Beginner Drum Lessons

Transcript A lot of people ask about the pros and the cons of electronic drums and whether or not you should stick with an acoustic set or buy an electric set. I think a lot of it depends on your situation. Oftentimes, you have people who buy an electric set instead of an acoustic set …

Transcript Much like a variety of other styles, Caribbean music can cover a wide range of sub-styles, anything from reggae to calypso to soka, and so on. There’ts many different ways of drumming and approaching the style of music. I’tm going to just talk about two beginning sub-styles of two separate styles. I’tll start with …

Transcript I think it’s important to understand that there really isn’t a lot of basic playing when it comes to Latin drumming. There is a lot of independence and coordination involved. In addition, I think it’s really important to understand the difference between the styles in Latin drumming. I think a lot of people confuse …

Transcript There’s a very big history with the drum set and jazz drumming in that the drum set developed around the time that jazz started to make its way into the music scene through the Americas, especially through the south part of the Americas, coming out of New Orleans style of music. To get a …

Transcript When you play the drums for hip hop music, you have to keep in mind that a lot of the influence of your drum parts are going to come from pre-programmed parts, such as something from computer or a drum machine or whatever that might be. So a lot of your parts need to …

Transcript I’m going to give you some tips about playing in a rock band. There are so many different approaches you could take with the type of rock that you are trying to play, whether it’s pop rock, hard rock, metal, progressive rock, or whatever it might be. One of the important things is to …

Transcript One of the more important aspects of playing the drums is to increase your hand speed and your control. And as with a lot of topics, there’s so many ways you could do this, with anything from studying rudiments, which basically are your what would be scales to piano rudiments are to drums, to …

Transcript Drum solo tips could range anywhere from something really simple to something really busy. I think what would be a good suggestion for all of you thinking about drum solo tips is to listen to some of the best drummers out there that partake in longer style solos. Drummers from anywhere from the band …

Transcript I’m going to talk about the tuning for the toms. Now, I’m here with just one tom, but it’s a pretty universal process with any tom that you’re going to tune. As with any drum, it has a bottom head as well as a top head. The bottom head is called the resonant head, …

Transcript I have the snare drum here, and I would like to talk about the tuning of this individual drum. It’s important to know how vital the tuning of the bottom head is, for a snare drum. This here is the bottom head with what’s called the snare strainer, or the snares themselves, and this …

Transcript As you can see, I’m just sitting here with a bass drum because I’d like to talk about the tuning of the bass drum itself. The most important part to understand is that you’re dealing with two heads as with another drum as well. So you have to take into account not only balancing …

Transcript What I’d like to talk to you about right now is the general idea of tuning a whole drum set and how it refers to different styles of music. Tuning is an art form within itself. You have to know some of the systems of tuning and how to make it sound better on …

Transcript I’m going to talk about a technique that we use on the drum set called a crash cymbal choke, or just a choke in general. Typically what this means is when you strike your crash cymbal, which is the cymbal off to this side of your body, you’re striking it as you would normally …

Transcript I’m going to talk to you now about basic form for a pop song, and there are many ways you can go with this just based on the song you’re playing, or the style of music you’re playing, but we’re just going to talk about a generic pop song right now. Typically, what you’re …

Instructions Step 1: Fill variations Trying adding variations to it by keeping the order of the fills the same, but move the notes around the drums to the snare or high-top. Step 2: Understanding fills Understand what a fill is: a transition that bridges two phrases of a song. Step 3: Playing fills Try playing …

Instructions Step 1: Understand what a fill is Understand what a fill is: a transition that bridges two phrases of a song. Step 2: Simple and complex fills Know that a drum fill can be as simple as one note or as complex as many notes. Also, a crash cymbal typically follows a drum fill …

Transcript Right now I want to talk to you about the roll of the crash cymbal when we’re talking about the cymbal off to the side of the drum kit. Now if you know anything about drum setups, drummers often have a variety of crash cymbals around their drums, but on a standard beginning kit …

Transcript Another technique you could use on the snare drum with a groove is something called a cross stick. And a cross stick is also known as rim click. But, not to be confused with a rim shot. Now a rim shot is a stroke on the snare drum where you use the full motion …

Transcript I’d like to talk a little bit about hi-hat variations in a normal rock groove. Now, just like bass drum variations and snare drum variations, there’s so many different variations you can come up with this. But I’m going to just show you a couple different approaches you can take. Now, when we talk …

Transcript Another approach you can take with your drum beat variation starts with a snare drum. Normally you’re going to start with varying your foot. Your bass drum foot is what is linked up with your bass player, and it’s a good place to start those variations. However, to really mix up what you’re doing …

