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Bill Powelson's School of Drums

SOLO YOUR WAY TO RUDIMENTAL PERFECTION!

    I teach rudiments this way to all my private students.  Those students tend to master the rudiments at light-speed, and most of the time, they never really realize that they've been studying them.     This works!  But it deserves, and needs, a little preparatory explanation . . . before we begin.     First . . .     Let's think about the rudiments, and how they've evolved. It's a rather long story . . . but please read, and think.  It will lead to some logic that CAN and WILL, save you years and years of frustration . . . In fact . . . This lesson may save you from a fate that has befallen millions of 'would be' drummers. Many of the MOST CREATIVE would be' drummers, fail to learn the rudiments, and often give-up . . . out of shear bordom! Let's face it! Rudiments are BORING, DULL, UNCREATIVE AND A TOTAL DRAG! There is now a BETTER way to master them! I'm going to take you there in this lesson, but first, we need to some qualifying . . .             THE HISTORY OF RUDIMENTS (PART I)     Originally . . . Back in the 1930s, there weren't many teaching methods available for drummers.  The band directors in the public schools, were faced with the dilemma of teaching a squad of young drummers in the school band; But, the band directors usually weren't drummers!  They really didn't know WHAT to teach the kids.    Bill Ludwig of the Ludwig drum company, (a very wise businessman, and entrepreneur), recognized the problem and attacked it head-on . . .    He organized a team of 1930s-era, "expert" drummers who came-up with a list of roll-types that could be printed and passed to band directors in the public school systems. They came-up with the 'First 13 rudiments', and printed them on sheets of paper (aka; rudiment charts.)  The organization they formed became known as the N.A.R.D (National Association of Rudimental Drummers.)    The rudiment-charts were born in 1933 . . .    Every year, from 1933 on . . . Mr. Ludwig sent a packet of rudiment charts to each and every band director in the U.S..    The band directors then handed the rudiment-charts to the drum squad, and said, "LEARN 'EM!"    This made their job easy! The band directors could put one kid in charge of teaching the rudiments to the others, thus allowing him/her to focus on the 40 OTHER members of the school orchestra.       Bill Ludwig made life easier for the band director, and carved a niche in drumming history for himself, at the same time.     The 'Rudiments' became a tradition amongst us drummers from that day forward. We were all taught to believe that the ONLY WAY to become a drumming-master was to master those 13 rudiments, first.     (Nothing could ever be further from the truth!)      There are several kicker's to all this . . .     Bill Ludwig had a great plan in mind as he set all this up.     1.  When the public school systems needed drums; Where do you think they bought them?  Of course, they bought Ludwig drums!  (Bill became the #1 drum manufacturer in the World, and also very, very rich.)  That was his plan, all along!     2.  Rudiments became the GOSPEL according to Bill Ludwig! Other drum manufacturer's like Rogers, Gretsch and others, soon came on-board with their own rudiment-charts too. Copyright laws prohibited them from printing the same rudiments that were on the N.A.R.D. charts. They had to come up with their own. The Roger's drum company came up with 32 rudiments and the Gretsch drum company came up with 36, more. They sent those to the schools as well, (copying Bill's great example.)  It leveled the market for selling drum equipment to the schools, but we drummers have been paying the price ( in terms of educational truth) . . . since 1933.     At this point in time . . . There are now more than 400+ rudiments, World wide.  All have been documented by various drum manufacturer's (and other's), around the World, as a way to sell drums, and promote their own various names, and agendas. THE BIG QUESTIONS . . .     * How important are the rudiments?     * Do we really need to master all 400+ rudiments to become masterful drummers? NOW THE TRUTH!     Rudiments can be valuable.  Yes, we DO need SOME of them, sooner or later, but we do not need them all.  There are now so many rudiments circulating around the World, it's at a point of being absolutely RIDICULOUS! APART FROM THAT . . . (AND I SAY THIS BOLDLY AFTER 50 YEARS OF PONDERENCE . . .) "There's a BETTER, FASTER, EASIER, MORE FUN way to learn RUDIMENTS! We should learn them automatically, and naturally, the SAME WAY their creators learned them!"     We definitely DO NOT need to stand at a drum-pad, staring at a blank wall for 10 years, mindlessly pecking away our lives, while trying to master them.  