Learn Guitar - Bass - Drums

Learn To Play Drums - 10 Steps To Success

No Music Theory - Simple To Follow - Complete With Tracks - Another Freebie By Busk'n Servant!

• When Loading On A Mobile Device, Do 2 - 3 Rapid Swipes Up

Step #2

Learn To Play The Hi Hat

• We'll Begin With Just The Hi Hat

  • Many Songs Are Played With The Hi Hat Closed

  • So, Press Down On The Hi Hat Pedal or, Select A Closed Hi Hat Pad

  • Tap Your Foot Slowly

  • Play At A Slow Tempo Say 80bpm, Use A Metronome

  • Count 1 2 3 4, Then Repeat

    • That's Called 1 Bar And Has 4 Beats per Bar

  • Now, On The Following Counts, Gently Tap The Hi Hat

    • "1" Count Only - This Is A Whole Note - 1 Beat per Bar

    • "1", "3" Count Only - These Are Half Notes - 2 Beat per Bar

    • "1", "2", "3", "4" Count - These Are Quarter Notes - 4 Beat Per Bar

    • Try & Tap The Hi Hat In The Same Place, Near The Rim

    • Try & Maintain A Consistent Volume or, Stick Force

    • Keep Practicing This Exercise

• Now, Add An "And or &" Between Each Number

• • • Our Count Is "1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &"

    • Tap The Hi Hat On Each Count

    • "1", "&", "2", "&", "3", "&", "4", " &" Count - These Are Eighth Notes

    • Keep Practicing This Exercise

• Let's Add Some Variety

  • Tap The Hi Hat On These Counts

  • "1", "2", "3", "&", "4"

  • Vocalised It Sounds Like This

  • Dat Dat Dat Di Dat

• Time To Learn Stick Control

  • Not Every Note Is Struck With The Same Velocity or Force

  • Using A Softer Note Adds Variety To The Beat

  • Try This On The "&" Note, Tap A Bit Softer

Stream The Following Track & Play Along Using This Technique

Step #3

Building Our Drum Beat

• • We're Now Going To Add The Snare & Kick Drum

  • This Requires Using 3 Limbs or, Using A Looper Pedal if Using Pads

• We'll Start By Adding The Kick Drum

  • Play Our Hi Hat Beat From Above

  • Play The Kick On The Counts of "1", "3"

  • Maintain Tempo & A Consistent Strike Velocity On The Kick Pedal

  • Practice This Exercise

• Now, We'll Add The Snare Drum

  • Continue To Play The Hi Hat & Kick Beat From Above

  • Play The Snare On The Counts of "2", "4"

  • Strike The Snare or Pad Near The Centre

  • Maintain Tempo & A Consistent Strike Velocity

  • Repeat This Exercise Regularly

Stream The Following Beat & Play Along

Step #4

Our Next Challenge Is To Play The Hi Hat Using Eighth Notes In Our Beat

• This Gives A Fuller, Smoother Overall Drum Sound

• I Think It Is Easier To Play

• Add The Hi Hat On All The "&" Counts

  • Tap The Hi Hat A Bit Softer On The "&" Count

  • Repeat This Exercise Regularly

• Stream The Following Track & Play Along

  • It's Called Straight or Even Eighth Beat

Step #5

Adding Cymbals - Crash & Splash

The Crash Cymbal

• The Cymbal Sound Often Denotes The Start of A Drum Phrase

  • A Crash Cymbal, One That Rings Loud, Is Often Used

  • In The Drum Track, You Hear It On Beat 1, In The 1st Bar

  • After 12 Bars You Hear It Again

  • This Is Because The Drum Track Is Used To Play A 12 Bar Blues

  • The Drum Phrase Has 12 Bars, Then It Recommences At Bar 1 & Loops

• To Play This, Use Your Hi Hat Hand

  • Start By Striking The Cymbal, Instead of The Hi Hat

  • Strike Near The Rim, The Velocity Is Important, Try Different Forces

  • Immediately After Striking, Tap The Hi Hat & Into Our Beat

  • You Can Still Play The Kick On Beat 1

  • So, Strike The Crash Cymbal & Play The Kick At The Same Time

• Play The Drum Track Again & Practice This Technique

• Remember, After 12 Bars, Start Again

• Repeat This Exercise Regularly

The Splash Cymbal

• The Splash Cymbal Sound

  • It Has A Softer, Less Harsher Sound, Than The Crash Cymbal

  • It Has A Thicker or, Splashier Sound :)

