Drummers, does Rock Band help you with real drumming and vise versa?

[RideTheLightning]

Hey just wanting too know what real drummers thinbk of rock band and if It actually helps you with drumming. I am also weanting to know if Drumming screws you up on this game as well becasue mabey the pads arn't alighned wherer they should be and ect. Thanks for answering.

[GreyFoxx]

Well I'm no drummer but to me, Yes it does help you with your drumming. Also I belive most of the people in the top ranks on the leaderboard have drumming experience.

[White_Rider]

I started drumming from scratch about 4 months before Rock Band came out. I bought a cheap set and have attempted to teach myself the basics. I can say from personal experience that playing Rock Band has definitely improved my real drumming skills (which aren't great but getting better). The two things I have noticed improving on the most are speed and timing. Playing in Rock Band requires precise timing and playing this way is almost like playing to a metronome. And of course just playing the songs over and over again will naturally increase your speed.

That said, real drumming still requires much more skill and some things don't translate well. For example, the position of the pads in RB is not really how you play on a standard drum kit. Most drummers cross their hands to play hi-hat and snare, which is different than RB because all of the pads are at the same height. I've also found that my real bass pedal feels much more different than the RB pedal - sometimes it's hard to go from one to the other without some adjustment.

Either RB or a real set will teach you the independence you need to play better. So a real drummer going to RB will have a huge advantage. Playing RB without any prior drumming experience will have a learning curve, but having previous rhythm game experience (like Guitar Hero) will also help.

All in all, it's amazing how great it feels to play drums in RB. I wish there was an easy way to have the drum charts scroll while playing my real drum kit so i can learn the songs on it. Unfortunately, my real drums are not anywhere near my 360 and TV nor can you have the drum chart play back without actually playing them on the RB instrument (well you can in Practice mode, but then the master track will not play).

[BagelBoy]

Actually, I believe if you set practice mode to "100%", the master track plays along with you. Or maybe thats just on the PS3.... *shrugs*




All in all, it's amazing how great it feels to play drums in RB. I wish there was an easy way to have the drum charts scroll while playing my real drum kit so i can learn the songs on it. Unfortunately, my real drums are not anywhere near my 360 and TV nor can you have the drum chart play back without actually playing them on the RB instrument (well you can in Practice mode, but then the master track will not play).

[DrJLZoidbergRB]

I have actually learned to play drums through Rock Band, I had no drumming experience before playing Rock Band and I started playing on medium right away. I slowly worked my way up to expert and thought that maybe I should get a real set. I took a couple of lessons, about five, then I learned how to play Run to the Hills in about 4 actual hours of practice. I haven't really tried learning anything else, but only because I am not able to play my real set right now, but I do have my RB Pro Drum Kit that I recently got. I have been wanting to see how much I have improved this time thanks to RB because I have managed to gold star 40% of my 446 songs and I really want to see how good I am on real drums now. I think more people should play Rock Band drums because it really does help you, you just have to know what you are doing on the RB set compared to a real one, knowing exactly what you are hitting really helps you learn and I get pissed a lot about the positioning of the snare and high hat, but I have learned to accept it for the most part. If anyone has question feel free to ask.

[DMBillies]

Limb independence and forced rhythm. I'm not a real drummer, but I have sat down at real kits a few times in my life before and after RB. There's a world of difference between copying a beat and generating a beat, but RB definitely helps you with the basics necessary to jump into learning for real at a much higher level.

The only concern I would have is that it could also solidify bad habits. If you are serious about learning drums, take a few lessons to learn basic techniques and then use RB to help you get over the beginners hump (i.e., the part where getting yourself coordinated enough to play even basic stuff is the main struggle).

The fact that I can 4-5 star some of the hardest drum songs in the game allows me to know that I can physically play almost anything (minus a hi-hat pedal), so I know that when I mess up on a real drum kit it isn't a physical limitation of the speed of my limbs. That alone, I think, would really help me persevere with learning more stuff... which I might pursue seriously if I had more space/time/money for a drum kit.

