Everyone has to start somewhere, and in this collection of lessons I will point you in the direction of some great educational content for when you are completely new to the drum kit. Getting your first pair of sticks is really exciting and there is a lot to be said for just sitting behind a kit, hitting some drums and picking up the important bits as you go a long. Personally, I prefer a slightly more traditional approach where you learn some of the essential basics at a practice pad or snare drum first so that the fundamentals are firmly in place before moving on to more complicated elements. When discussing the basics of drum kit you will be looking at things like the most comfortable and efficient way to hold your sticks, how to best move your limbs when playing, how to sit at the kit comfortably and some important theory and notation elements that will speed up the learning process drastically. While this can sound boring compared to thrashing the living day lights out of your kit, it will give you the best foundation to becoming the best drummer and musician you can be.
Below you will see a list of links to lessons, this is an order I've found works really well to get you playing some simple parts that sound impressive really quickly. Some lessons will take just a couple of minutes of reading, others may require a few days worth of practice and some you will have to keep coming back to to check you have remembered them properly. There will be some information underneath each link describing what the intention is in each case and what the best approach to it is. All lessons on this page are of a level 0 difficult.
Lesson 1 - How To Hold Your Drum Sticks
Description
This in depth text and image based lesson shows you exactly how to hold the sticks and position your hands when using Matched Grip. There are links in the article to video lessons to give more visual options for learning. While there are a couple of ways to hold your sticks, this is the one I find most suited to the modern drum set. I feel it is important to start out by learning good hand technique and it is important to keep an eye on it as you go a long.
Why Is This Important?
Bad technique can result in your limbs moving inefficiently and energy being wasted, which will make everything more difficult to play and, left unchecked in the long term, can cause muscle injury. On the other hand, good technique will allow maximum movement with minimum effort.
Duration
10 to 15 mins but you should refer back to this article often.
Lesson 2 - Basic Note Values
Description
An explanation of what note values are and the five most common variations you will come across regularly through all lessons. It would be very helpful to be familiar with at least the crotchet, quaver and semi quaver before moving on to the next section. These are vital for reading any kind of musical notation.
Why Is This Important?
Reading music opens up more options in your playing and understanding what note values are and how they work is the best place to start. If you can read music you can read sheet music which will allow you to learn songs, or sections of songs, note for note and this is not only useful for learning specific parts you want to learn but also, if later down the line you want to get into session or function work. It can be really helpful when playing with a band as you can keep simple notes on what you are playing.
Duration
10 to 15 mins but you may need to refer back. Testing your self regularly using flash cards is a great way to learn these off by heart.
Lesson 3 - The Single Stroke Roll
Description
Here you will put the theory learned in the two previous steps into practice with a simple snare drum based exercise using three different note values played in a set sticking.
Why Is This Important?
The single stroke roll is a very simple exercise that let's you start building your hand technique, basic co ordination and timing. If you can get comfortable with this, the next few steps will be so much easier.
Duration
20 mins to get the hang of the initial exercise. Regular repeated practice to work on timing, technique, speed and stamina.
Lesson 4 - Parts Of The Drum Kit
Description
Before you move over to the full kit, have a look at this article that discusses different parts of the drum set and what they are used for. The notation for these is also discussed here but you will go further into that in coming lessons.
Duration
A quick 5 minute read. You may need to refer back to this page in upcoming lessons.
Lesson 5 - Your First Groove
What Is A Groove?
Building A Groove From A Rhythm
Left To Right Reading Method
Description
Time to sit behind the kit and learn your first groove. There are three lessons linked above, the first tells you exactly what a groove is and what they are used for. The second two outline different ways you can build up a groove, try them both and see which you prefer, they both teach you the same part.
As well as learning a simple drum beat you will also learn how to notate a hi hat, snare drum and bass drum.
Why Is This Important?
Any song you have heard that has drums in it will most likely use a variation of this simple beat. If you can play this over and over at a constant rhythm, you will be well on your way to playing a long to your favourite songs.
Duration
10-15 mins to learn the part, hours of practice depending on how good you want to be.
Lesson 6 - Back To The Single Stroke Roll
Eighth Note Single Stroke Rolls With Feet
Sixteenth Note Single Stroke Rolls With Feet
Description
We're going to stay at the kit but go back to that original single stroke roll, you will need to be comfortable playing it as both eighth notes/quavers and sixteenth notes/semi quavers. This time you will be putting a bit of focus onto the two feet by playing simple quarter note movements underneath the rudiment. Again, there are two articles for you to look at here, one focusing on patterns with the hands as eighth notes and one as sixteenth notes.
Why Is This Important?
