Can Youtube take the place of your friendly local drum teacher?
Now it’s obvious I’m going to come out on the side of the private drum lesson right? This is what I do so I’m going to go all out to promote it. Yes that’s right but I care deeply about what I do and wouldn’t point someone in the wrong direction to make a quick buck out of them.
The fact is in this internet age there is an absolute ton of information available on drums and drumming, some of it is really useful if you are looking to learn a specific song or fill etc and there is just as much absolute rubbish that you’re best to stay clear from.
The problem is how do you know what is good and what is relevant and what is not when you’re just starting out? Well if you’re new to drumming then you probably don’t, it’s a shot in the dark. You might get something you could use or you might spend your time learning stuff that’s going to take you nowhere and end up spoiling the interest you once had in learning the drums.
I’ve noticed a trend appearing especially in the older students that come to me for lessons. They have started out learning from YouTube and other online drummer sites and ended up getting bogged down in unnecessary complicated sticking routines and trying to play flashy fills without building a strong foundation for their drumming based on correct posture and grip,breathing and exercises that build up technique in an organised way that leads to maximum development. And then frustrated they come to me for a few lessons to get them on the right track. One of my students summed up perfectly as I was taking her through developing the Moeller technique which she had been trying to learn for a long while off videos.” You just can’t get this off watching a video” And she is right,the video cannot assess what you’re doing wrong as you’re playing and it’s also pretty difficult to self assess when you’re concentrating on what you are doing. You could set up a video camera at the same angle and play them back to compare I suppose. But then your untrained eye might be missing something crucial.
So to sum up. I love YouTube and a lot of what it has to offer as far as drumming information and music goes. But be careful as well especially if you’re just starting up with the drums. The fact is you can’t beat one on one lessons with an experienced professional if you want to get a good start with your drumming or if your drumming is in a rut. The money you spend on some expert advise delivered to you in an organised way and specifically tailored to you as an individual will get you a lot further and cost you less in the long run than the hit or miss self learning YouTube route.