Drum Rudiments

Not meaning to be rude but are drum rudiments required to learn drums? I suppose it’s like asking a famous singer if they need to warm up their vocal chords before going on stage. (Yes!) As the saying goes, there is only one way to get to Carnegie Hall.

So you/your son/daughter/friend/partner/student wants to learn to play the drums but just to be able to play something like Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You.’ Getting good at any instrument does not happen over night. Like any artist, the ‘looking/sounding good’ arrives after carefully allocated time has been spent practising all the little things that build up to the bigger picture.

Those paradiddles, flams, rolls, drags and triplets are all important to creating the final drum solo. Rudiments are also essential for building up hand/foot-eye co-ordination and developing fluid movements around the kit without tense limbs.

If you are having bother putting up with the practise of rudimentary sets on the same drum head day after day, I recommend a rubber mute pad for the drum head or alternatively a drum practise pad.

Lacking inspiration? Listen to your favourite music and try practising some of the rudiments in time to the music so that improvising comes more naturally when the time arrives for the “drum solo!”