Many people are very excited to buy their first drum.
Sometimes we get it, get home play for a while then get bored. Some of us will find a teacher and some of us have friends to play with or even go out and join a drum circle. Often when we are playing outside, the tempo of the rhythm we are playing with others increases rapidly and we loose our part or falter. Here is a way to deal with this.
When playing at home I like to use an inexpensive drum machine and I program in the rhythm patterns I have been studying in a class perhaps. If I want to practice a west african rhythm arrangement I will program the drum machines drum set, specifically the toms as substitute for the dununs and the cowbell for the dun dun (djun djun) bell, the conga tones for djembe parts, etc.
I often start my practice session at a slow speed, then after my muscles are warmed up, I will keep increasing the speed using the tempo control. I will take it to a level I can just barely play at. Then I will relax into it, surprise myself, then push again to the next level. Watch your breathing as the spped increases. Are you holding tension anywhere in your body?
If you have a mirror I suggest you watch yourself playing as you practice. This is a great and useful way to “self correct”. Check your posture. Are you sitting straight or sluping. Is your jaw clenched?
This is a terrific way to get past the self imposed limitations we all have of how fast we think we should be able to play. And it works!