COMPOSITION
How to Play the Jazz Drum
Have you ever seen a drummer who looks so cool on the stage? Do you want to become a drummer just like him or her? Playing drums is actually not that hard, and the very first thing to do is to start learning. If you follow the following the three steps, you can become a great drummer.
01
The first step is to know about the drumstick and to learn how to hold them. A drumstick can be separated into four parts: tip, shoulder, shaft, and butt. There are two ways to hold the drumsticks: matched grip and traditional grip. Beginners are recommended to start with the former one. First of all, hold the drumsticks with your palms facing down, and put your thumbs and index fingers together. Then, lightly put the other three fingers aside the drumstick. Afterward, use your wrists to drive to hit the drum. After you learn about the drumstick and its holding way, you accomplish the first step of learning jazz drum.
02
Next, you should learn to recognize the symbols on sheet music. There are two kinds of symbols in the sheet music of the jazz drum: for drums and for cymbals. A five minutes video[1] can teach you to easily recognize all the signs of the five different drums: Snare drum, Tom 1, Tom 2, Floor Tom, and Bass drum. They are written down as notes according to the relative place of the drums in the drum set. Besides, the three cymbals are as follows: Hi-Hat, Crash, Ride. They are written down with notes replaced by an “x.” Based on the place of Hi-Hat’s symbol, explain the other two cymbals’ relative position When you finish recognizing the drum set and all of the symbols, you can start playing.
03
Last but not least, you should learn some basic rhythms, and find some videos on YouTube and practice with them. There are several basic rhythms[2] for beginners to start with. Practice the basic rhythms more, so it can make it easier to learn difficult songs in the future. When you get used to the basic rhythms, it is time for you to play with a song. Choose a song suitable for beginners, and practice with the music or even videos so that you can find out whether you play the rhythm right or not.
By following the three steps, which are recognizing the drumstick, knowing the drum set on sheet music, and practicing the basic rhythm and easy songs, you will find that learning to jazz drum is not that difficult. After you practice hard, you could find someone to build a band with you. That is how you can become a master of the jazz drum, and turn into a star shining and standing out of a band.
Sources:
Samantha, L. (n.d.) How To Play Drums.
Retrieved from: https://www.drumeo.com/beat/how-to-play-drums/
Unknown. (n.d.) Drum Notations for Beginners.
Retrieved from: https://www.schoolofrock.com/resources/drums/drum-notation-for-beginners
COMPOSITION