[Doom878]

Even after 2 years of expert drumming and pro since October I still feel lost without a track in front of me. It does give a good foundation of developing rhythms and stamina. But with so many factors like hitting the drum in certain places to get certain sounds, hi hat pedal, even the kick drum pedal feels different and I have a rock pedal but no beater, etc still require practice on a real kit. I'm sure if I praticed on a real kit for years I could be pretty decent but owning a kit is not an option at this time.

[PrettyGuts]

I've been expert drumming since RB2 came out, upgraded to the three cymbals in November. I picked up a cheap cymbal stand from L&M to get a more realistic placement of the HH - not only does it spread the kit out a little more, but it is essential for translating to a real kit at some point in the future.

Once you've been drumming long enough, and you've got a real taste for it, upgrade to e-drums. With a good kit (I dream of the Roland td-9) you can program in the HH for open and closed, spread out the kit to your taste, play with a kick w/ a beater and add more cymballage if desired. I think playing a good e-kit is getting pretty close to actual drumming...or so my improved skills are telling me.

[m_estock]

There's a world of difference between copying a beat and generating a beat, but RB definitely helps you with the basics necessary to jump into learning for real at a much higher level.


Couldn't have said it better. There's a big difference between copying what someone else is doing and having the creativity to create your own feel. As a drummer myself, I can say that trying to copy a song beat for beat, note for note, is almost impossible on a real kit. On top of that, it's not really that much fun. Being creative is what drumming is all about.

Think about it this way, when you hear your favorite band live, does the drummer play exactly what you heard on the recording? No. In fact, take two live performances and compare them. The drummer will play something slightly different and unique. Trust me.

Rock Band will give you a "catalog" of rhythms to build upon when you sit down on a real kit. It's difficult to explain any better than that.

[victimsofadown]

... I still feel lost without a track in front of me. It does give a good foundation of developing rhythms and stamina. But with so many factors like hitting the drum in certain places to get certain sounds, hi hat pedal, even the kick drum pedal feels different and I have a rock pedal but no beater, etc still require practice on a real kit...

Been playing expert drums since about 6mo after Rockband was released, got a kit recently, and I agree 100% with this.

[atalkingfish]

It probably depends on the person. I learned a little bit of drumming several years before I played rock band. Then I played rock band and now I am very good at the drums (IMO haha). I guess it's just as long as you are understanding what each pad means as you play them (hi-hat, toms, etc) then you can apply that to your own drumming.

Also, it teaches a LOT of timing and rhythm.

[Pitch-Black]

I have played real life drums for years but you can't tell that from my pro drum scores. It has had, for me, both a possitive and a negative side. The positive is I've had to learn (and am still learning) to better control my limbs to be very specific because the game demands it. This continues to be difficult for me. I actually believe this is more difficult for an experienced drummer to learn to do, in ways, than someone who is brand new and is just taking up drums for Rock Band. Learning that kind of strict control is valuable for a drummer. The negative is, as has been stated elsewhere in this thread, a "real" drummer doesn't have to precisely copy someone elses drumming, even their own. Improvisation is penalized harshly; is, in fact, not even allowed in Rock Band. It's unfortunate because, in my experience, it's been in moments of improvisation that I've found the most connection with the music I'm playing.

[Mercury]

I've played RB drums since RB2 came out, I currently have an ION kit and am able to play ~90% of my 300 song list on expert (I have serious issues with disco beats...even E-Pro is too much for me for some reason, and I can finish panic attack on expert...).

Last week was my first time on a real kit and I was completely lost... I couldn't even hold simple beats because the pedal felt so different it kept throwing me off. After about 30 minutes I started getting the hang of it and when I played Chop Suey's intro (I was totally imagining the chart in my head :P) the guy who's drum kit it was was amazed I got there so fast.

RB experience definitely helps with getting started, but after that you need to get creative and I found it very hard to listen to my drumming and come up with something of my own, being that I am so used to having a chart in front of me.

[DMBillies]

I should add, I study learning from video games and other media for a living. Parents of two year olds ask me regularly, "Does my kid learn anything useful from TV?"

