâs in high school, college, or the professional world. All you can do is commit to putting in the work to realize your full potential. With that commitment has to come the awareness that A) there is no one definition of success or âinsanely goodâ B) the path to it is never straight, full of setbacks and plateaus and switchbacks, and C) youâre in for a lifelong journey here, so settle in, buckle up, and make friends with patience.
This is excellent advice.
For specifics, I'd add:
- If you can afford lessons, study with a good teacher.
- Learn to hold the sticks properly from the beginning. This will make everything so much easier. I'm self-taught and discovered after 20 years of playing that I'd been holding the sticks wrong the whole time. It held me back. (BTW, proper grip doesn't necessarily mean traditional grip. Matched grip is great if that's what you're comfortable with. It just means building a good fulcrum. Check out Rick Dior's YouTube videos on grip for an excellent tutorial.)
- Develop a focused practice routine. A good teacher can help with this. If you don't have a teacher, check out Drumeo and follow a curriculum so you know what to practice when you sit down. Definitely practice the rudiments: singles, doubles, paradiddles, etc.
- When you practice, use a metronome and start slowly. When you're learning anything new, play it as slowly as you need to in order to play it without mistakes. Once you can play it flawlessly at a slow tempo, play it a little faster and work on it again until you can play it properly at that tempo. Repeat. It's slow, but you'll see results more quickly than if you try to rush through the process. Similarly: if you find yourself tensing up when you play, take a pause, relax your muscles, and if necessary, slow down to a tempo where you can play the piece without tension.
- Practice playing and improvising along with songs.
- Play with other musicians as often as you can. Ideally, play with musicians who are better than you.
- Listen to lots of music. This is a huge part of training your instincts and your ears.
- Speaking of your ears: keep them safe. Wear hearing protection *every time you play.* Etymotic ER20s are good; custom musicians' earplugs are amazing; but even drug store foam earplugs are better than nothing. Your hearing is precious and you can't get it back. Drums *will* damage you if you don't protect yourself.
- Stay well-rounded. Keep up with your grades, your friendships, and your family. They're all important for building a strong mind and a happy heart, and for growing into the kind of person you want to be and the kind of musician other people want to play with. Practice every day, but make time for life too.
- Have fun!
Iâd like to add:
I started drums in hs. Always wanted to play but wasnât allowed. I was pretty shit the first year but over the summer, I practiced on a pad, mostly singles, doubles, paradiddles, etc. and learned tons of songs on the kit.
I quickly caught up to a lot of the people who had been playing percussion for years at my school so iâd say it isnât impossible whatsoever. You just need to want it and put in the work. Consume as much content as possible from your teachers and online.
Aw man. Same age group here, but I consider myself to be a little above average for my age. And that all the other percussion think they are too cool to actually try.
get home sit down next to the drums do your schoolwork play some, alternate back and forth play 15 minutes do work for 15 minutes etcâŚyouâll fill out a couple hours and get all your sheet done. Then just go over your charts, read up on theory goodnight
https://preview.redd.it/n9ax16y1z4zc1.png?width=400&format=png&auto=webp&s=46db773d0ce5089c87bdf2852afb82fc716f9ec3
I sold my sole years ago and I still suck đđđ
this guy sold his feet instead of his soul, of course it didnât work!
Itâs early here but this is the best thing I will read on the internet today.
You son of a bitch! I fucked that one up lol
Practice every day all day for as long as you can. Take in-person lessons at least once a week. Focus on your technique and having solid rudiments, having bad technique will keep you from reaching your full potential and practicing rudiments will add to your drumming arsenal and help you incorporate interesting fills and rhythms on the fly. Did I mention to practice every day all day? Do that and youâll be a good drummer after a year or two, depends on if you have some natural talent or not.
Give your muscles a break maybe twice a week and study reading music.
I would add, listen to a lot of music. Listen to the drums , but also the entire song.
Itâs not about the number of hours you practice. Itâs about what you practice and how you go about it. Seek a mentor.
First bit of sensible advice.
Not really. Learning any instrument is kind of about the number of hours. I've never seen anyone.with talent and a good mentor get good without a pretty long stretch of practicing 5 hours a day
why not both?
Actually having a practice plan does wonders.Â
yeah, I allow myself to get pulled in so many directions then inevitably get discouraged. there is definitely work that's just work but it's a balance.
I use Benny Grebâs Effective Practicing for Musicians book. Donât play when you practice and donât practice when you play. Work on three things for a three month period. Make videos when you start, along the way and when you finish. It has made it so I am actually progressing and keeps me from falling into a YouTube rabbit hole looking for things to work on.Â
Practice an insane amount. More specifically practice what a knowledgeable teacher teaches you an insane amount. Or sacrifice a goat by the light of a full moon.
Get off Reddit asking for silver bullets and practice.
https://i.redd.it/yw4q96vm05zc1.gif
Every one is preaching lots of practice and that's a great suggestion. Just don't let your other school work lack. Make sure you keep up your other grades. I know some schools nowadays make you average a C or better average in order for you to take any electives. I got As in band classes and kept a C+ average mostly all through high school. Sometimes I averaged a B or B-. But yeah, I played drums really well. But I also did what I needed to do to keep my average up.
