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Published:
July 15, 2020

Drums For Dummies

Overview

Become a different drummer

Drumming is natural to all of us—after all, it mimics the regular beat of our hearts. But some of us want to go further and really lay down a big beat. And no wonder—whether you want to become the powerful backbone of a band or just learn how to play a hand drum for pleasure, drumming is a lot of fun. Oh, and it’s scientifically proven to make you smarter. Bonus: healthier!  

Drums For Dummies gets you going on the road to becoming the drummer you want to be. Get started with the basics—what drums to buy, exercises that build your skills, and playing simple rhythms. Then move into more complex topics, explore drumming styles from around the world, and add other percussion instruments to your repertoire.  

Written in an easy-to-follow step-by-step style by respected instructor Jeff Strong, you’ll go from banging out basic rhythms—with or without sticks—to acquiring versatility with different styles and types of drum. The book also provides online audio files to drum along with, as well as suggestions for solo approaches to wow your bandmates.  

  • Understand fundamental techniques. 
  • Hone your technique with exercises. 
  • Explore other percussion instruments. 
  • Care for your drums.

The all-time drumming great Neal Peart of the band Rush once said that when he saw a good drummer, all he wanted to do was practice. Drums For Dummies is your best way to do just that—and start hitting your perfect groove. 

P.S. If you think this book seems familiar, you’re probably right. The Dummies team updated the cover and design to give the book a fresh feel, but the content is the same as the previous release of Drums For Dummies (9780471794110). The book you see here shouldn’t be considered a new or updated product. But if you’re in the mood to learn something new, check out some of our other books. We’re always writing about new topics!

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About The Author

Jeff Strong has been a drummer for more than 40 years. His professional experience includes a variety of styles including jazz, rock, Latin, country, blues, and R&B. Jeff has taught drumming for more than three decades and is also the author of Home Recording For Musicians For Dummies, 6th Edition.

Sample Chapters

drums for dummies

CHEAT SHEET

Becoming a great percussionist is more difficult than just hitting drums with sticks. Developing your own fluid and easy style on the drums involves practicing rudiments (sticking pattern exercises) in one of two ways: with a metronome or drumming at various tempos.Tuning your DrumsetRegardless of the size of a drum or what its drum head is made of, the fundamentals of getting a good sound out of a drum are the same.

HAVE THIS BOOK?

Articles from
the book

When someone mentions playing bongos, you probably think of a beatnik poet embellishing his obscure poetry with flourishes on a pair of these little drums. Though this image may seem somewhat ridiculous, the role of the bongos as an instrument of improvisation and accentuation isn't far from true. The bongos hail from Cuba and came into being within the Son style of music in the mid-1800s.
Playing a percussion instrument is all about rhythm. So if you play the drums, when you get together with other musicians, you need to be able to choose the correct rhythm for each song. If you end up reading music, this task is easy because the style of the music and basic groove pattern are notated on the chart (sheet music), but if you play without music, you have to figure out what to play.
Before the advent of the drum set, drums were played one at a time. Each drummer played one drum, and in order to make bigger and better noise — er, music — more drummers were needed. Then somewhere along the way, innovative drummers started putting groups of drums together and beating them all at once. As shown in Figure 1, today's drumsets consist of the following: Bass drum.
Rudiments are drumming exercises to help you develop fluency in a number of sticking patterns. Practicing these exercises builds hand-to-hand coordination and develops a relaxed sound. The following rudiments can be practiced in two ways: Set your metronome (or play along to some music) at a comfortable tempo and play steadily for a few minutes or longer.
Becoming a great percussionist is more difficult than just hitting drums with sticks. Developing your own fluid and easy style on the drums involves practicing rudiments (sticking pattern exercises) in one of two ways: with a metronome or drumming at various tempos.Tuning your DrumsetRegardless of the size of a drum or what its drum head is made of, the fundamentals of getting a good sound out of a drum are the same.
Regardless of the size of a drum or what its drum head is made of, the fundamentals of getting a good sound out of a drum are the same. You need to tune your drum to its sweet spot in order for it to sound its best. The sweet spot is simply the pitch where the drum resonates best. This spot varies from drum to drum based upon size, the construction of the shell, and the type of head that you use.
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