My response goes something like, "Yes, they do seem to learn some things and I don't think you're rotting your kids brain by showing them some TV when you need to get some laundry done. But if you think you're kid is going to learn to be Einstein from watching TV, you're in for a disappointment."

I think the fact is that any learning tool has it's limitations. RB provides a great way to practice the movements necessary to drum in a fun and rewarding way that can make you faster and keep you from getting rusty. It's not magic. And it isn't the only thing you'll want to do to learn, just like you wouldn't pick up a book on drumming and magically expect to be able to do it.

It's really that simple... there's no magic pill for most things that are considered a talent.

[guitarguy6]

I think it can definitely teach you the basics of how to play drums. Being a guitar player I would bang around on the drums throughout the years when given the chance. After getting RB1 and 5* pretty much the whole disc I was able to get behind a kit and actually jam with other musicians. I'm definitely not an amazing drummer but as long as it's not super intense music I can come up with beats and fills while keeping time pretty good. If I wasn't already a musician it's tough to say how much it would've helped. A lot of people just get really good at reading charts and reacting quickly. When I play a song in RB I already know the beat and just need the chart to let me know what cymbol/tom etc to hit.

[Doom878]

I should add, I study learning from video games and other media for a living. Parents of two year olds ask me regularly, "Does my kid learn anything useful from TV?"

My response goes something like, "Yes, they do seem to learn some things and I don't think you're rotting your kids brain by showing them some TV when you need to get some laundry done. But if you think you're kid is going to learn to be Einstein from watching TV, you're in for a disappointment."

I think the fact is that any learning tool has it's limitations. RB provides a great way to practice the movements necessary to drum in a fun and rewarding way that can make you faster and keep you from getting rusty. It's not magic. And it isn't the only thing you'll want to do to learn, just like you wouldn't pick up a book on drumming and magically expect to be able to do it.

It's really that simple... there's no magic pill for most things that are considered a talent.

Agreed. Even as intuitive as pro guitar/bass is, you still gotta play the real thing like a real guitar player (amped) to get good at the real thing.

[Abaddon]

Couldn't have said it better. There's a big difference between copying what someone else is doing and having the creativity to create your own feel. As a drummer myself, I can say that trying to copy a song beat for beat, note for note, is almost impossible on a real kit. On top of that, it's not really that much fun. Being creative is what drumming is all about.

Think about it this way, when you hear your favorite band live, does the drummer play exactly what you heard on the recording? No. In fact, take two live performances and compare them. The drummer will play something slightly different and unique. Trust me.

Rock Band will give you a "catalog" of rhythms to build upon when you sit down on a real kit. It's difficult to explain any better than that.Very well said. I recently got a chance to play my sister's kit for maybe 45 minutes; I'd sat at her kit for about 10 minutes about a year previously, but have never touched a real kit otherwise.

When I sat down I couldn't play much of anything (meaning, a real song) from memory. Without the charts, I was totally lost. But we then got together with her husband (him on guitar, her on keyboard, me on the drums) and jammed for like half an hour straight, and it was amazing. I had no problem executing various beats and filling in what sounded good as we went along, and it was surprisingly natural. Of course there were some cases where I tried something and it didn't work very well but I mixed in a lot of stuff and overall was very pleased. I barely touched the hi-hat pedal of course since Rock Band does nothing for that particular skill at all.

I do have a pretty extensive background in music (piano, acoustic guitar, choral) and I have three years of Rock Band drumming starting from scratch with RB1. But no real drumming at all until this. One thing that made it a lot easier was RB3's insistence on removing disco flipping; in my 10 minutes last year I couldn't play a disco beat on a real kit worth crap, this time out I played some RttH briefly (once I remembered the verse beat) at probably 90% tempo and it sounded good (to my untrained ear)!

I just wish I could do it more often, we live half the country apart. One of these days I'm going to have to figure out how to get a drum set wedged into my house, probably an electronic kit so I can use it for Rock Band too.

