Where Do I Begin???? (1)
When we were
first given this project, I honestly had no idea what I was going to do. I had
no ideas, not a single thought. So I started thinking in categories. I started
big, with hobbies of mine, and started to think of things I wanted to do when I
was younger. I always wanted to learn to draw, and sing, and play guitar.
However, I have no artistic ability, and my voice is horrible. So I scratched
those two. Then I started thinking about instruments, guitar obviously the
cause, but guitar had already been done, so I moved on. When I was thinking
about instruments, the idea of playing the drums crossed my mind. As soon
as I thought of it, I knew that’s what I was going to do
The
reason I probably thought of the drums, was that I played the drums when I was
in fourth and fifth grade. I only played the snare drum, but I played drums
nonetheless. This is my main inspiration for choosing drumming for my topic. I
want to prove that even though I barely learned anything about the drums in the
two years I did play, in these two months I will be able to learn about the
drums, and be able to play them. This comparison will show the power of
determination, combined with opportunity. I have finally been given a chance to
learn to do something, which is the opportunity. Now, I need to have the
passion and drive to actually learn something new. I don’t think this will be a
problem. Playing the drums has always been something I have enjoyed, and
getting back to playing it reminds me how much I liked playing.
The problem with
learning how to play something new, is getting lessons. Lessons cost money,
however, I do not exactly want to spend money for someone to teach me to play,
I would rather learn in my own way on my own time. Lucky for me, I have found
two online drumming websites that will get me started. One site that I found,
which was the first one I found, is called Drumeo. This is a website full of
experts who teach all the basics of drumming. They teach the rudiments of every
great drummer, and while they do this they teach a lot about the history of
drumming. This site, so far, has helped me develop my basic skills, such as
some paradiddles, rifts, and fills, that I couldn’t do before I started. I have
also learned the history of some of the great drummers and how the influenced
types of drumming such as, jazz, rock, and folk. The other website I found is
called, DrumTheWorld.com. This site also has a YouTube channel with a variety
of videos, that give another way of learning the basics. This website teaches a
lot slower than the other site I found which is nice. It allows me to learn
some of the basics skills at a slow pace before I jump into the faster pace
that Drumeo offers. This site also teaches how to teach part of beginner songs,
which will help me later on.
After finding
some of these websites that I have so far used to learn, I created a timeline
based off of their lessons. Here is the timeline:
Week 1: Learn basic information about drumming (read
and write drum notes)
Week 2: Learn basics- how to hold a drum stick and correct form
Week 3: Learn basics of the drum (rifts, beats and paradiddles)
Week 4: Learn how to incorporate 3(or more) drums at a
time
Week 5: Learn higher level fills- work on coordination
Week 6: Learn beginner song called (Thorn in My Side)
Week 7: Be able to play intermediate song (Ex. 21 Guns
or Californiacation
This
timeline covers everything I want to learn in these next seven weeks. I have
already started learning to read notes, and am even able to write some of my
own fills and rifts now with what I have learned. Luckily for me, I know some
of the drumming basics, such as how to hold the stick, but my form needs a lot
of work. This is why I have left some time in the schedule to learn some of
these basics. The good thing about the drums, is that the rifts and fills are
all interconnected, and the coordination and basic skills can be formed while
learning some of these fills and rifts. The schedule is very fluid, it all just
flows together, allowing me to prepare the whole time for the song I will learn
at the end. The whole timeline works on my memory of notes, my coordination
with the sticks, and my framework as far as drumming goes.
All in all, I am very excited to
learn to play the drums. It is something I have always loved to do and
something, I have found, I still love to do. I am excited to be able to perform
at the end for the class, and to show the process it took for me to learn, which
I am sure won’t be easy. I plan to continue learning when this project is over
as well, so I can try to master this skill. This is something I am very
passionate about which will make the practice hours seem short and the learning
more enjoyable.
I think its great that your picking up something from the past and becoming better at it. Drums are very fascinating to me because a drummer has the ability to keep track of all the different parts of the set at the same time. I also think that you have a lot of resources such as the music department at Wiss and other students and their parents who play the drums. I can't wait to see your final performances/vlogs that show you playing the songs. I also love the modern feel of your blog.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a really interesting idea for the project and I like your usage of photos on the home page and in your blog. However, what is a fills and what type of drum will you be using for the project? I thought that it was smart to incorporate a timeline into the post, so that you and the readers can track your progress over the next few weeks. I think it would be really interesting if you could have a video of yourself playing the drums in multiple posts to help show improvement.
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