Take up drums at age 56?

@n80, you've discovered the main failing of electronic drums, that of dynamic graduation. Don't worry about that for now, there's nothing to be done.

Excellent advice from shadorne, the George Stone book is the standard. He also brought up the wrist, which is SO important. You can spot an untrained drummer a mile away by his use of the elbows as his "fulcrum" rather than his wrists. "Snapping" your wrist creates a much more "percussive" sound than playing from your elbow (the snare drum really "Pops!"), plus will allow you to play with less effort. Sure, you can raise your arm up high and slam it down to play louder, but snap your wrist just as the stick approaches the drumhead. It makes a huge difference in the sound produced: much more "attack", even if the SPL created is equivalent.

While I'm here, a musical tip: Everybody learns by watching and listening to others, and some things we do, we do so without thinking of the "why". We play things simply because we have learned "That's how you're supposed to play". It wasn't until I heard Levon Helm's playing on the first two Band albums that I realized one doesn't have to do what every other drummer was doing in the late-60's: hitting a crash cymbal at the end of EVERY fill. Levon didn't unless doing so served a musical purpose, just one piece of musical wisdom I learned from The Master. I then noticed the same was true of my favorite studio drummers: Hal Blaine, Jim's Gordon and Keltner, Roger Hawkins (who plays a killer press roll, which he uses brilliantly), Al Jackson, Earl Palmer, other greats.

The better the musicians, singers, and songwriters you are working with, the more they will notice and appreciate not just what you do play, but what you don't. The number one complaint about drummers is over-playing. Play in service to the song, the singer, and the other instruments, and you will be in demand.

Yup @n80, drums are loud! Useta drive my dad nuts; one day he came into my room when I was playing along with Charlie Watts on "Satisfaction" and told me "I said you could practice, not do this."

One reason Gretsch are big in the South is they're made in South Carolina. Or at least they have been for awhile. Originally they were made in Brooklyn, New York. Lots of 50's-60's Jazz drummers played Gretsch, as did Levon Helm of The Band. Some guys who have endorsement deals with other drum companies play Gretsch in the studio, Jeff Porcaro (L.A. studios, Toto) for one. Their shell design is excellent, and they've always fitted their drums with die cast hoops.

@n80, allow me to offer one piece of advice: remember that the value of technical ability is nothing more than the ability to play with your limbs what you hear in your mind. Poorly-conceived drum parts perfectly-executed nonetheless constitutes poor drumming. There are a number of drummers known for having advanced technique whose parts in musical terms are not what I look for in a drummer. I won't mention any names, as any one of them may be a favorite of a participant in this thread ;-) .

Conversely, there is a musician whose drumming in musical terms is amongst my favorites: Richard Manuel, pianist/singer of The Band. He plays drums on about half the songs on The Band's second s/t album, and his parts are absolutely amazing. Not just musically appropriate, but very imaginative, original, and unique. And drums were not (R.I.P.) even his first instrument!

There is one drummer rarely mentioned whose playing is really, really special (even Buddy Rich loved him): John Barbata of The Turtles (and later Jefferson Airplane/Starship). Listen to his drumming on "Happy Together", "She'd Rather Be With Me", and "Elenore". For the technically-inclined, the drum parts are fairly difficult to execute. For the musically-inclined, they are not only absolutely brilliant, but also very exciting in a Keith Moon-kind of way.

Here's another tip, this one from guitar virtuoso Danny Gatton:

Danny, to his new drummer after the first set of the drummer's first live gig with Danny: "Hey, you know all that fancy sh*t you play?"

The drummer to Danny: "Yeah."

Danny: "Don't."

@n80, it’s good to hear you are more intent on playing in a, as you put it, subtle style. While you might be able to pull off Keith Moon-style drumming in a few years (he played using single-stroke only, no doubles; you’ll learn what that means when you study with a teacher), the same cannot be said of Peart and Bonham. Remember, they had been playing for many years before they did any recording, and the number of years it would take for you to be able to play on their level might exceed that of your remaining lifetime!