[tammossy]

It definitely helps you with your drumming. Some obvious things, like volume control aren't taught (the biggest difference between RB and real kits), and the cymbal and tom placement will be different and would take some getting used to.
The Bass pedal doesn't act exactly like a real pedal, but I find a real pedal plays better than the RB ones, and took no time to get used to.
I had very little experience with drums before playing (i've played bass in bands before, and have jammed a little on drums), but now I feel pretty comfortable getting behind a kit.
The RB kit is all drum triggers, and I'm playing really light, so when I switch to a real kit I have to hit everything with more force, and pay a lot of attention to consistency.

The fancy fills I can do on the RB kit would take a long time for me to pull off on a real kit, again because it's just little drum triggers that i'm hitting.

RB teaches a lot of drum patterns, some fills, and if you build up your "beat library" you can improvise pretty well with what RB teaches you. Of course there's no substitute for practicing on a real kit. I can see it being a big help for beginners/moderate players. At the least it gives you some ideas for making up beats on your own. If you like a drum pattern in RB, steal it and play around with it to make it yours.

[triforceknight]

I started playing Rock band as soon as it came out and a few months later i got into the drumming. Last year i bought the Cymbals and played with them on rock band 2 using them where i was supposed to, or at least most of the time (sometimes i used them wrong). For a while i was playing expert drums with the cymbals and i was usually getting 90% or better on most songs (still cant do painkiller or panick attack).
A few months ago i got a USB electronic kit and i sat down behind it and i was able to play a few beats real easy. then when i tried to play some of the more complicaited beats i was lost. I could hear them in my head but without a note chart to follow i was totaly lost. I think that i am screwed majorly because im so used to having a chart that i cant play by ear. Sure its easy to air drum the correct beats but put the sticks in my hand and i lose my coordination. Ive plugged my computer in, turned on youtube and played along with some of the youtube gameplay charts for both ROck Band and Guitar hero for drums and i do it almost perfectly (my step bro said when i do master of puppets it sounds almost perfect). Im wondering if ill be doomed to be the drummer who had to create a program on his laptop that mimics RBs Pro charts to even play.

[DrowGamer77]

It helps me THINK I could be a real drummer.

That's about it.

[DackAttac]

A principle that holds true for a lot of pro mode stuff:

You make a lot of things up on the fly when you play in a band (unless they put sheet music in front of you).

You'll often need to know everything by memory, and either make up beats and fills as your go, or know damn well what you'll need to do ahead of time. Hell, my biggest weakness is still improvising fills and then going right back into the groove without missing a beat.

That said, there's a lot I avoid as a drummer because I know I'm weak at it. Snare-on-the-downbeat, kick-on-the-upbeat is a major one. RB kinda forces you to do things that are outside your comfort zone in a way self-discipline could never do (unless you're really, well, self-disciplined).

[Aaron_F_1985]

I'm not a drummer, but Rock Band has definitely peaked my interest in wanting to play drums. I think I am going to buy a drum brain and turn my ION's into an electronic kit.

Since there is no hi hat pedal I don't know how good I would be at keeping a hi hat rhythm and a bass rhythm at the same time.

[BleedingPurist]

I know you want to hear from real drummers who were already accomplished before coming to Rock Band, but I'll put my two cents in anyway. Rock Band was an opportunity to get my foot in the door on an instrument I had always wanted to play.. but seemed out of reach due to expense, space, ability to play without bothering anyone else. Rock Band played a major role in heightening electronic/V-Drums in the public consciousness.... at least it did for mine. I always saw electronic drums as something for Rick Allen (who I always admired) and other professionals, not for the everyday person.

I only used the RB stock kit for a few months. I quickly outgrew it because I knew I needed more. There was no way I was going to try to keep growing on a toy kit. So I went ahead and invested in the Ions, swapping out the pedal with real bass pedal on a Roland kick pad. I can't believe the posts here from people talking about playing on the stock kit. The stock kit is truly for only the most casual drummer, and I use the term "drummer" loosely. It's the difference between playing the stock guitar and the Mustang.

