How to explain where “1” is?

DrumDoug said:

This person wants to play drums at church.

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In that case using my Butthole Surfers example may not be wise.

toddbishop said:

Dire emergency, lol:

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If none of the suggestions worked to at least illustrate the principle, just make them count everything they practice, and do a lot of listening with them, counting along with the recording. Do that first actually.

Is he able to find the one when not at the kit, just listening to music? I'm wondering if he is focusing his attention on the mechanics, which can be overwhelming. Can he bob his head to the music?

Sorry for the long post, this is a bit of a passion of mine, coming from a more general music ed background of teaching basic music skills to kids. Feel free to ignore, I know there are loads of drum teachers who disagree with me, but I'm happy to die on this hill.

If he can't hear it at the drum set, he won't learn it at the drum set. Stand him up and have him clap to songs, stomp his feet, count out loud. Hearing time is a fundamental musical intuition and it's very physical. It comes from active listening and participation in childhood, so not everyone is going to have it if they weren't singing and dancing a lot as kids. And if they don't have it, demonstrably the quickest way to get it is to fast track them through what they should've been doing as a child. Just basic old reliable Day-1 Kodaly & Orff stuff.

I do body games a lot with really young kids and hopeless teens/adults. March in time to the beat, right foot leading. Clap with every step, now clap with just the left step. Split the body and slap each thigh as you step. Do the same but slap the right leg on every step. We do our step first the we add saying "right left" and/or counting to four.

By the time they're marching in time, slapping the right leg every beat, left leg on 2 & 4, and counting, it's resolved forever, and if often doesn't take more than one lesson for adults, usually half a lesson and a reminder to do that whenever they listen to music or walk down the street bobbing their heads.

It feels weird not teaching drums at the drums, but as a method it works. I've gotten dozens and dozens of 4-6 year olds independently playing a money beat within 1-3 lessons this way (edit: eh, some take 2-6, but we intersperse it with other none coordination stuff). This last year I picked 3 teen students who had each been taking drum lessons for 1-2 years and still couldn't hear a pulse let alone a backbeat, couldn't count, identify a downbeat, nothing. All 3 got it fixed after just 1-2 lessons of doing stupid goofy marching games together to fun music.

Just a quick second thought: also don't underestimate the power of simple quarter-note notation. One of those 3 remedial students I picked up, while the march/dance helped, that was after things already clicked by teaching her how to read quarter notes and rests, then seeing rhythms and beats mapped out on a staff. Some people are very spatial learners, and notation will allow them to easily understand rhythms in a way they may not hear right away. It's all about finding how the student learns and then supplying the right method.

When starting at the drum set, there are just so many unsupported, unprepared for concepts and skill that can just be jumped into. Even the need to hear where "one" is? My advice start simpler. If someone has no knowledge and no experience - respect that and don't expect to get what counting even is, what it means, why we do it. Those things that we consider second nature have to be explained and taught. It shouldn't take that long for a student to pick these things up... but skipping over it can just rob them of an essential foundation.

I had my first lesson about 60 years ago and to this day, I remember that lesson. That lesson where the door was unlocked to reveal the path to learning inner workings of music, the mysteries as to how it works.

So I'm feeling a bit like a broken record with this - but once again... Haskell Drum Method Book 1. Except for the first outdated pages on how to hit a drum, don't skip one page. A student that gets this stuff easily will move through it quickly. Glossing over it or skipping parts for the student struggling with it will leave holes in that players fundamental abilities.

This isn't esoteric or theoretical stuff - it is acquiring understanding and control over 1/8th notes, 16th notes and triplets.... the things that comprise 99.9% of all of the music we play.

Again it is all about not putting the cart before the horse. Especially at the very beginning.

Clap your hands to the pulse of the song.

If one of the claps gets more emphasis than the others, its likely the "1".

Then show how to go from clapping to counting.

toddbishop said:

In that case using my Butthole Surfers example may not be wise.



If none of the suggestions worked to at least illustrate the principle, just make them count everything they practice, and do a lot of listening with them, counting along with the recording. Do that first actually.

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LOL! i can see the flyer distributed to the congregation.

As a full-time drum teacher, I spend my entire week watching beginner students "lose the 1." There's nothing the slightest bit unusual about it. The student is playing along and suddenly their fills are ending with a crash on beat 3. haha.

In every single case, the problem occurs because the student has stopped counting.

DrumDoug said:

I’m stumped how to teach this.

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Literally just have the student count OUT LOUD while they play. That's all ya gotta do. Every time their mouth stops moving, remind them once again to count.

Over time, they will develop an intuitive sense of not only the 1 but the entire measure.

Yes, of course, we can try to point out to the student that there are clues to the 1. For example, there is often a bass drum note, or a chord change, or the beginning of a lyric, etc. etc. etc.

In reality though, trying to focus on all of that would just be complicating matters. I believe that you simply have a beginner student who isn't counting. It's the most common thing in the world. Just have the student count out loud, and the problem will be solved.