• The Splash Cymbal Is Often Used During A Drum Phrase

  • When Changing A Beat Pattern

  • To Denote When A Chord Change Is Going To Occur

  • Before A Musical Highlight

• In Our Drum Track It Is Used At The Start of These Bars

  • Bar 5, Bar 7, Bar 9

  • The Reason Is, The Drum Track Is For A 12 Bar Blues Progression

    • That Means It Has 4 Bars of Say An "A" Bass Note or Chord

    • It Then Has 2 Bars of "D" Bass Note or Chord

    • It Then Has 2 Bars of "A" Bass Note or Chord

    • It Then Has 1 Bar Each of "E", "D", "A" Bass Note or Chord

    • Finishing On Bar 12, With An "E", Bass Note or Chord

    • Read More About Blues Progressions Here

    • You Can See Now, That Note Changes Happen On Bars 5, 7, 9

Stream The Following Track & Play Along, Adding Cymbals

Step #6

Adding Additional Snare Beats

• As Our Drum Beat Develops We Can Add "Highlights"

  • This Means Adding More Snare or Kick Notes To Our Beat

  • We Saw In Step #5, Adding A Splash Cymbal At A Note/Chord Change

• We Can Do The Same With The Snare

  • Add Another Much Softer Snare Note

  • Do This At The End of Each Bar Before The Note/Chord Change

• That Means On The "&" After Beat 4 For Those Bars

• Practice With Our Drum Track

• Now, Add Another Snare Note At The End of Bar 11 & 12

• Practice Again, With Our Drum Track

• When You Are Ready, Stream The Following Track

• The Bass Is Playing A Simple 12 Bar Blues Progression In The Key of "A"

  • Get Use To Playing With A Bass

  • Commence Playing Our Drum Beat

  • Then Add Cymbals

  • Then Add The Additional Snare Notes

Play Along Using All Techniques & Practice Regularly

Step #7

Playing To A Swing Groove Is Our Next Challenge

• A Swing Groove Is A Straight 1/8th Beat Like We Have Been Playing But, Modified

  • The Hi Hat On Each "&" Between Beats Is Swung

  • This Means It Is Delayed Slightly, Giving A Skipping Feel

  • Vocalised It Is Dit di Dit di Dit di Dit

• Practice This At A Slow Tempo, Hi Hat Only

• Often Referred To As The Shuffle or Boogie Beat

• Stream The Following mp3 Track

• Repeat This Exercise Regularly

Next, We'll Add Kick & Snare

• Continue To Play The Swung Hi Hat

  • Now, Play The Kick On Beats 1, 2, 3, 4

  • When Ready, Add The Snare

    • Play On Beats 2, 4

• Stream The Following mp3 Track

• Repeat This Exercise Regularly

We'll Now Play The Snare On Beats 1, 2, 3, 4

• Continue To Play The Swung Hi Hat

• Continue To Play The Kick

• Stream The Following mp3 Track

We'll Now Play The Snare On Beats 1, &, 2, &, 3, &, 4, &

• Continue Our Drum Beat

• The Snare Is Play Swung, Same As The Hi Hat

• Stream The Following mp3 Track

• Practice This Technique Regularly

Our Last Challenge, In This Step, Is To Play This Groove At A Higher Tempo

• Continue To Play The Beat But Increase Tempo To 108bpm

• Bass Guitar Has Been Added

• Stream The Following mp3 Track

• Practice This Technique Regularly

Step #8

Adding Fills

• In That Last Example You Heard The Snare Roll & Tom Roll

• These Are Called Fills, They Add Interest To The Main Beat

  • Some Simple Rules, Play Them to Fit The Music Genre

  • Don't Over Use Them, They Lose The Magic

  • You Can Use Single Rolls, That's Da Di Da or Multiple

  • They Tend To Be Played As Triplets

    • That Is, Instead of Counting 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & For Our Beats

    • Count 1 & a 2 & a 3 & a 4 & a

    • Use Your Hands R L R L R L R L R L R L

    • Try Also, Hands L R L R L R L R L R L R

  • You Can Start On Either Hand Based On Where You Want To Hit Next

    • If You're Playing Hi Hat Right Handed, Then A Snare Roll Starts With The Left Hand

    • That Way You Have Time To Move The Right Hand To Play The Hi Hat At The End

    • The Left Hand Would Be Finishing The Snare Roll

• Practice Doing Snare Rolls Slowly, Both Right & Left Handed

  • Experiment Using Different Velocities On Each Note

• Repeat This Exercise Regularly

• Stream The Following Track & Play Along. I have Left A 1 Beat Gap Between Rolls