It really does depend on the player as far as what you will get out of it learning real drumming skills. It definitely teaches timing by acting as a metronome and contributes to learning limb independence. However, beyond that you need to keep an awareness on how you are playing. Are you hitting with the correct velocity or are you just aiming to hit the pads without regard for it? Can you play the same pattern on a real kit and make it sound like it should? Are you using proper grip on the sticks or developing a bunch of a bad habits? It comes down to how much are you filling the blanks on what Rock Band doesn't for you? You should be doing independent study in addition to your enjoyment of the game. When you watch live performances or videos from a band that has a song in Rock Band, does what the drummer is doing make sense/look familiar?

One of the best things you do for yourself while playing the game is to truly learn the song. Use the chart as sheet music. Look away from the screen and play without being led by the hand. Get to where you can play the entire song accurately and in perfect-time without looking at the screen other than when it's over to see your grade.

I've definitely hit a wall at this point where I'm overdue to move beyond the Ion and Rock Band on to a real V-Drum kit, but waiting for the funds to come together. There is the desire to improvise on top of improving and learning skills I won't ever learn within Rock Band. Without Rock Band though, I'd never have gotten this far.

[mayhem117]

Well I picked up real drums as a result of Rock Band. Although I wouldn't say I can play any better even though I can 5 star most songs on expert. If I sit in front of a real drumset I notice that I can't really play anything besides basic beats, if I put on a song I am able to play along with it by ear. I would say Rock Band has helped me with keeping time, handling the sticks, getting comfortable with playing, and different drum techniques (Drumrolls, etc). But the big thing I think it's helped me with is different types of playing. Most drummers I see that don't play Rock Band get stuck with only being comfortable playing one type of style of drumming. I think this is because when playing in Rock Band you often jump around from song to song by different artists so you're then able to play Metal songs, classic rock songs, reggae songs, technical metal songs, country songs, etc. From all this variety from playing I think it's got me comfortable with playing each on my own.

[Iceman71421]

I started off playing the RB1 drums when it first came out just because I was curious and wanted to see what it was like. I loved them. My dad is a drummer so I have had a drum kit at home my whole life but never was interested in learning it. I played electric bass. After working my way up to expert on the RB drums I figured why the hell I may as well start to try to play the real thing.

I started off by DLing all of my favorite songs from Rockband and burned them onto a CD to try to play along with them on the real drum kit. It was really discouraging in the beginning and I was really bad but kept working at it and have since gotten pretty good. There was a post earlier that said Rockband teaches you a catalog of different drum beats to play. This has been my experience. I have had all of the RB and now play pro drums on expert and have some really good scores on the Xbox leaderboard. Here is a link to a vid of me playing the real drums if you want to gauge my skill.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FnF3AesK7I

I am really happy I started drumming on RB because now drumming is one of my favorite hobbies and a lot of fun.

[NOT_Travis]

I've been expert drumming since RB2 came out, upgraded to the three cymbals in November. I picked up a cheap cymbal stand from L&M to get a more realistic placement of the HH - not only does it spread the kit out a little more, but it is essential for translating to a real kit at some point in the future.

Once you've been drumming long enough, and you've got a real taste for it, upgrade to e-drums. With a good kit (I dream of the Roland td-9) you can program in the HH for open and closed, spread out the kit to your taste, play with a kick w/ a beater and add more cymballage if desired. I think playing a good e-kit is getting pretty close to actual drumming...or so my improved skills are telling me.

HH+KickBox. :D I got one for Christmas and I'm starting to learn to integrate my left leg into RB drumming.

I don't have the money or the space for a for-real acoustic kit, so I can only base this off my experience with RB3...but I think I could sit down behind an acoustic kit and pull off at least a basic 4/4 beat. In some ways, it does teach you a lot about the fundamentals. However, even though I can either beat or at least survive most of the songs I have on RB3--about 420 right now--that doesn't mean that I can play anything like "Run To The Hills."

For a more realistic experience, if you have the stock pedal, trash it. It's awful. If you can afford it, dump that garbage and get a Rock Pedal, preferably with a practice pad. When I play Rock Band, my right foot is coming down on a true bass drum pedal with a beater. My upstairs neighbor isn't always too happy about that...but I digress.

