The Complete Guide to Playing Drums

Chapter 1: What Is Playing Drums and Why People Love It

Let's get one thing straight immediately: playing drums is not a quiet hobby, and it is not a passive one. You don't pick this up to relax on a couch or to zone out while you half-watch something. When you sit down at a kit, you are about to use your arms and legs independently, read a new kind of notation, and listen to yourself - often not very accurately at first - in real time. It's a full-body conversation with yourself, and it takes some getting used to. But when it clicks, it clicks hard. There's a reason drummers are often the most obsessed people in any band.

So what does a day-to-day session actually look like? Let's walk through one, because the reality is far less glamorous and far more satisfying than you might picture.

You sit down on a drum throne - the little round seat - and you immediately realize why drummers care about their chairs. Your feet have to reach two pedals: the bass drum pedal on your right and the hi-hat pedal on your left. Your hands rest on the two sticks. You're holding them, at first, like you'd hold a hammer, which is wrong, and you'll find out thirty minutes later when your forearms feel like they've been pumped with cement. The first thing any teacher will do is adjust your grip, but even then, your muscles need time to learn the