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Bill Powelson's School of Drums

Drummer's Aptitude Test

Do you possess a 'hidden' talent for playing drums?

Would you like to discover if you do?

Take this drum-lesson/aptitude-test. It 'may' lead you into an unexpected career, or hobby, as a drummer.

You can do this without spending a dime.

* NO DRUMS OR DRUMSTICKS NECESSARY! *

Just tap on the computer desk, and pat your foot on the floor as you study this very basic drum lesson (below.)

HERE'S YOUR FIRST
(AND MOST IMPORTANT)
DRUM SET LESSON.

Do this now!

With your RIGHT HAND, tap FOUR times on the desk in front of you, or the arm of your chair. . . .

ONE . . . TWO . . . THREE . . . FOUR.

Now we will do it again, but this time . . .

Pat your RIGHT FOOT on the count of ONE and tap your LEFT HAND on the count of THREE (as you repeat those four notes with the right hand.)

Think of it this way:

COUNT
 
 1 
 2 
 3 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 
R=RIGHT HAND
 
 R 
 R 
 R 
 R 
L=LEFT HAND
 
 
 
 L 
 
F=RIGHT FOOT
 
 F 
 
 
 

* * * * * * * *

Work very slowly at first until you get the hang of it. Keep it steady! Repeat, repeat, repeat!

Repeat this pattern, over and over, without stopping, until you can play it steadily, comfortably, and rapidly from memory.

It might take four or five minutes of intense concentration before it becomes easy to do. Within 10 minutes, you'll notice that with each repetition, it will become much easier.

Each time you repeat the pattern, the more ingrained it will become. At some point, (usually after 10 or 15 minutes), it will become like a habit. You'll discover that you can repeat it over and over, without thinking about it. As it becomes easier and easier, you'll also discover that you can play it faster and faster.

Keep repeating it until you can play it pretty fast without becoming mixed-up.

* * * * * * * *

WATCH THE VIDEO, IF YOU ARE CONFUSED . . .

VIDEO: Click here to 'Play', see, and hear the 8th rock video.

NOTE: If the video in this lesson will not play, please go to the following, "Video Troubleshooter" web page.

* * * * * * * *

HEAR IT FASTER. THIS IS AN AUDIO (MIDI) FILE ONLY: It should play on any audio player you have configured for your browser.

Basic Rock Beat (.mid AUDIO file only)

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Now for the fun part!

Pop on some music, any music . . . It doesn't matter what kind, just get a song playing. There is a forty-five percent chance that any song will be in this beat category. It is called, EIGHTH (rock) 4/4 .

Listen deep into the music . . .

* Listen DEEPLY to these two song clips *

These two links below include a couple of (30 second) .wav song files/clips that may be about the right speed. Give them a try . . .

• The Ocean, by Brad Yates, (a good friend of mine in Daytona Beach.) Get in touch with him, and he'll sell you a copy. Just do a web-search for 'Brad Yates, Ocean'. :)

• Love and Happiness, by Al Green. This song and CD is available in numerous places around the web. Just do a web search for 'Love and Happiness, by Al Green', if you would like to own of copy of this song.

Can you hear the drums? Are you hearing the beat you just learned, within the song that's playing? If you can, then jump in playing ALONG WITH the drummer on the recording.

(If you aren't hearing this beat pattern within the music, keep changing to different recordings until you do hear it.)

Listen for the consistent, repeating boom sounds of the bass drum.

Pat your foot 'IN-TIME' with the bass drum in the music as the song progresses.

Next, listen for the consistently repeating 'snap' sounds of the snare drum in the same song. It will be falling opposite the bass and will be more of a repetitious snap sound.

Tap your left hand along with the snare sound.

If you are following along 'IN-TIME' with the music, you are playing drums.

Next, add the right hand (cymbal) like you practiced it, in the above lesson.

That's all there is to it! If you are doing all this in-time with the music, it means you are potentially a VERY good drummer!

Get into the habit of trying to do this with every song that comes up.

Like magic, you WILL become a drummer! The shocking news is that it is easy to play about five of every ten songs, using just this one, easy, beat pattern! That's HALF of all the music ever recorded!

If you can play along IN-TIME, with just one of those 50 MILLION songs, you'll soon realize that you can play along with ANY of them. The more you do it . . . the better drummer you will become.

Soon, you'll begin to 'instinctively' feel the little rolls the drummers may play on the recordings, and the fancier (more complex) forms of the beat, too. It's all about listening and imitating . . . what you are hearing! It will come to you naturally as it does to all "natural" drummers. This is the way THEY became "natural" drummers.

A lot of the more intricate techniques will just come naturally as you continue to play along with song after song. So . . . keep doing it, with every song you'll hear playing around you as you go through your day . . . EVERY day!

