The Complete Idiot's Guide to
Playing Drums
2nd Edition

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Foreword
by Billy Ward

Music is good. How many things teach us abstract thought while giving us so much joy during the learning process? Learning to play music does this. This is why, when computers were first developing in the eighties and they were hiring programmers, more ex-musicians were hired than people with no musical background. Musicians make great programmers, Scrabble players, and probably better lovers! Having abstract thought (muscles) enables us to see all of our options as we paddle through our lives.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing Drums, Second Edition, answers pragmatic questions like How much does it cost? and How do I begin? Additionally, author Michael Miller paints a pictures of what the real world of drumming is about, including some honest interviews with some of the world's greatest drummers. Like all art forms, drumming isn't necessarily easy. But there is much joy in drumming.

Beyond the personal accomplishments that await the beginning drummer lies a greater understanding and love of music. We drummers sit inside the "engine room" of the band. We run the train! And everybody knows that if the drummer is bad... well, then the band is bad!

Playing drums for me is a giving experience -- I give to the song, and I give to my band mates. The joy that I first received when I played along to records as a nine-year-old has never changed for me. I am just as thrilled today to play a song at the right tempo, and to "color" it appropriately with a tasteful choice from my palette of cymbals, sticks, brushes, and techniques. My band mates and I are sharing each moment with the song and breathing life into it. Yet all of us drummers go into the practice room and come out an hour later -- certain that we've only been in there for ten minutes! Time truly does fly when you're having fun!

As well as pacing the speed, or tempo, of the song, we drummers also pace the dynamics of the song. We decide when it is time to YELL and SHOUT the music loudly, or we might instead decide to whisper a particular section of a song intimately... like to a lover. While recently touring with Joan Osborne, I met the physician for the major league baseball Cleveland Indians. He told me that I feel and appear young because I've been drumming for forty years. It turns out that drumming is excellent cardio-vascular exercise to boot!

Children will go and do something new simply because they feel like it. A child usually has an unwavering antenna tuned to "fun." On the other hand, adults tend to get a little more brittle with each passing year. I hear myself thinking "I could have done that!" Or, "I don't have the time for that ... I'm a complete idiot at that!" I think curiosity is one of the greatest attributes for a musician. If you are curious about drumming, my hope is that you give it a try. Gaugin is recognized as one of the fine art masters and he didn't start painting until he was 40 years old. I recently met Louis Santiago Jr., the drummer who won the 2003 "best unknown drummer" award from Modern Drummer magazine. He's been playing only four years!

How do you measure success? In my opinion, any drummer has experienced the accomplishment of playing a paradiddle comfortably (or for that matter, playing "Louie Louie" in a jam band) has had the same exhilarating feeling of success that the top pros feel. Music is one of the sweet treats of life. I hope you allow yourself the pleasure of tasting it.

Billy Ward is a successful session and touring drummer who has worked with jazz artists Jim Beard, Bill Evans, Leni Stern, and George Russel, and with pop artists Ace Frehley, The Knack, Richard Marx, Joan Osborne, Robbie Robertson, Carly Simon, and Dar Williams. Billy has also recorded numerous motion picture soundtracks, and is a frequent and popular contributor to Modern Drummer magazine. His new book, Inside Out: Exploring the Mental Aspects of Drumming, is published by Modern Drummer Publications. He is currently working on a new instructional film, "Big Time." Billy's Web site is www.billyward.com.