Learning Bass

[Brian Stevens 2RCR P&D]

hey everyone...

i was wondering how people train their bass drummers? is their any kind of structured learning materials out there? any advice would be an asset.
we are a military band, so every couple of years we have to train new people as the need arises due to postings etc... in the past it was just a "throw them in and they will pick it up" but i don't like that system.

thanks

[tenordrummer.com]

Brian - John McFetridge of Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band has a bass drum lesson on the new Learn Pipe Band Drumming DVD Volume 1.

The reason for the DVD launch is simply due to the void in learning materials of the type that you have requested.

[jbphilo]

Bob Meade also has a book and video for bass and tenor drumming (Keeping the Beat)that would be quite helpful. Workshops are great places to pick up tips for all stages of drummer and grabbing the bass next door for a quick review of beatings never hurts. Try working massed band tunes first as they are generally most familiar to newbies and then when he/she is comfortable with proper execution/setting and holding tempo, move on to competition sets. Ya know, basics first.

[Mike Cole]

Originally posted by Brian Stevens 2RCR P&D:
.. in the past it was just a "throw them in and they will pick it up" but i don't like that system.

thanks Brian:
I'm glad to see you didn't buy in to that philosophy! I've see that happen before. For example: someone who can't make the pipe corps, for whatever reason, becomes the bass drummer by default. :mad: Not that a piper can't learn to play the bass---it's just the cavalier approach to the position that's so fundamentally wrong.

Both training recordings mentioned are from 'old' masters :D ...you can't go wrong there.

An additional method to help develop a good sense of time, as well as an understanding of pulse/beat placement for different time signatures/tunes, is to listen to recent world's recordings and some of the top Grade 1 concert bands. Keeping time and providing a pulse, while related, are not the same.

Cheers.

Mike

[redhairedpiper]

Hi! Mike

(We spent many hours sitting beside each other in Kansas especially during the gold medal drumming...) ...just thought I'd mention that!! I have been lucky to have trained bass players in my band,(up through cadets) but I have to be the first to say (in their absence) there doesn't appear to be much out there written on paper... I
have strapped on the "big drum" in their absence more than once ( kind of a bad scene if you're a piper, hmmm???) :lol:

Anywho...

[Canadian]

Hi Brian,
Would someone learning piping or drumming (bass included) be sent to the military school of music at CFB Borden, Ont.? How does band recruitment work for military musicians? All the best.

[S. Foley]

Hi Brian.
To play a complimenting bass drum there are a few things that the player must have.
1. rhythm...a lot of it.
2. a broad understanding of the simple structure of pipeband music.
3. the ability to be dynamic and play dynamic.
remember, if you cant sing the music, you will have alot of trouble playing it.
All the best:)