Punk Drum Tips

One of our readers took the time to send in some "Punk Drumming Tips":

PUNK DRUMMING-
Alright - I've been playing drums now for 2 years or so, and I always played jazz, blues, and rock/alternative stuff off of the radio. Recently, a good friend of mine invited me to join a punk band that he'd started. Not being used to this style of drumming, which tends to be more complex than it sounds, I have enclosed some helpful recommendations that helped me to learn the style.

Tip #1: You can always go cut time on the high-hat if you can't keep up with the speed.
Make sure you're not changing the beat, but the energy will be the same if you use cut time.

Tip #2: Just because the music is fast doesn't mean you can't be creative or do interesting fills. Listen to bands like the Dead Kennedy's for some interesting fill work on the drums.

Tip #3: Use a lot of energy! Punk music is based on energy. Wrestle with your buds before a show, build up some serious energy and then just go nuts! If you screw up your beat a little bit, its not as bad as if you lose your energy, so really get into the energy of the music.

Tip #4: As with lots of energy, go nuts with the bass drum. I myself don't use a double-bass drum pedal, but I find that with one pedal, a healthy distribution of bass drumming definitely works.

Finally; Don’t think you have to be boring with a simple bass-snare-bass-snare beat. You can still have creativity in punk music. PUNK DRUMMERS UNITE! KEEP ROCKING, KEEP THE ENERGY ALIVE. GO PUNK ROCK!