Anyway, my short answer is yes. I think it helps.

[BandRock]

I didn't want to post in this thread because I am far from my goal of being a real drummer. That said, my adventures in drumming started with Rock Band in 2007. It wasn't until shortly after Rock Band 3 that I finally got my own drum set. 3 years of playing on the plastic drums consistently before moving on to the real deal.

When I started I literally would have to strap myself into the chair I was using so I would posture properly. Had a problem with wanting to lean forward when the going got tough. Started on easy and worked up to pro-expert.

It wasn't until the inception of the cymbals that I had the chance to really imagine the reality that I can be a drummer.

When I moved over to the real drum, I realized that I was incapable of playing the same things I am more than capable of playing in Rock Band. It was frustrating that all this time spent and the transition wasn't so smooth but at the same time, it was so fulfilling because I could (however barbarically it is) now play drums.

Rock Band turned my into a drummer and I will always thank them for this.

[exup35]

my sister asked some of her students at college (where they have RB kti and GHWT kit) as some of them use it to wind down between lessons/lectures .
As some of them are quite accomplished musicians anyway, she wondered how they felt about the game, and why they played it.
The main concensus was that it helps their timing, (besides being a good laugh), this isn't just the drums, but all the intruments, and the vocals, as some of them found they find it pushed them to practice their breathing correctly

[Mddw666]

For me, it seems to be the opposite. I consider myself an all right drummer, though I haven't had lessons, I own my own kit. But put me on a Rock Band drum kit and I freeze up. Even the simplest songs I have trouble with. It took me weeks to beat "Roxanne" on expert and I can't even beat "Drain You" on hard. I think it may have to do with the moving chart.

[SwimWithSharks]

it definitely helps, I have been playing drums for over 15 years before rock band in various bands/genres and with RB you are "forced" to play certain fills/grooves in ways you might not have done yourself.

As many drummers I do have several "go to" fills but playing in RB forced me to learn more and to be more comfortable in genres I never really played much before (due to bands I was in not playing that kind of songs).

I have to say that the RB drums aren't IMHO very useful to learn playing drums beyond some basic independence and timing, due to the fact that 1) everything is way too close together and 2) the placing of the pads isn't comparable to where things would be on a real drumkit

This said since the midi adapter came out I have been having a TON of fun playing RB3 with my (nice) e-kit, that is definitely the best of both worlds, especially with software like edrumpro which allows things like ignoring foot splashes while riding, or mapping flams on the snare to R+Y automatically, etc. etc. making things even more realistic (at least until RB will finally support a "proper" hi hat lane). I know RB doesn't support dynamics, but I have been playing long enough to know what to accent and what not to, which makes things even more fun.

I personally think RB3+e-drums+software is an amazing combo to improve one's drumming, as long as you also do play without RB sometimes of course (even better if you can find some people to play with), I only wish something like this existed when I was a kid!

[mrchrstn]

I'm both a real drummer and avid RB player and I can say that RB does *unequivocally* help with real drumming. Up to a point. It's a great way to practice hand/foot independence and basic coordination. I also get a lot of mileage out of making sure my grip stays correct even while trying to make it through Space Oddity on expert or what not.

That said, it still doesn't mean that you can play up to expert, and then sit down and rock out with a real band. The feel and sound quality is just too dramatically different and I find that I constantly have to take 30 seconds to warm up on either the real kit or the RB controller to remind myself of the different rebound and sensitivity different surfaces have. (But this is also true moving from a snare roll to the same roll on the ride.) There's a ton of things that just don't work moving from one to the other. (Flams, accents and other dynamics come to mind.) All that is twice as true for the base pedal. In fact, I had to replace the standard foot pedals to make it at least feel more like a real pedal to even play.

Someone else said above that 'There's a world of difference between copying a beat and generating a beat' and that's colossally true. I can learn a beat on RB and then take it to the kit, but it'll feel different and it won't sound at *all* the same. It'll probably sound more like a coordination drill than a beat. But I learn lots of coordination drills and they help my drumming a lot.

