Play in a band
Posted on May 22, 2013 in News
One of the best ways to develop musical skills is to play in a band with other musicians. That’s why we created the JamSocial events which have been really popular across London. The events attract drummers, guitarists, bassists, vocalists and other musicians – anyone that wants to play in a band. JamSocial brings musicians together in a live performance situation and develops band...
Read MoreDeveloping grooves in 12/8
Posted on May 2, 2013 in Creative Concepts
The 12/8 time signature Following on from our previous article about the basics of constructing a groove in a triplet time feel, this article takes the idea a step further and suggests some ways to play grooves in the 12/8 time signature. Revisit Playing Grooves Using Triplets for an introduction to the concept. Getting started Triplets are groups of 3 notes. These 3 notes make up one...
Read MoreDrumming at JamSocial
Posted on Apr 8, 2013 in News
JamSocial is a music workshop for adults learning an instrument to develop band skills and break down the barriers to performing on stage. Hosted by Elephant Drums, the structure for the event includes skill-specific workshops in the morning, band / group sessions in the afternoon, followed by performances, networking and jam sessions. We cover a range of songs in different styles at the events...
Read MoreLive music venues in London (part 2): Brixton
Posted on Feb 1, 2013 in Guides and Resources
In this series about live music venues in London we offer an insider’s guide to some of the many live music venues across the city. In part one, we chose a few venues in Camden (see Part 1: Camden). This time we head south of the river to explore Brixton. This guide is for you if you are fairly new to London, or just visiting / on holiday, or perhaps you have lived here for a long time and...
Read MoreOnline drum lessons 2012 – editor’s picks
Posted on Dec 31, 2012 in Guides and Resources
Traditionally at this time of year we review our picks of free online drum lessons. These are some of best bits from the drumming archives: Popular topics in 2012 Most viewed topic: Practice Routine Topic with most social shares: Drum Techniques Most commented topic: Beginners Review of the year Besides our one-to-one lessons at our London studios we have been leading workshops, running events...
Read MoreThe A Team: drum cover
Posted on Dec 29, 2012 in Creative Concepts
A great way to improve your drumming is to play a drum cover. A drum cover is a version of a song where you lay down new drums over the top of the original recording. The drum parts for a drum cover might stick faithfully to the original drummer’s playing or you might deviate and add in your own ideas. We’re going to create a drum cover for a song where the original version...
Read MoreWhere to find good live music in London (part 1)
Posted on Dec 24, 2012 in Guides and Resources
Want some recommendations for live music in London? Elephant Drums is here to direct you to a selected few of our favourite live music venues across the city. In part one, we start (predictably) with the area of the city most people associate with London’s live music scene, Camden Town. This guide is for you if you are fairly new to London, or just visiting / on holiday, or perhaps you...
Read MoreUsing beat displacement to create drum beats
Posted on Dec 21, 2012 in Creative Concepts
By altering familiar drum beats using permutations and variations you can create new drum beats without a huge amount of effort. Take a drum beat or phrase you’ve got “in the bag” (one that you can play without even thinking about it), and alter it in some way. One way of altering grooves to create new permutations is beat displacement. Beat Displacement In its simplest form...
Read MoreA to Z of drumming definitions
Posted on Dec 19, 2012 in Guides and Resources
Some of the most commonly misinterpreted drumming terms are covered in this mini-dictionary of drumming definitions. We’ve chosen one drumming-related word for each letter of the alphabet for this drumming dictionary. Learn these if you’re starting out on drums to help get a head-start in some of the more tricky terms and definitions you’ll come across as a...
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