As you progress in your playing you will come across parts that use all four limbs, which can can be very tricky. By starting out with simple movements like this using the two hands and the right foot you will be laying down a good foundation for these more complex movements.
Duration
10-15 mins to learn the part, hours of practice depending on how good you want to be.
Don't forgot to keep an eye on your technique!
Lesson 7 - More Grooves And Some Rests
Groove Variation 1
Groove Variation 2
Groove Variation 3
An Explanation Of Rests
Description
Moving back to developing your grooves. You have learned the basics of how to read a groove, the parts of the kit most commonly used and a simple eighth and quarter note based pattern. This time you are going to be keeping those same right hand movements combined with snares on the 2 and 4 but are now going to use some different rhythms with the right foot on the kick drum. The most important thing to bear in mind when playing these is that the right hand needs to keep a constant, even rhythm. A common mistake is to allow this to get uneven or jumpy, try playing a long to a metronome to keep things consistent. While thinking about timing, you should also be keeping an eye on technique, the top of your thumb should face upwards, arms not resting on your knees and shoulders relaxed.
In example three there is a new element of notation called a rest. There is a whole article about these linked above but the one used here is a quaver/eighth note rest.
Why Is This Important?
As I mentioned in a previous lesson, the majority of drumming is built from variations on simple groove patterns. The three examples above are very simple variations on that original part that won't take a lot of time to learn but will give you a lot more options.
Duration
10-15 mins to learn each groove, hours of practice depending on how good you want to be.
Lesson 8 - Orchestration Part 1
The Single Stroke Roll With Each Hand On A Different Drum
The Single Stroke Roll In Blocks Of Eight
The Single Stroke Roll In Blocks Of Four
Description
It's about time we started using some tom toms! Before you get started on these three articles it might be worth jumping back to lesson 4 and looking at the notation for the three main toms. In the lessons linked above you are again going back to the single stroke roll and this time will be focusing on moving it around different parts of the kit. This is an important skill to master and, as mentioned in previous lessons, whilst working these parts out you need to keep a consistent timing and good technique. The exercises in these parts will involve playing multiple strokes on the floor tom, when playing these keep your feet planted on the two pedals and twist at the waist. To add to the difficulty, all of these examples have feet added under them.
Why Is This Important?
Soon you will start learning Fills, which are decorative breaks in a groove, and these usually involve play runs of notes around the kit. These simple single stroke movements will prepare you for this.
Duration
10-15 mins to learn each exercise, hours of practice depending on how good you want to be.
Lesson 9 - Orchestration Part 2
Using The Ride Cymbal In A Groove
Alternate Hi Hat Sounds
Using The Crash Ride Cymbal In A Groove
Using The Floor Tom In A Groove
Description
Going back to those grooves you learned earlier, you will now try moving the right hand to different parts of the kit. This is actually really easy and sounds like you've learned a whole new drum beat! You will be focusing on the ride, crash ride, floor tom and different hi hat sounds here.
Why Is This Important?
This is a really simple way to create different sounding groove parts with minimal effort.
Duration
5-10 mins to learn each exercise.
Lesson 10 - Combining
Description
For the last lesson in your beginners track you are going to go back over previous lessons and make sure you can play longer runs of everything. I am looking for at minimum, eight bars of every exercise in a row without any slips in timing. This means all single stroke roll rhythms, all feet patterns, all orchestrations and the four groove patterns using various different parts of the kit.
Why Is This Important?
This is how we are going to get you playing songs.
Duration
An hour minimum.
Ready To Moving On?
Do you think you're ready to move on to the next track? If you can answer yes to everything on the list below then go for it! If not, it might be worth going back through some of the lessons above.
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Do you know how to hold your drum sticks and move your limbs with proper technique?
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Can you play a single stroke roll at both eighth notes and sixteenth notes consistently for multiple bars?
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Can you add feet to a single stroke roll using various combinations of bass drum and hi hat without it throwing off your technique or timing?
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Can you move the single stroke roll around the kit in various different ways both with and without feet again, without this throwing off your technique or timing?
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Can you play several different groove patterns and repeat them several times without breaks in timing?
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Can you move the right hand to various other parts of the kit while playing a groove without it throwing your timing?
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Do you know the names of the different parts of the kit and how you would notate them?
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Can you explain what a note value is and give the names and lengths of several different values? Can you recognize these when they are written down?
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Do you know what rests are and how you would notate them?
To help you answer these questions there are a few quizzes you can take to test your theory knowledge.
In the next track you will expand on everything you have learned above. There will be more bass drum variations in grooves, a proper look into fills and how to combine them with grooves, you will learn the double stroke roll and will start building some short phrases.
