by Mattthew Carter

Created on: January 28, 2007   Last Updated: February 13, 2010

The easiest way to practice drumming is to buy a house in the woods with no one around you for miles. Unfortunately we're not all millionaires with the cash for that kind of space. However with a few easy adjustments, you can be jamming out in no time without bothering anyone.

Begin by practicing rudiments. Before you even get your set you should know the 40 common drum rudiments. This will help you develop some kind of rhythm before you get on the kit. These can be found at www.vicfirth.com. The best thing about rudiments is that you can play them on anything, couch arm, floor, book, but I recommend buying an inexpensive drum pad. The drum pad will get you just enough bounce to get a rhythm in your practice.

Once you purchase your set, go ahead and pick up a snare dampener pad and a few for your cymbals too. This will let you play heavy when others are around without bothering them. Don't worry about one on the ride cymbal. You're going to want the ping sound to come through in your practice, trust me.

A major variable in the sheer decibel level produced by your kit is it's angle relative to the rest of the rooms in the house. It's best to place the kit in a corner of a room facing an outside wall. This way the sound waves bounce diagonally towards the outside of the house. It maybe a little louder outside, but your family or roommates will thank you for it.

There are a vast assortment of acoustic dampening products on the market. Unfortunately these products are studio quality and very expensive. If you have the money, place sections of sound dampening pyramid foam on the walls in your drum room. If you place these on the entire ceiling, they work great!

The best technique, however, is persistence. I play at the same time everyday, for 1 to 2 hours. Then I stop. My neighbors see the integrity in my practice and have yet to complain. I live in a trailer park so space is very tight. I have the kit in the living room and it is very loud outside. So don't worry about it, play as loud as you want, play to your hearts content!

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