The Basics You Skip Today, Become The Problem You Fix Tomorrow

The basics you skip today, become the problem you fix tomorrow.

When someone starts learning drums, they usually want to play.

They want to play their favorite songs. They want to learn fills. They want to feel like a drummer.

And honestly, I understand that.

As teachers, we want our students to enjoy playing. We want them to leave a lesson excited rather than feeling like they spent an hour doing homework.

But there is a difference between making lessons enjoyable and skipping the foundations that make a student better.

Because when the basics are not taught properly in the beginning, the problem usually doesn’t appear immediately.

It appears later.

And by then, fixing it can take much longer.

The problem with skipping the basics

Imagine a student starts playing without understanding things like grip, posture, technique, timing, subdivisions, coordination or how to practise effectively.

They can still learn songs.

They can still play along to music.

They can even become quite good at certain things.

So they may understandably think:

“Why do I need to go back and learn this now? I’m already playing.”

And this is where things can become difficult.

A habit that has been repeated hundreds or thousands of times starts to feel natural.

Even if it isn’t efficient.

Even if it is creating tension.

Even if it is limiting what the student can eventually play.

The student isn’t just learning something new anymore.

They are being asked to change something they have spent years repeating, it is a part of them now.

And that’s where ego enters the picture.

For many students, being told to go back to something they spent years mastering and now having to change it can feel like going backwards.

They may think:

“All that time was wasted, or that they can play the part, how can it be wrong.”

And technically, they may be right.

They can play it.

The issue is that being able to play something and doing it with a strong foundation underneath it are not always the same thing. Either there is a lot of effort required to play it, they may just be surviving through it, if the tempo increases they wouldn't be able to keep up, they look stiff when playing etc..

As teachers, we sometimes have to ask students to temporarily become beginners again.

And that can be uncomfortable.

Especially when they have already developed an identity around being a “good drummer.”

When you’re learning something for the first time, there is no old habit competing with the new one.

But when you’re correcting technique, you’re often doing two things at once:

1. Removing an established habit.

2. Replacing it with a better one.

That takes awareness, repetition and patience.

And sometimes, it takes much longer than it would have taken to teach the correct movement from the beginning.

This is why fundamentals aren’t about slowing a student down.

They are about preventing unnecessary detours.

This doesn’t mean every beginner needs to spend months doing exercises.

There is a misconception that teaching fundamentals means making every lesson rigid, technical and boring.

It doesn’t.

You can teach technique through music.

You can teach timing through grooves.

You can teach coordination through songs.

You can teach subdivisions by making students feel them rather than simply explaining them.

You can make fundamentals enjoyable.

In fact, I think that’s part of our responsibility as teachers.

The goal isn’t to keep a student away from the music until they have “earned” the right to play.

The goal is to introduce the foundations while keeping their curiosity alive.

So what should happen at the beginning?

Students don’t need to know everything.

But they should gradually understand:

* How to hold the sticks efficiently.

* How to move without unnecessary tension.

* How to sit and position themselves comfortably.

* How to keep time.

* What subdivisions actually feel like.

* How to practise slowly and deliberately.

* Why they are practising something.

* How technique connects to the music they want to play.

Most importantly, they should understand that these things aren’t separate from “real drumming.”

They are what eventually make real drumming easier.

Because the goal isn’t just to play today.

It’s to build a drummer who can continue developing tomorrow.

A teacher can help a student learn a song in a week.

But a good foundation can help that student learn hundreds of songs over the years.

That’s why I don’t see fundamentals as the boring part of learning drums.

I see them as an investment.

Because the earlier we build good habits, the less time we have to spend later convincing a student to let go of the habits that are holding them back.

It isn’t hard to teach the basics.

It’s hard to undo what replaced them.

And sometimes, the most valuable thing a teacher can give a beginner isn’t another song.

It’s a foundation they won’t have to rebuild later.