IF you become addicted to doing this . . . it means you probably will enjoy a great future as a drummer.

Incidentally . . .
We working-drummers learn to imagine a drum set in front of us, where ever we are, and we practice on 'whatever', is handy at the time! This, simple and easy, practice habit means that we can always practice anytime, 24/7/365.

Develop this same practice habit, and it may open a fun new future for you. It will not cost you a dime!

It's all about repeating the 'moves' (hands and feet), over and over, until those 'moves' become ingrained into the memory (as natural habits.) Once we have the 'moves' down pat . . . it's extremely easily to transfer those moves onto a REAL drum set, and play song after song . . . by 'heart', by 'feel' or by 'ear'.

If you can master the very simple lesson, it means you should take your potential drumming talent and ability, more seriously. It may help you launch a potential hobby or career, as a drummer, in an 'almost' automatic way!

The truth is . . . This lesson MAY set the unstoppable wheels in motion that could MAKE it happen. It's all about learning to listen to music a little differently. It's about learning to think LIKE a drummer. The rest may follow easily, in a natural way.

Repeat the beat pattern (above), enough times, so that it becomes a natural habit. Then, make it fit with MOST of the songs you'll hear on the radio, or your CDs. DO IT EVERY DAY . . . FROM NOW ON.

Hopefully, if you can develop the 'knack' for connecting this beat 'in-time' with just one song, you'll also gain the ability to play virtually ANY of the other 50,000,000 songs that use (some form of) this same beat pattern!

This leads to some very big things!

It means one very important thing.

It means you are . . .

. . . a VERY good (NATURAL) drummer!

'NATURAL' is the key-word here. You'll discover very quickly, within a few days, the indescribable thrills of jamming along with almost every song you'll hear . . . BY EAR, and NATURALLY.

It's terrific fun to do that!
It's the reason that working-drummers become working-drummers!

It's FUN!

It isn't like work or school, at all!

There's a 'feeling' that goes along with all this that is absolutely mesmerizing, and addictive! Once you 'feel' it . . . you won't want to stop.

You'll probably begin enjoying the rapping and banging on the furniture so much, that you will eventually be inclined to pursue this 'drumming thing' much more seriously.

The rest will happen almost automatically! Especially, if you'll continue to return to this web site, and take ALL of the other free lessons that follow this one.

* * * * * * * * *

As drummers, we do two things when playing in a band. We repeat beat patterns over and over 'IN-TIME' with the music, and we inject occasional rolls. That's it! That's what we do, as we play song after song. It ISN'T ROCKET SCIENCE! Learn a handful of beats and rolls that are no more difficult than this one and you'll be on your way!

If you do not connect with the music, it may mean that your inner-drummer isn't yet awake. Keep thinking about it, and keep trying!

It will magically happen one day soon, as you hear one of your favorite songs playing. All of a sudden, you'll hear this beat pattern within the music. If, by then, you can comfortably and easily play the 8th rock beat . . . You'll just 'automatically' begin playing along IN-TIME, with the song. Soon after that, you'll realize that more than half the songs you are hearing around you every day . . . all All using this same beat. You'll easily realize that you can easily play along with all those songs as well. When that happens, you'll know immediately that drumming is something you definitely should pursue. That's the moment you will become a NATURAL' drummer FOR LIFE.

Sure! There is more to learn, but it is ALL this easy, if only you will STAY WITH ME ANOTHER 5-MINUTES, AND . . .

Learn to READ DRUM NOTATION.

The remainder of the 125-lessons in this COMPLETE COURSE are designed to help you become the BEST 'NATURAL' PRO-DRUMMER, in the business, and one of the most knowledgeable!

It's possible to become a working-pro in under 6 months, if you'll apply yourself, here.

None of the remaining lessons are any more difficult than the one you've just studied. So . . . make a bookmark and return often. Just click the link above to continue.

Within the first 10-lessons of this course, it's possible to easily launch a career, as a pro-drummer. I'll show you exactly how it's done in the upcoming lessons. This is precisely the way I, and thousands of other working drummers, have done it! There's no reason why you shouldn't follow the same path. The astounding part is that, none of the commercial method books will ever describe the learning process in quite this same way. You are going to learn the best kept drumming secrets. These secrets will lead you into the profession as a 'natural' (ear) drummer.

(Natural (ear) drummers are the ONLY drummers who make it into the profession. Take a little 'natural' ability, and add the knowledge I want to give you. YOU can become a POWER-HOUSE drummer!

Follow through with these lessons. You won't regret it!

Believe it!

TAKE THE NEXT LESSON: Learn to READ DRUM NOTATION. You'll be doing it easily in another five minutes.

*************************

Copyright Bill Powelson 1994 all rights reserved.