Learning to play the steel drums: 5 RAV Vast lessons for beginners

Learning to play the steel drums: 5 RAV Vast lessons for beginners

Learning the steel drums is actually very easy
You have just unpacked your RAV Vast. Congratulations! Here it’s time to start playing, but… ugh-oh, what’s wrong? Do you feel like you have just fallen into a rabbit’s hole, and everything looks so strange, and you have no idea of how to play steel drums? Let’s start at the very beginning. Here are five essential tutorials that will guide you through learning steel drums! All the tutorials will require a different amount of time to learn and acquire the techniques, so don’t try to watch them all at a time. We recommend to start with the first two lessons, get the basics, and then move to steel drum lessons №3, 4, and 5.
Take your time to get acquainted with the instrument, take small steps by learning every lesson. Remember that consistency is the key! 5 minutes of training a day will bring more effect than 2 hours a month.

Lesson 1 – learning the basics

This is the place where anyone can start his journey to the world of the RAV Vast music. Do you have fear to start? This video will help you to overcome it! In this lesson, you’ll learn how to place the drum in the right way, you’ll learn different ways to produce sound and basic playing techniques. Some techniques may seem excessive at the beginning. We recommend you to save this video to favorites so you will be able to get back to it when you evolve and find something new every time.

Lesson 2 – involve both hands

Move forward! In this lesson, you’ll learn to involve both hands while playing (yes, just like in piano!), learn the basics of rhythm theory, and will get some special tips for beginning drummers.

Always remember to have fun while playing. It’s fine if you rather want to just enjoy playing than learning new techniques some certain days. Just enjoy your time playing the RAV Vast. Your brain and hands also need time to remember what you have already learned.

Now when you’ve learned the basics, you may be asking yourself, how can I improve my drumming skills? The following tutorials will provide you will the essential skills and will help to move from the beginner to the intermediate level.

Lesson 3 - learning the basic rhythm of 4/4

With this tutorial, you’ll learn the basic 4/4 rhythm - a regular and simple beat pattern that is widely used in most Western musical traditions. In this tutorial, you will learn the theory of music time signatures (this will help you to prepare yourself for playing steel drum sheet music in the future) and get a simple (and catchy) playing pattern.

Lesson 4 – learning roll technique for 2 hands

Roll is a special technique that makes fingers look like dancing and flying above the drum’s surface. This technique provides an interesting sound effect and will make you look like a pro. The tutorial is accessible for beginners and can add some “sparkling” effect to your melodies.

 

Lesson 5 – add dynamics to your music

 The RAV Vast is great for meditative melodies, but if you feel bored with a slow playing style, this tutorial will become a game-changer for you! Learn to create an ambient of a fast and complicated melody by shifting the accents in the pattern you already know. A simple tip that will make an easy groove sound more lush and complicated!

Would you like to learn more about how to get better in drumming and get some exclusive tips? Log in with your personal account at our website, follow the Education section, and you’ll get access to a set of tutorials and drum practice tips.

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