What I really enjoy the most is how playing a RB song breaks out the drumming part for you in a way that just listening to a song doesn't really do. Maybe learning the rock band part won't really teach you to play the part on your kit (and it usually won't) but it'll dissect, isolate and lay out the part for you much the way reading the sheet music would. Many a time I've sat and tinkered out a beat or fill on the kit that I heard on Rock band that I might not have known otherwise. Now if you're the kind of person that reads random drum sheet music and does coordination drills an hour a day for fun anyway, then you should stick with that. But playing Rock Band is far more productive for me than any other video game I have.

My two cents. :^)

[tnevaker]

i've gotten a lot better at drums especially since buying my e-kit and hooking it up to RB3. there's definitely a difference when i turn off the game and try to play by myself though. holding a steady tempo, playing beats naturally instead of following a chart, getting dynamics correct, etc. one thing i want to do to help bridge the gap is get an external drum monitor to hook up to my ekit and turn off the drum track in game. if i can hear my own actual playing instead of the pre-recorded drum track being played back to me, i think that will be a big help in moving from just playing RB3 songs to playing on my own. i won't be able to rely on the drum track to keep tempo, i'll be able to hear the dynamics of my own playing, and i won't have any rhythmic inconsistencies, like hitting notes a tad early or late, covered up by the game.

[aziker]

I thought that the participants in this thread might be interested in an instructional tool that I came up with a few years ago.
Here is an article I wrote for the August 2008 issue of Modern Drummer Magazine: http://andyziker.com/tfa08.pdf.
I followed that up recently with a blog post on Destructoid: http://www.destructoid.com/how-rock-band-can-teach-you-to-play-real-drums-192539.phtml.
It's a long story (which I may detail in another thread), but a few days I decided to offer these drum charts as free downloadable PDFs on my website: http://andyziker.com/media/#drumscores.
I would like to get for your feedback on this idea that has helped many of my drum students with Rock Band experience.

[RHCPfan96]

I played RB drums before I started playing real drums, and to this day I still associate the snare drum with the color red and the floor tom with the color green.

[nascarfan19]

I played RB drums before I started playing real drums, and to this day I still associate the snare drum with the color red and the floor tom with the color green.

True dat. When they put cymbal charting into the mix, then my whole drum set just became a gigantic Rock Band set that I could play by watching Youtube vids or just bringing my TV over.

[Tomserv0]

I didn't play drums before rockband. Got a $2000 roland kit to play with rb and outside the game in april. I can play a lot of slow things and some simple faster ones just by listening and playing along. I find r&b along with some rap to be the easiest to pick up. Id like to learn how some of the more difficult time keeping works though.

[jimhenry]

I would like to get for your feedback on this idea that has helped many of my drum students with Rock Band experience.
Good article Andy. Nice to see a music teacher who has taken the time to understand what Rock Band can add to the music curriculum. Especially with the addition of Pro Mode, Rock Band is a sleeping giant for music educators. I hope more music educator will realize that Rock Band can be one the more powerful tools in their arsenal if they take the time to understand what it has to offer and really make it an integral part of their instructional program.

I know that the backing tracks for the 4 bar drills in Learn an Instrument make practicing many of those drills less tedious and in some cases even enjoyable. There have been a few times I went on after Rock Band said I had mastered the drill just because I was enjoying playing the "riff". (My experience relates to guitar and keys more than drums if that makes a difference.)

[Stol-FA-Lin]

That Modern Drummer article is pretty awesome. The colors in the charts idea is a great one, too. Makes me think of all that could be done with pro mode for all the instruments if musicians, music educators, composers, digital music creators and other game players and non-game players were to be more widely targeted with promotions and advertising. The untapped market and all as a way to revitalize music games through cross promotion and what have you.

[cweaver8518]

It helps learn drum tabs, but other than that it can actually throw off your timing or make you too precise, which means you can't adapt to changes in tempo fellow real life band members are making.. minute changes, but sometimes it can hurt. Any practice is better than no practice though. I do have an e-kit I play Rock Band with, but if I don't sit down on my real set daily I can quickly lose skill.