Benefits of playing drums and percussion

To play drums or percussion gives you a very solid sense of time, co-ordination between hands and feet, a very physical way to make music and a central place in any group: when the rhythm is firm, they all play better. In Colombia, moreover, they connect you with a rich rhythmic tradition, from cumbia to curulao.

Here we have these benefits with concrete examples, what a profile they usually enjoy and the challenges of practice (volume, space and technique) that we should have clear before we start.

To sum up

The percussion trains the pulse: to play in time, without accelerating or slowing, is of the best value for any musician.
The battery works with the co-ordination of the four extremities, each with a different task.
It's a way to make very physical music, that a lot of people live as a way to download energy.
The percussionist most often plays as a group: gangs, orchestras, middlees, chirimas and praising groups.
The real challenges are volume, space at home and understanding that playing well is to play with control, and not with force.

A sense of the rhythm to the test of everything

A percussionist's main job is to hold his pulse. It looks simple till you try to play the same pattern for five minutes without accelerating, or keeping him while his guitarist gets lost. That stability trains, and that's what makes a group sound tied up.

You learn how to subdivide: feel the chordes and half-cordes within every time.
[metronomic]](/herramientas/metronomo) and with clues till time's put into your body.
A straight rhythm of one with swing, and a four-by-six-by-eight commas.
You learn how to read rhythms, something that later serves you with any instrument.

Coordination of hands and feet

At the drums, the right hand can carry the hy-hat, the left and the right foot and the right foot to open and close the hy-hat, each with a different pattern. At first the extremities are copied with each other and with slow exercises, each gain independence. The day a groove goes out completely without thinking about it is among the most celebrated in class.

At the minor percussion the challenge is another: his hands go directly onto his leather. At a conga or a cune, you learn to get several sounds from his drum (open, covered, low, dry) depending on how and where you hit. It's a more thin co-ordination with his fingers and palms.

Energy, movement and a physical way to make music

A few instruments involve both the body. To play a complete groove moves arms, legs and trunk, and many people live it as a way to release the accumulated energy at day. For children and adolescents who need to move, it's usually an instrument that connects at once.

That doesn't mean playing crazy. A good part of the technique involves using the bounce of the baqueta, relaxing dolls and shoulders and tipping up the force. A drummer who plays relaxed holds a complete concert and a tenseous player gets tired of two songs and also sounds worse.

The engine of any group

The percussionist rarely plays alone. His natural place is the group, and in Colombia there are many:

Martial and high school gangsThat they parhave at times of their families and at events of their schools.
Rock and pop bands and praising groups in churches, where the drums hold up the whole repertoire.
Orquestas of salsa and tropical musicwith conga and timbals and bawk and bell.
Fallenateswith box and guacharaca next to the accordion.
Cumbia and gaite groupswith a cheerful drum and a call and a drum.
Chirimies and Pacific groupswith cune and light and pounding.
Comparison and fringes at carnival and festival.

Playing as a group teaches you how to listen rather than how to look at you: how to lower the volume at the standout, how to announce the passage to the chorus and how to hold up the rest as something goes down.

A door to the Colombian rhythms

Colombia has an enormous rhythmic wealth, and percussion is the most direct way to get into it. That's a quick map:

Ritmos Colombians and their instruments of percussion
Rhythm or region	Instruments	What do you learn by touching him?
Cumbia (Caribbean)	Cheer drum, call, drummer, seatballs and guache.	To hold a pattern while another drum improvises onto its top.
Vallegranate (Caribbean)	Vallenata and guacharaca box.	The promenade air, they are, meringue and pura, each with its speed and accent.
Porro and Fandango (Córdoba and Sucre)	Bomb, pounding and saucer in the pellet bands.	To play with power and precision as a band of winds.
Currulao (Pacific)	Cununas, pump, guasah and marimba.	To feel both patterns at two and three.
Barbuco and corridor (Andina)	Stretch, spoons, panda and, in modern versions, drums.	ternary technologies and the particular accent of Andean music.
Salsa (Cali and the whole country)	Fingers, tidal tidal tidal, beamed, bell and giro.	The key, Seville and Section work.

Do not have to choose between drums and minor percussion forever: many drummers adapt these rhythms to set. If you doubt where to start, read [Latin drums or percussion]](/blog/bateria-o-percusion-latina) and, to get to know the atmosphere, explain Colombian rhythms.

Real challenges and who's usually good at them

challenges

Volume. A sound battery at an apartment in Bogotá is a serious issue with its neighbours. A practice pad or an electronic battery with hearing aids solve a good deal.
Space. A complete set takes up more than it looks and looks at alternatives at how to choose a battery or drawer to start with.
Hearing protection. Playing acoustic drums for hours without stoppings isn't a good idea and get used to them from the start.
Patience with rudiments. Reducible and paradoxical with methonomus are not the most exciting but they are the basis for everything else.

Profiles that are usually good with

People who move while listening to music and drummer at the table without noticing.
Those who enjoy playing with others more than alone.
Those who want to get into the high school, church or friends band.
Fairy with salsa, cumbia or vallenate that wants to understand the rhythm from inside.

At [percussion and battery classes]](/clases/percusion) you can focus on set, minor percussion or both, depending on the music that moves you.

Frequently asked questions

Do you have a drummer for young people?

No. Adults of any age can start, as long as they play with relaxed technique and respect their rest. A controlled electronic battery and short sessions at first greatly facilitate their start.

Do we have to read music to play drums?

To start with, no. But the rhythmic reading opens up many doors: you get more quick songs, you get what they're asking for in an essay and you can play in bands that work with score. It's learned little by little at the same time as the instrument.

What's more about the battery or minor percussion?

They develop different things. The drummer works more with the independence of hands and feet and with minor percussion, with the sound of their hands and nuances and with Section work. In the long term, knowing a little about them makes you a more complete musician.

Can a very restless child have his or her drums?

Many high-energy children find a place to move with meaning in their batteries. Nevertheless, every child is different and what's important is a teacher that combines movement with short-term structures and exercises.