Let's Repeat This On The Toms

• Use The Same Concept But, This Time You Have To Move In An Arc

  • Commence With The Hi Tom

    • Start With A Right Handed Roll

    • Also Practice A Left Handed Roll

  • Rotate The Body Slightly & Repeat For The Mid Tom

  • Rotate The Body Slightly & Repeat For The Lo Tom

• If You're Playing The Hi Hat Right Handed

  • Commence The Tom Roll With The Left Hand

  • You Notice You Don't Get In An Arm Tangle

  • That's The Importance of What Hand Strikes First

• Stream The Following mp3 Track

• Practice This Technique Regularly

Step #9

Additional Techniques

• One Handed Roll

  • This Is Doing The Roll Using The One Hand

  • Try This Exercise On The Snare Drum

  • R R R R L L L L R R R R L L L L

• Paradiddles

  • Another Drum Rudiment Using This Pattern

  • R L R R L R L L

• Side Stick

  • • Tends To Be Used More In Jazz Type Beats

    • The Left Foot Plays The Hi Hat

  • The Stick Is Held Against The Snare Drum In The Centre

  • The Other End Protrudes Past The Outer Rim of The Drum

  • Play The Stick End Against The Rim

• Accents

  • Accents Are Playing The Note Louder

  • It Creates A Dramatic Effect

  • Used On The Snare Drum Particularly In A Roll

• Ghost Notes

  • Opposite To Accents

  • Notes Are Played Softer

  • We Have Already Used This In Our Snare Beat Before Bass Note Changes

  • Try This With The Kick Drum

    • Instead of The Kick Being Played On Beat 1, 3

    • Try This Beat 1, 3, & Where The "&" Is Played Softer

• Hi Hat Open/Closed

  • A Great Effect Is Created By Partially Opening The Hi Hat

  • Then Striking The Rim of The Hi Hat With The Side of The Stick

  • Then Closing The Hi Hat

  • Practice This Technique

    • You Can Use The Effect Where It Best Fits

    • Alternating With The Closed Hi Hat

    • Used on Beat 4 of A Bar

    • Used At The End of A Bar

• Stream The Following Track & Listen To The Effect

Step #10

It's Now Time To Learn 1/16th Notes &, Other Time Signatures

Sixteenth Notes

• So Far We Have Used Mainly 1/8th Notes On The Hi Hat

• Now, We're Going To Use 1/16th Notes

  • Our Count Is

  • 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a

  • Play This Slowly, On The Hi Hat, Tapping Your Foot

• Stream The Following Track & Play Along

You Can Also Do A Roll, Using Sixteenth Notes, Instead of The Triplet Roll

• Try This 1/16th Roll Exercise On The Snare

  • Our Count Still Is

  • 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a

  • Start Slowly Using The Previous Hi Hat Track

  • Accent The Snare on Beats 1, 2, 3, 4 Slightly

  • Slowly Increase Tempo

• Another Exercise

  • Play On Counts 1 2 3 e & a 4 e & a

  • Play With Hand R L R L R L L R L R

• Stream The Following Track & Listen To Both Exercises

  • The First Part Has 2 Bars of Snare Roll, A Break & Repeat

  • The Second Part Demonstrates The 2nd Exercise

Solo Example

• Stream The Following mp3 Track

• Recorded On My Looper Pedal

  • Listen For The Various Techniques

    • Ghost Notes On Snare & Kick

    • Snare Roll

    • Additional Kick Notes In The Beat

    • Use of Delay On The Hi Hat To Create Effect

Time Signatures

• We Have Been Using A 4/4 Time Signature

  • That Is, 4 Beats To The Bar

• Another Time Signature Is 3/4

  • That Is, 3 Beats To The Bar

  • This Is Used In Waltz

• Another Time Signature is 12/8

  • That Is, 12 Beats To The Bar, Similar To Playing Triplets In 4/4 Time

  • One Reason For Using 12/8 Time

    • It's Easy For Notation

    • All The Notes Carry Either A "Number" or An "&"

    • It Goes Like This,

    • 1 & 2 & 3 & 2 & 2 & 3 & 3 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 2 & 3 &

    • 1/8th Notes Are Played On A "Number"

    • 1/16th Notes Are Played On Both The "Number" And "&"

That Completes This Introductory Lesson On Drums. From Here, Learn Other Beats & Techniques.

To Practice To Other Tempos & Beats, Checkout The Freebies Section In The Song Pack Store.

To Download For Off - Line Use:

To Download The Practice Tracks, Tap The Download Icon On iPhone Devices or, On Android Devices, The 3 Dots, Top of Screen, Scroll & Select Download. The Track Will Be In Your File or Download Folder.

Read More About Music Backing Tracks & Backing Tracks For Guitar, Bass Guitar, Keyboard, Drums. Also Read More About Busking, On Line Busker, Looper Pedal Backing Tracks & Busking Music Backing Tracks. Listen To Busking Music & Busking Loops. Checkout Musician Resources & Jamming For Beginners.