That's totally absurd!     There are fun, natural ways, to develop those NEEDED techniques! I'm about to show you how to do that! This (below) is just ONE of the ways I do it! I have other fun and creative ways to do it in the complete course as well! Bill Ludwig, his team of cronies's, and the band directors, apparently never thought much about the REAL WAY to master rudiments, (and/or drumming as a whole.)      Keep in mind that drumming and drumming education, were still in their infancy back then in the days before Swing, Rock, Jazz, CDs, MP3s, computers, tv, and iPOds, etc., etc.     A little further down in this note, I'll reveal the FUN, EXCITING AND FAST WAY, to develop those techniques, NATURALLY! BUT . . . STAY WITH ME A MINUTE OR TWO MORE . . . LET'S THINK ABOUT THIS VERY IMPORTANT POINT:     Go back to the 13 'experts' who devised the first 13 rudiments . . .         Where did THEY get them? How did they learn them? They were the top-level experts of the era! How did THEY master the rudiments, if the rudiments weren't around to help THEM become the so-called experts of the era? HERE'S THE BIG SECRET!!!!     They got them by . . . 'PLAYING', . . . FIRST!      Just like you and me, those guys grew-up with a compulsion for pounding on every object within reach.  They pounded day and night on everything in sight, BECAUSE THEY FELT THE RHYTHMS IN THEIR SOULS!  THEY WERE NATURAL DRUMMERS FIRST! They learned all the rolls (rudiments) as a result of playing and banging on things.      They did NOT study them from a pre-written chart! The rolls emerged as a result of PLAYING, first.  Then LATER, when asked, the "EXPERTS?" dissected their playing techniques, pondered their stroke patterns and movements, and finally committed their rhythmic ideas to the printed-page, as rudiments. Those RUDIMENTS then became . . .  the 'future' GOSPEL OF DRUMMING!  NOW, THINK ABOUT THIS . . .     The experts became good at playing . . . BECAUSE THEY PLAYED ALL THE TIME!  Then one day . . . when asked to dissect their own playing . . . those thirteen original rudiments emerged as THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF ALL RHYTHM and The 'RUDIMENT-MYTH' was born!     Hmmmmm?     So . . . Maybe the BEST way to learn the rudiments, MIGHT be in the same way THEY learned them??? WHAT'S MY POINT?     My point is simple . . .     "IF" . . . I can show you how to COME FROM WITHIN . . . playing ideas that are already in the depths of your own soul . . . YOU will master the rudiments 'by proxy' and 'automatically', the same way that "THEY", "I", and ALL 'NATURAL DRUMMERS' have done it . . .     BY PLAYING AND HAVING FUN . . . EVERY STEP OF THE WAY!                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~     I'm going to chop this wild rant short, and cut to the chase. (I could go on and on for hours about all this, but I think you know where I'm coming from.)      Half of the rant above may not have been necessary . . . if you have that 'NATURAL THING' for drumming. I'm already convinced you probably have it, (or I can easily instill it in the way I'm about to suggest!)  All you need to do is cultivate that NATURAL THING, with a little more conviction, FUN, and creative imagination! THE BAD NEWS!     If THAT 'NATURAL THING' can't be cultivated inside you, . . . then, no amount of rudimental drill, will do you much good anyway. The NATURAL THING, is the prerequisite to becoming a drummer! Cultivate that . . . and the rudiments arrive at your fingertips and toes . . . automatically, by proxy. Without that NATURAL THING (ie; creativity), nothing serious will happen, no matter how many years you peck your brains out, behind a practice pad.     SO LETS' JUST GET TO IT . . .     WHAT IS MY BIG SECRET?     SOLOS!!!!! I want to help you teach yourself to solo like a master! ******************************************************** SIDELINE NOTE: Buddy Rich was the reigning #1 drummer in the World for nearly 30 years . . . In 1987, just before Buddy died . . . a tv reporter quipped about Buddy's superior expertise with 'Single Paradiddles', (Rudiment #21 on the N.A.R.D. charts.) Buddy's reply was . . . "Paradiddles, smaradiddles man . . . I don't know, I JUST PLAY!" ******************************************************** Buddy Rich said that because HE knew the TRUTH about rudiments! He had learned them by proxy . . . as a result of expressing himself rhythmiclly! He didn't study paradiddles! He really was GREAT at executing Paradiddles in his totally awesome solos; But, they came to him automatically . . . as a result of playing frim the heart! That's what I want to teach YOU to do! I'll show you a way to do it that is almost subliminal! You won't even realize you are studying rudiments! You'll be having TOO MUCH FUN!     YES!  