Let me back up, and give you some basics. All musical styles require, first and foremost, a drummer be able to keep steady time. That seems obvious and not hard to do, but try playing along with a click track! Ringo Starr was excellent in that regard, better than many more technically-advanced drummers. Good singers are very aware of time (phrasing is one of their most important jobs), and are very critical of any drummer who doesn’t have rock-solid time.

If it’s old R & B and Blues you want to play, the first thing you need to learn is to play the shuffle/swing feel, the basic feel of Blues, Jazz, and Traditional Country. Neil Peart embarrassed himself in the drumming community when it became obvious during the Buddy Rich Tribute Show that he lacked the ability to swing.

The "press roll" is used a lot in R & B and Blues, and being unable to play it will be a pretty big limitation and liability. To play a press roll you need to be able to play more than single strokes, so I would say you should start by studying with a teacher who can help you with the rudiments. You’ll be glad you did!

I recommend you study the recordings of Roger Hawkins; he played on all the Jerry Wexler-produced Atlantic Records recordings done at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama: Aretha, Wilson Pickett, Solomon Burke, Percy Sledge, many others. He’s also on recordings with Etta James, Duane Allman, Paul Simon, Bob Seger, Joe Cocker, Linda Ronstadt, Leon Russell, hundreds more. He also worked with Traffic, at Steve Winwood’s request. Jim Keltner (another drummer you should listen intently to) said in an interview he wished he played more like Roger. Jerry Wexler proclaimed Hawkins "the best drummer in the world". His playing is pure brilliance!

In an interview, Steve Jordan (Keith Richard’s first-call drummer) said he considered The Band’s Levon Helm basically a Blues drummer. If you want to hear subtle playing at its finest, study the first and second Band albums. Drumming just doesn’t get any better than that! Those first two Band albums contain just about everything you need to know to be able to play drums really well.

Other drummers who will show you the way are Earl Palmer (impossible to imitate), Al Jackson Jr. (of Booker T & The MG’s), George Rains (Jimmie Vaughan’s drummer), Fred Below (Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Little Walter), and Sam Lay (Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Paul Butterfield Blues Band).

Sure @n80, why not?! You don’t say whether or not you want to eventually join a band, but being on stage in front of an audience, or even just in a practice room with other musicians and a singer or two, is a lot more fun that playing alone. While a guitarist and pianist can make music by his or herself, drumming is, in it’s most basic sense, accompaniment for tuned instruments and (usually) a singer. Bluegrass doesn’t even employ drums! In that music, one or more of the instruments accents the 2 and 4, providing the "backbeat" normally played by the drummer on his snare drum. Junior Brown insists his drummer play nothing but the 2/4 backbeat, and many of them lost their job for not doing as they were instructed ;-) .

To a lot of people, playing a drumset doesn’t look like something they could ever do. At first it’s kind of like simultaneously rubbing your belly and patting your head, but if one has the aptitude for rhythm, that will soon pass. One thing drummers work on is independence---each of the four limbs playing a "different thing" than the others. To develop their hands, drummers learn to play the rudiments leading with both left and right. Having a teacher can be helpful, as he can see what you are doing wrong, and steer you in the right direction. The following may be more than you asked for, but you might find it instructive:

When I was a kid, even Elementary Schools (grades Kindergarten through 6th Grade) had an orchestra, and learning to play an instrument was considered part of a basic education. I picked drums, and was taught the Thirteen Essential Rudiments and reading, then put on the snare drum in the orchestra (there was also a bass drum player and a percussionist, who played triangle, cymbals, etc.). At the graduation ceremony of my 6th Grade class, I had to do the flag ceremony---I was the Senior Patrol Leader in my Boy Scout Troop---then play in the orchestra dressed in my Boy Scout uniform!

On the first day of 7th Grade I met a kid named Pete who would soon become my best friend. He too played drums, and joined the Jr. High Orchestra. He already had a snare drum of his own, but I had decided to try my hand at guitar and was taking lessons. A new kid moved onto my block, and he had both an organ and a tape recorder. Pete and I got together with him and started playing music in his living room---organ, guitar, and snare drum.