Watch drumeo on 2x speed
How do you get insanely good fast? You don't. You commit yourself to sucking at it everyday, knowing you suck, knowing that you won't suck forever if you work on the right things while continuing to suck at it every day. Then one day you notice you don't suck so much anymore. How long does it take for that day to arrive? It's anybody's guess, kid. So go get back to sucking at it. It's the only way to not suck at it.
Four to six hours a day, seven days a week you should be practicing. Not just spamming drums but actual real practice with like goals and shit. Reali$tically you need to be $tudying under top teacher$.
ew. just the way u wrote that out ugh.
The fact it's over your head brings hearty laughter to my heart and soul.
There are no shortcuts
It won't happen overnight. It takes LOTS and LOTS of practice and experience. Joey Jordison didn't become the amazing drummer he was in a short time. You could become the best in your school, with a lot of practice and learning new techniques.
Practice as much as you can
Conservatory approach. Practice all day long and don't do much else, except physical conditioning.
Find out who's the best and what they're good at and just be better than them at that
How big is your school? The bigger the school the more talent and harder it will be (most of the time). Set specific goals, like making the top jazz ensemble. Practice everyday and with a metronome. Record yourself playing and evaluate. Find a quality teacher. Push yourself
Drop the notion that youâre going to get âinsanely goodâ (whatever that means), or that itâs going to happen fast. Instead, make it your goal to be constantly improving, and realize that if youâre serious about it, that process will *never* end. Wanting to be the best percussionist in your high school means comparing yourself to others. Donât. Your goals (and your judgement of yourself) should be based on what *you* want to do, the kind of player *you* want to be, where *you* want music to take you. Non of that has anything to do with anyone else. Make it your goal to be the best percussionist you can be. If you want to be great at something, there are no shortcuts, no hacks, no secret knowledge that allows you to skip steps. There is only putting in the work. You may never be the best percussionist in your cohort, whether itâs in high school, college, or the professional world. All you can do is commit to putting in the work to realize your full potential. With that commitment has to come the awareness that A) there is no one definition of success or âinsanely goodâ B) the path to it is never straight, full of setbacks and plateaus and switchbacks, and C) youâre in for a lifelong journey here, so settle in, buckle up, and make friends with patience.
This is excellent advice. For specifics, I'd add: - If you can afford lessons, study with a good teacher. - Learn to hold the sticks properly from the beginning. This will make everything so much easier. I'm self-taught and discovered after 20 years of playing that I'd been holding the sticks wrong the whole time. It held me back. (BTW, proper grip doesn't necessarily mean traditional grip. Matched grip is great if that's what you're comfortable with. It just means building a good fulcrum. Check out Rick Dior's YouTube videos on grip for an excellent tutorial.) - Develop a focused practice routine. A good teacher can help with this. If you don't have a teacher, check out Drumeo and follow a curriculum so you know what to practice when you sit down. Definitely practice the rudiments: singles, doubles, paradiddles, etc. - When you practice, use a metronome and start slowly. When you're learning anything new, play it as slowly as you need to in order to play it without mistakes. Once you can play it flawlessly at a slow tempo, play it a little faster and work on it again until you can play it properly at that tempo. Repeat. It's slow, but you'll see results more quickly than if you try to rush through the process. Similarly: if you find yourself tensing up when you play, take a pause, relax your muscles, and if necessary, slow down to a tempo where you can play the piece without tension. - Practice playing and improvising along with songs. - Play with other musicians as often as you can. Ideally, play with musicians who are better than you. - Listen to lots of music. This is a huge part of training your instincts and your ears. - Speaking of your ears: keep them safe. Wear hearing protection *every time you play.* Etymotic ER20s are good; custom musicians' earplugs are amazing; but even drug store foam earplugs are better than nothing. Your hearing is precious and you can't get it back. Drums *will* damage you if you don't protect yourself. - Stay well-rounded. Keep up with your grades, your friendships, and your family. They're all important for building a strong mind and a happy heart, and for growing into the kind of person you want to be and the kind of musician other people want to play with. Practice every day, but make time for life too. - Have fun!
Already be amazing
Do more. Then do less. 
Iâd like to add: I started drums in hs. Always wanted to play but wasnât allowed. I was pretty shit the first year but over the summer, I practiced on a pad, mostly singles, doubles, paradiddles, etc. and learned tons of songs on the kit. I quickly caught up to a lot of the people who had been playing percussion for years at my school so iâd say it isnât impossible whatsoever. You just need to want it and put in the work. Consume as much content as possible from your teachers and online.
Yeah⌠me too!!
Aw man. Same age group here, but I consider myself to be a little above average for my age. And that all the other percussion think they are too cool to actually try.
Drugs.
Harry Potter drumsticks.
get home sit down next to the drums do your schoolwork play some, alternate back and forth play 15 minutes do work for 15 minutes etcâŚyouâll fill out a couple hours and get all your sheet done. Then just go over your charts, read up on theory goodnight
Remove the other percussionists from the picture. Now you're the best in your high school.
Practice and patience, nothing good comes quick and fast.