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Video Troubleshooter
Bill Powelson's
School of Drums
(Absolute Beginners thru Ultra Advanced)
* ENTRY PAGE:
ONLINE DRUM SET LESSONS (W/VIDEO) *
PRIVATE DRUM SET COURSE (ONLINE), FOR FREE.
This web site contains 125 free, structured drum set lessons.
With it, you can achieve
comparable or BETTER results, than if you were to take weekly lessons, with a private instructor.
You have just wandered into a priceless treasury of drum
lessons, drumset tips, percussion
techniques and drumming tricks. This website contains more than
125 free drumset lesson. It's a complete course in drumset
techniques that will rival private lessons anywhere
in the world. These lessons are structured for
absolute beginners to ultra advanced. You may learn at your
own pace and the lessons are free, though you may be occasionally
asked to check-out one of my totally fascinating educational
products (left column), or make a donation.
LEARN TO PLAY THE FULL DRUM SET.
NO DRUMS OR STICKS NECESSARY.
You WILL learn to play
drumset, the easiest, the most thorough, and fastest way possible,
if you'll study each of these lessons. In fact, these lessons
will save you the equivalent of 30 years of frustration, and about
$2,000 (US) dollars. That's what these lessons would cost you
in my private studios. Most of the info contained is NOT in
the books, and other study-methods you'll encounter elsewhere.
DO IT RIGHT NOW, AS YOU
SIT AT YOUR COMPUTER.
It is my prayer and hope, that once you see the value of this
course and how it can change your life; Maybe your gratitude
will be shown in the form of a purchase (or donation) of some sort. Without a
little income, this site will not be here long. It costs money
to provide it. Those of you who benefit from it,
should help keep it alive for others. It's your duty!
If that doesn't
happen, it will go away!
All you have to do
is learn first, then donate, or make a purchase. If you'll give-back
what it's worth to you, I will thank you
graciously, and so will all those more impoverished students
who will follow you.
To purchase a product (see the left column),
is the same as making a donation. It all helps this site to
survive. Most of the products are designed to pay you back
10-fold anyway! They're all worth far more than the 'donation'
price I'm asking. If you'll investigate them, you'll see what
I mean. These products are all priceless, fascinating and educational.
They're designed to take you towards 'guru' status. You'll NEED
and want them, whether you are aware of it or not. Just check them out,
that's all I ask.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
IT'S 100% FREE!
MORE THAN 125
'STRUCTURED LESSONS'
FOR ALL LEVELS.
This complete course (below)
is designed to take you from air-drummer to accomplished
pro in as little as 6 months, (or maybe less.)
You CAN do this! I've found that approximately 7 in 10
people can become working pro-drummers in under six months (or less),
using the methods you'll discover here. The only thing stopping
you is your own negativity and/or procrastination. Make a bookmark,
and plan to come back many times. It can't be done in one day, but
it most definitely can be done in under 6 months.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
WHAT'S THE DEAL? WHY IS ALL THIS FREE?
Between 1994 and 2007, this complete course WAS EXCLUSIVE TO PAID MEMBERS ONLY. It paid it's
own way without a problem, during those years.
 I've now decided to try to
make it free to everyone. If this 'donation' plan works, this site will be here forever!
Study the free lessons (below) first. Then, treat yourself to one (or ALL) of the
valuable products (top left margin.) They all tend to pack huge rewards, and most will pay for
themselves, anyway. You won't lose. That's a certainty!
To make a purchase (left column) is the same as making a donation!
To make a purchase here is like offering a helping-hand to an up-and-coming drummer, in some
remote region of the world.
Please keep in mind, the real objective, here. This course is a God-send to many young drummers in places like the Philippines,
South Africa, India, and other distant countries, where drum lessons OF THIS QUALITY, are simply not available at
any price. I want it to remain free for those who can not afford it. (Those of us who have, need
to help the 'have nots'. It's that simple.) Thanks.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
It is easy! Simply start at the beginning! Click this
link, LESSON MENU #1, and make a bookmark. The actual lesson line-up begins
on this web page. It's LESSON MENU #1. Make your bookmark
there for easier reference and studying.
There
are four Lesson Menus, and they are all chocked full of free
lessons. The Beginner lessons are located on Lesson Menu #1,
and all the Intermediate, and Advanced lessons, are on the other
three Lesson Menus.
If you think you are intermediate or advanced,
I recommend that you should at least look over lesson
#4, (the basic beats) before for moving any deeper into the course.