During the 8th Grade year, Pete started adding pieces to his snare drum---a hi-hat stand and a pair hi-hat cymbals, a cymbal, and then a bass drum. By the middle of the school year he had added a mounted and floor tom---he now had a full kit. We walked home from school together, and I would watch and listen to him play along with records. It looked like fun, and as my fingers were getting really calloused from playing guitar, I started bugging Pete to let me take turns on his drums. He was right handed and I left, so I had to play right-footed and left-handed---just as Dennis Wilson did in The Beach Boys. Pete eventually relented, allowing me to switch the kit around for left-handed playing.

I immediately loved playing drums, and wanted a full set of my own. I guess my Dad thought it would keep me off the street, so one day came home with a set of used Ludwig drums and Zildjian cymbals (Pete was jealous---his drumset was Japanese [at that time not good] and cymbals student level). I started doing at home what I had done at Pete’s, playing along with records. About two months after I got the drumset, a mutual friend of ours (Pete and I) told us his older brother (19, and in college) and a friend of his were starting a group (that was happening all over the U.S., in response to the British Invasion), and were auditioning drummers. Pete and I both tried out, and much to Pete’ surprise (and chagrin), they chose me. In spite of that, we remained friends ;-). The friend with the older brother was the band’s bassist.

That group rehearsed a couple of months, working up a set of songs. Before we appeared even once in public, the two older guys (guitarist/singer and organist) were stolen away by a couple of guys at their college (Foothill Community, in Los Altos) who were forming a group. They were soon one of the best in the South Bay, the legendary Chocolate Watchband (seen in the Roger Corman teensploitation movie Riot On Sunset Strip). The Watchband stole their drummer from another local group, The Squyers, and they called me for the audition of drummers to take his place. I was again chosen, and for a year-and-a-half played with them all over the Valley (The Santa Clara), the same places Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham were in their group Fritz. During that time, I learned the basics of how to play in a band.

Funny story: Years later (in the early 00’s), long after both Pete and I had relocated to Los Angeles and he had transformed his garage into a working recording studio (3M 16/24 track), he was hired to engineer and produce one song for a low-budget movie soundtrack. He threw me the gig, and one afternoon I put down my part. Pete happens to love Keith Moon, and kept trying to get me to play a Keith Moon-style part instead of the one I felt the song called for. He was quite insistent, and when I said that if I were to do so the part would walk all over the vocal (sung by one of the offspring of The Lennon Sisters ;-), Pete said, and I quote "Oh, I don’t care about that." Well, I wasn’t about to do it, and he finally gave up. After I left Pete put down his own drum part (his primary instrument was by this time electric bass, but he was still playing drums), and turned in the track with his take to the movie’s Music Supervisor. The track was rejected, so Pete submitted the take with my drumming, and it was accepted. Some things never change ;-) .

After joining The Hawks and spending some time making music with them, Band organist Garth Hudson asked bassist Rick Danko if he knew his scales (Garth obviously had figured out Rick didn’t). Rick put his nose to the grindstone and learned them, and years later said Garth’s advice to learn them was the best he ever received. The drum rudiments are equivalent to the bass scales; knowing them is not absolutely mandatory (Ringo doesn’t, and he’s done alright ;-), but if you wanted to be in Frank Zappa’s band it sure was. Not knowing them puts a limit on how far you can progress technically. Steve Gadd needed to know them to play in the Navy Band, and has provided him with the skills needed to pay the parts he has. And they are great parts! Very musical, using "flash" only when necessary. Some drummers play so as to display his or her chops, not out of the demands of the song.

Billy Swan and I both lived in Sherman Oaks in the 90’s-early 00’s, and became acquainted. He served as Kris Kristofferson’s band leader for many years, and recounted how in the late-60’s everyone was telling Kris he had to get a drummer in his band. So he tried one out, and the guy unfortunately played in the style popular at the time: trying to hit as many drums and cymbals as possible, as many times as possible, "over-playing" to an extreme. Kris didn’t hire him, and swore off drummers. The number one complaint against drummers is the tendency to over-play. Too bad Kris didn’t auditioned a musical player; Kenny Buttrey (Neil Young’s Harvest album) would have been perfect for him.

Learning how to physically play drums is one thing, learning WHAT to play quite another. Kids now have a lot of help in technical matters, but with learning musical "wisdom", you’re on your own!