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Drum Set

What is a Drum Set?

A drum kit (or drum set or trap kit) is a collection of drums, cymbals and sometimes other percussion instruments, such as a cowbell, wood block, chimes or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single drummer.  The individual instruments of a drum kit are struck by a variety of implements held in the hand, including sticks, brushes, and mallets except for the bass drum and sometimes the hi hat which uses a foot pedal.  Percussion notation is often used by drummers to signify which drum kit components are to be played.

Drum sets first developed when drummers were encouraged to play as many percussion instruments as possible due to budget and space considerations in theaters. In the 1890s they started experimenting with foot pedals to play the bass drum. William F. Ludwig made the bass drum pedal system workable in 1909, paving the way for the modern drum set.  By World War I drum kits were characterized by very large marching bass drums and many percussion items suspended on and around it, and they became a central part of jazz music. Hi-hat stands appeared around 1926 and metal stands were developed to hold tom-toms, snare drums and cymbals. By the 1930s Gene Krupa streamlined trap kits down to a basic four piece drum set standard: bass, snare, tom-tom, and floor tom. In the 1940s Louie Bellson pioneered use of two bass drums, or the double bass drum kit. In 1964 drumming became more popular when Ringo Starr of The Beatles played his Ludwig kit on American television.

By the 1980s drummers like Bill Bruford, Terry Bozio and Neil Peart were adding more drums and cymbals to their kits and using electronic drums. Double bass pedals were developed to play on one bass drum, eliminating the need for a second bass drum. In the 1990s and 2000s, some drummers in popular music and indie music have reverted back to the Gene Krupa style of smaller drum kits.

Source: “Drum.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.

 

Teaching Philosophy

The goal of both of our drum instructors Brian and Julian is to keep the student motivated, informed, intrigued and hungry to play music.  Techniques of counting, reading and hand technique are taught as well as theory and the application of that theory to learning and practicing music relevant to, and selected by the student.  Our teachers’ approach is to teach the necessary knowledge and skills in a manner that the student will enjoy and thus retain the greatest amount of knowledge. 

Brian and Julian are comfortable with teaching students at any age or musical background.  If they can read and have a musical taste of their own, they are ready to learn, but they must be motivated to practice at home. 

The instructional books used in our drum courses are Stick Control (for ambidexterity), Alfred’s Drum Method (for snare drum reading) and The Funky Primer (for drumset playing).  Other required tools include a metronome, a practice pad, and, of course, drumsticks.  A binder or notepad of some sort is strongly recommended as well.  Listening and practice material will consist of anything the student wishes to learn, as well as what the teacher feels the student would benefit from.  Ipod and CD hookups are available in the sound-proofed drum room, so students are encouraged to bring in their own material to their lesson.  Our teaching philosophy then is not just to learn how to play the drums, but to love music as well.