I'm suggesting that you should immediately get into soloing at your drum set, several hours every week! I want to show you how to do it analytically, methodically and CREATIVELY!     If I can get you into pounding out WILD solo's for the sheer pleasure of it, as a daily routine . . . you'll look-up in a month or two and realize that you've mastered MOST of the rudiments . . . without EVER seeing them on paper. BUT, THERE'S A SPECIAL METHOD TO MY MADDNESS! The lessons below will help you focus on rudimental technique as you PLAY YOUR OWN IDEAS and have fun. You'll gain some SPECIAL, SPECIFIC ways to get your 'chops' happening as you play from the heart! WHY? HOW DOES THAT WORK?     Rhythm is mathematical in nature!  As we play and have fun . . . pounding away at OUR OWN ideas . . . we discover the MATH in a way that's virtually abstract!  We don't think of it as math!  It's just fun to express ourselves rhythmically.     As we PLAY;  The note-value system, the rudiments, and all the other complexities of rhythm begin flowing from our hands, fingers and feet in a TOTALLY NATURAL WAY!  It sorta finds us . . . because we've become compelled and obsessed with just . . . PLAYING!     Then . . . One day . . . six months later . . . we pick up a rudiment chart . . . and realize that it has become easy!  It becomes a simple matter of ATTACHING NAMES, to all the things you've learned to do in a NATURAL WAY!     Believe it or not . . . a COMPLETE COMPREHENSION of the NOTE-VALUE-SYSTEM (ie; whole-notes to 64th-notes) can be easily mastered this same way . . . without ever seeing the notes on paper.  When we do study them later, they make all the sense in the World . . . without all the confusing frustration that usually goes with trying to learn them first.     I guess this may all sound a little preposterous, but it really is true!  THUS . . . The following five lessons . . . :)     TAKE A DEEP BREATH!  I just deleted 12 additional pages of this rant, in an effort to get you cooking . . . right away, without a lot of rhetoric and fuss . . .     Haha .  . I probably should have just written the short paragraph below . . . in the first place!  It would have saved us both some time! But, NOW you know the TRUTH ABOUT RUDIMENTS!  :) HERE IT IS . . .     GET STARTED WITH SOLO'S . . . MY WAY . . . You'll have a ball, and master "ALMOST" everything at the same time!     Take the following 5 lessons in the order they appear below . . . 1. Feature Article # 3: SOLO TIPS & FAQ. 2. Feature Article # 5: SOLO TIPS II 3. Feature Article # 15: Solo Techniques 4. Feature Article # 23: DRUM SOLO MAGIC! 5. MORE . . . Drum Solo Goodies      Magic will happen if you'll study those lessons.  They will take the place of hundreds of books that only attempt to teach those sorts of complicated patterns and techniques.     Read all five lessons first . . . then acquire some great solo mp3's or recordings, and follow through.  You will amaze yourself!     For your next practice sessions, try to begin by listening to a great solo . . . then move directly to the drums and play whatever is going on in your head. Let go . . . and flail!  It'll happen . . . and it'll be yours. Don't try to copy . . . just listen deep, and immediately do what you can do, along the same lines . . . without copying.     You'll get into it!  Follow the suggestions in those lessons above for 30 days. I'll guarantee UNBELIEVABLE results!  This is where the REAL MAGIC begins to occur.  It's definitely a direction you should follow, and it's definitely on track. GREAT TIP!!!!     Do a web-search for drum solo mp3's.  I'm betting there are millions of them for free out here.  Download them, LISTEN DEEPLY FIRST . . . then immediately play what you are thinking.  It's a virtual 'subliminal' way of learning, that leads to NATURAL ABILITY! As you run dry on ideas . . . find a different solo and repeat the process.  It's tons of fun and you'll master 8th triplets, 16th singles, double strokes, paradiddles, and ALL the other rudiments and rolls, . . . in half the time . . . at TWICE THE FUN!     Have fun with it!  Things will begin happening fast if you make it a daily routine . . . before you jam with recordings . . .     Happy drumming . . .     I do hope you decide to enroll.  Sure! You can get free lessons all over the place. How valuable are those lessons? That's my question to you. I hope you are seeing the value 'my 50 years' can offer you, by now.  I know I can help you a lot. I've devoted a LOT of years towards weeding-out the frustrating elements and added 50 years of productive fun! FUN works 10 times faster than boredom! SIGN-UP NOW, CHEAPO! Do your drumming career (and your brain) a favor! They BOTH deserve it, whether you think so or not!                            Bill Powelson                The Homestudy Institute of Drums (online)

Copyright Bill Powelson 1994 all rights reserved.