tailwind

The absolute best set for the money I've seen out there is the ROLAND TD-3SW. $999.00. It's a 5 piece, 114 sound brain, with 3-rubber tom pads, a MESH snare pad(THIS IS IMPORTANT!!!), bass, high-hat, and two cymballs. All you need to buy is the throne, and the bass pedal. A good shop should have you out the door with EVERYTHING-(SET, THRONE, BASS PEDAL, STICKS, CORDS, WHATEVER) FOR $1000.00 INCLUDING TAX! (If they were cool like me...)

 

 

The mesh snare pad is KEY!

Unless rubber snare pads have improved recently, I would never get one!!!

 

Let the child decide for himself if he wants to play by ear, or go to school to learn how to read music. If he prefers to play by ear, consider that to be a blessing.

There are thousands of "teachers" who would love to reserve a spot in your wallet for the next 5 years forcing "reading" on your kid. Fact is, it only takes a few weeks to see if reading music comes naturally to a kid.

My advice:

FIND A TEACHER WHO WILL TEACH BY EITHER READING MUSIC, OR PLAYING BY EAR!

Many drum "teachers" are nothing but rip-offs!

 

I learned at age 9 by sitting on a set of drums, putting on a pair of headphones, putting on the local rock station, and trying to play every song as they were played- no matter what song came on. I'd do this for hours a day!

Then, as I advanced, I could turn the radio dial all the way to the left, and stop on every station, and try to play 3 songs from every single radio station.

 

Point being- find the way the kid makes the most progress. Don't let a teacher dictate how the kid is "supposed" to learn.

DEAN

Ahh, yes, I listened to Who's Next for a good hour, and clearly Keith is clearly doing an insane combination of triplets & quads throughout the album. I can hear the following:

 

Triplets using one bass drum. KICK-R-L

Triplets using both bass drums. RKick-LKick-SNARE

 

Quads all over the place.

ESPECIALLY: RKICK-LKICK-SNARE-RKICK

 

And: RKICK-LKICK-SNARE-RKICK WITH CYMBALL.

 

Keith was amazing!

 

There are 2 ways I play triplets.

 

I call them: 1. The "John Bonham Triplet"

 

2. The "Keith Moon" Triplet"

 

John Bonham (my main influence growing up), plays these as his staple:

 

First stroke- RIGHT STICK ON A FLOOR TOM

Second stroke- LEFT STICK ON A RACK TOM JUST ABOVE THE SNARE DRUM

Third- A BASS KICK

 

Practice this very sequence until you're so fast, your sticks are a blur, then vary the sequence however you want. The bass kick is always the last beat.

 

 

Keith Moon plays triplets a couple diferent ways, but he almost always leads a triplet with a BASS KICK.

 

 

First- A BASS KICK

Second- RIGHT STICK ON A FLOOR TOM

Third- LEFT STICK ON A RACK TOM ABOVE (OR TO THE LEFT) OF YOUR SNARE.

 

I am 10 times faster when using the bass drum on the last beat!

 

Using the bass drum on the first beat is actually much better, because you can insert a cymball crash on the first beat.

 

A fine example of Keith Moon doing triplets that lead with the bass drum,

just listen to the entire WHO'S NEXT album.

 

Dean

 

I no longer get the option to edit my posts. Pls. help. I am logged in, and I just got the edit feature for this post, but I don't get it for all my other posts.

I can play every single, solitary LED ZEPPELIN song on drums, beat-for-beat. In fact, I offer to my friends my "Dean's Led Zeppelin Challenge", where I play any Led Zeppelin song by request, and I give $5.00 for any, and every single mistake! The only song I occasionally have to pay out on is "Good Times, Bad Times". (Oh, that blasted bass drum!)

 

YOU ROCK!

I'd love to jam with ya' DUDE!

 

Half jokingly, DEAN

I have been playing drums for 25 years, and can hold my own playing most RUSH songs, but certainly the most complicated, and difficult for me has always been FREEWILL. To me, this song has NEIL'S most awesome drumming.

 

PURE DRUMMING GENIUS!