If you can repeat all five of those patterns from memory and
recognize them in the music playing around you everyday,
then study any lesson that interests you after that. Check out
all the lessons on all four lesson menus. You will gain tons of new and useful,
professional knowledge. No matter how long you have been playing, or
what levels you may have achieved, there is something here for
drummers of ALL levels, and musical tastes.
You WILL learn to play any and all styles of music here, and you'll learn to play all
of them very well. You can easily go pro, with all this knowledge in your bag of
tricks.
YOUR FREE COURSE IN DRUM SET TECHNIQUES STARTS HERE.
(ALL LEVELS: BEGINNER THRU ULTRA ADVANCED)
BEGIN IMMEDIATELY!
LESSON MENU #1 / LEVEL #1: Beginners
This level is for the absolute beginner or the mildly curious.
It is a threshold to discovery and the seed from which your hidden talents will grow.
The Introductory Page My goal here is to convince everyone they should give
drumming a try.
PRELIMINARIES: Holding the sticks, kicking the pedals and tips for
lefties. Skip this lesson for now if you do not yet have a drumset. You may study most of this course without
even owning a pair of drum sticks! I'll explain in the next lesson.
BEGINNERS, TAKE LESSON #1 (BELOW):
LEARN TO PLAY 50 MILLION SONGS IN 5 MINUTES.
DRUM LESSON #1
- Drummers Aptitude Test: This page is a must for the curious. Prove that you can do it. Complete this page and discover that a career in drumming may be only five minutes away! You will come
away from this one lesson with the ability to play 50,000,000 (or more) songs.
DRUM LESSON #2
- Reading Drum Notation Forget all your fears about reading music. You will be doing it comfortably in five minutes. This little bit of knowledge will get you through the more difficult lessons ahead.
DRUM LESSON #3
- Note Values, Rhythm Terminology and Symbols: This material is essential but somewhat boring and dry. You can move ahead without it! Do the best you can but don't let it kill your spirit. This material will begin to make more sense
as you continue to study and jam with your favorite recordings.
LEVEL #2: Intermediate
YOU'LL LEARN TO PLAY ANOTHER 50 MILLION (OR MORE) SONGS IN THIS
NEXT LESSON, BELOW . . .
DRUM LESSON #4
- The Basic Dance Beats: If you can't name and play these five basic dance beat categories from memory, please take this lesson. This is foundation knowledge and it is extremely important! After memorizing these patterns you will find yourself playing along with nearly every song on the radio. Use the 'Song List' to help get the feel of each beat.
DRUM LESSON #5
- 3/4 Waltz: This BASIC DANCE BEAT is so special that it deserves a page of its own. The modern rock scene has very much ignored this potentially volatile rhythm structure, even though it contains over five-quintillion variation possibilities. If you want to innovate a few decades of new music styles, take a hard look at this dance beat category as we discover many ways to make it explode with imagination and creativity.
WHAT ABOUT DRUMS?
WHAT TO DO IF YOU DO NOT OWN DRUMS.
You were born with a free drumset! It's within your imagination!
Learn to use it every day. Don't let negativity stop you from learning. Learn to practice the way
ALL successful drummers practice (24/7/365) when they are not physically behind a drum set.
You WILL NOT need a drumset to learn, once you are aware of this one tip.
The Worlds Cheapest Drumset: Do not buy a drumset until you are sure. Simulate a practice set instead, this inexpensive way.
How to buy a Drumset Tips on getting the most for your dollar when buying drums.
Tips on Tuning your Drumset: I contend that even the cheapest drums can be tuned to satisfaction. It is simply a matter of knowing what sound you want and how to get it.
FILLS & ROLLS
As working drummers onstage, with a band, we do two things. We play beats and we play rolls. That's it!
"The drummer who dies with the most beats and rolls, WINS!" :)
So now, we need to focus on rolls. We need to learn
how to use them inside the songs we play. You'll discover just how easy it is, if you'll
religiously study ALL the lessons in this section.
There are classic rolls, and there are improvised (or ad-libbed)
rolls we tend to create on the fly, in mid-song. You'll learn to do both types of rolls in the lessons
below.
Before we begin with the classic rolls and fills, I want to show you how to create improvised
fills on the fly. This is the way we tend to do it most often, onstage. We tend to make-up
or invent the rolls we need, as we need them in the music. All it requires is a little
imagination and timing. The rest is made-up. You'll learn to play whatever seems to fit
with the specific songs you will play. This is a text lesson, but what you'll learn here
will eventually become a routine playing habit.
DRUM LESSON #6:
Playing Perfect Fills in mid-song, every time: ALL MYSTERIES SOLVED!
This lesson is a text lesson. I'll explain, and you'll quickly understand, the secret we all use
to drop ad-libbed fills into any song, on the 'fly', at the drum set. You'll get it, as you
sit at the computer. No drum set necessary!
DRUM LESSON #7: All about rudiments.
- Rudiments, Rolls and Fills (Part 1A): Boring RUDIMENTS are not so boring when used as thundering fill patterns in mid-song. (Simplified for beginners!) This page contains links to the 26 N.A.R.D. rudiments,
but I do NOT advise studying them directly from the charts. It's just too slow and boring. The trick is
to easily learn to use them habitually, then use them every day as you play and jam for fun. They'll develop
100 times faster, my way . . . and you'll have ten times the fun. My way follows, in the lessons below . . .
DRUM LESSON #8
- 16th Single Stroke Roll
DRUM LESSON #9
- 16th Double Stroke and Paradiddle Rolls
DRUM LESSON #10
- 8th Triplets
DRUM LESSON #11: THE CLASSIC FILLS.
- Rudiments, Rolls and Fills (Part 1B): SPICE UP YOUR FILLS! Learn to use a FULL PALETTE of rhythmic color, at all times.
This complete assortment of NOTE-VALUE fills, once memorized, will add variety to your 'imagination tool-box' as you jam. Here, you'll improve your reading/writing skills, and your improvisational (or jamming) creativity at the same time.
This may be one of the most important lessons in this course. It's also one of the most difficult! Take your
time. With my private students, I spread this lesson over a 4 to 6 week period. It'll be difficult to
digest all of this in one sitting. Take it slow, but get it all, eventually. It's really about 6 lessons
rolled into one. Watch the videos and memorize the fill names, and the way each one sounds. Be able to call these
fills by name as you hear them in the music that plays around you every day. You'll be hearing these
fills every where. They are the classics!
MORE . . . Intermediate and advanced lessons . . .
LEVEL #3: Advanced
DRUM LESSON #93:
- Rock Syncopations: These patterns will put the 'fun' into 'funky'. You should have a solid feel for rock variations before attempting syncopations. Again, you'll use these patterns every day of your career!
DRUM LESSON #94:
- Rudiments, Rolls and Fills (Part 2): A little knowledge can take you a long way. Learn to extend and combine fills within a beat pattern or a song. This lesson, when mixed with a little imagination, will add polish to your style. Imagination is the key element!
DRUM LESSON #95:
- Beat the Monster Drummers to that Sought-After, Dream Gig: Precious tips and tricks that winners live by. This may be the lesson that will put you over the top.
- MANY MORE (INTERMEDIATE AND ADVACED) FREE DRUM SET LESSONS! All the E-M lessons complete with sound AND VIDEO! Study drumset
lessons E-M #1 thru E-M #14 now! This is LESSON MENU #2.
Bills Bio. . . Take dis link only if you wanna meet da teach'.
- TESTIMONIALS: Read a few success stories. It may boost your confidence.
See what my former 'paid' students have to say about
this course. Most of these people PAID for these same 125-lessons you are receiving at no cost.
*** FREE STUFF! ***
*** FREE FOR A VERY LIMITED TIME! ***
You can acquire any one of the following educational products for free!
Just drop an e-mail, and tell me which one you would like. (See the ads in the top left column,
for details . . .)
For a short time, I'll be GIVING them away!
Ask for any ONE of the following products via e-mail. I'll send e-mail instructions on accessing it,
at no cost . . . today!
 ***
 *** 
CHOOSE ONE FOR FREE!
Ask for any 'one' of the above very valuable products, via e-mail to Bill P: drums01@postoffice.att.net I'll send it free! This deal will only be available to the first 10 people who ask. I only want to see if ANYONE is paying attention! If you are seeing
this offer, it is still available!
Just ask via e-mail: drums01@postoffice.att.net for 1. 'Finite to Infinity', 2. 'PreSchool Guide', or 3. 'The Drum Instructor's Guide'.
Oh! One more thing. If you are really serious about drumming, you should check out the
Downloads page. You'll discover a major surprise gift there as well.
****************************
Your measure of yourself is VERY IMPORTANT! How do
you measure up as a person? This may offer a clue!
****************************
Copyright Bill Powelson 1994 all rights reserved.
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