Transcript Once you’ve learned your basic rock beat, which entails eighth notes on the high hat (one and two and three and four and), beats one and three on the bass drum (one, two, three, four), and beats two and four on the snare drum (one, two, three, four), now what you want to think …

Transcript I’m going to cover the standard rock rhythm or the basic rock beat for a drum set. And this is a good place to start if you’re just learning how to play the drums. And basically where you’ll want to start with the surface is that you want to play eighth notes on the …

Transcript The technique of a rimshot is when you strike the snare drum primarily, and you catch a portion of the rim, with the head of the drum at the same time. To get a good snare drum rimshot, especially in a groove, what you want to do is use a full stroke, and aim …

Transcript If you’ve studied a ratamacue before, we’re talking about the drag notes before a series of four notes, and an accent at the end. And if you’ve studied the double ratamacue, it adds an extra drag to that set of notes. Well the triple ratamacue adds yet another drag. So you have a drag, …

Transcript If you’ve studied a ratamacue, you’re talking about a rudiment that requires you to drag your weak stick before a set of four notes and an accent at the end. Well a double ratamacue is actually an extra drag before the initial drag before the four notes. So it’s going to be a drag, …

Transcript I’m going to cover a rudiment now called a single ratamaque. And it’s another type of rudiment where if you say the word, you play back basically the same sound. As in ratamaque, ratamaque. There are four notes in general there, with a drag right before the four notes. So it’s da da da …

Transcript I’m now going to cover a rudiment for you called Lesson 25, and that is not a mistake. It is actually called Lesson 25. It is the 25th rudiment in all that is covered on the list of rudiments. That is why they call it that. It is a rudiment that starts with an …

Transcript A third drag rudiment that you’re going to experience is called the double drag tap. It incorporates a single drag as well as a single drag tap, but after you drag twice on your stick, on your grace note stick. So the way that it’s going to sound is basically you’re going to do …

Transcript Another rudiment within the drag family is called a single drag tap. Now if you know what a drag is, you’re talking about a rudiment in which your main stick is up in the air, and your other stick is down towards the snare, and you’re dragging the grace not stick into the accent, …

Transcript A drag is another type of rudiment that you’re going to become familiar with as you study the drums more. It’s almost set up the way a flam would, but it’s got a little bit of a different approach to it. Now if you remember what a flam is, it requires your strong hand …

Transcript This rudiment would fall in line with a list of combination rudiments, which is called the flam paradiddle. It’s a combination of a flam mixed with a paradiddle. Now, a flam itself is when you have the right stick starting or your strong hand starting, and that is raised up in the air whereas …

Transcript The fourth diddle rudiment diddle or double that you’ll find in a list of those rudiments, is called a single paradiddle diddle. Or, what we just call paradiddle diddle. Now, what it is, is exactly what it’s saying. Para diddle diddle, meaning a set of singles, para, followed by a diddle which is a …

Transcript A triple para diddle is the third diddle rudiment in the grouping of rudiments for that. So you’d start first with a single para diddle. Followed by a double para diddle. And now a triple para diddle. And if you’ve studied the term diddle, you’re talking about a double, which means two strokes in …

Transcript The double paradiddle is similar to a single paradiddle, in which what you say sounds like what you’re going to hear when you play it. Dou-ble pa-ra-did-dle, dou-ble pa-ra-did-dle. If you know anything about the term “diddle,” we’re talking about a double. It would basically be a right-left-right-left-right-right for the double, followed by a …

Transcript There will be a series of rudiments here we’ll encounter called diddle rudiments, and the term diddle means double. And what you’ll see is that you’re going to experience rudiments like power diddle and double power diddle and so on and so forth. And because of the term diddle means double, you’re talking about …

Transcript A Swiss Army Triplet is a rudiment that involves a triplet bass or a triplet rate where you’re going tri-pl-et or one-triplet, two-triplet, and it involves flamming on the first note, typically of the first note, of that rudiment. Now, if you remember what a flam is, a flam is your strong hand starting …

Transcript A pataflafla is a rudiment that actually sounds like what you’re saying. Pata fla fla, pata fla fla. And it involves some single strokes mixed with some alternating flams as well. Basically what you’re going to do is start with your strong stick up, and your strong hand up, and set up for a …

Transcript In the series of flam rudiments, you’re going to experience a rudiment called a rudiment flam cue. It’s a little bit more convoluted than a standard flam, it’s got more notes in, and it actually has five notes in total and it alternates. What you’re going to do is that your first note is …

Transcript The flam tap is a very common rudiment that you’re gonna run into when learning the drums. What you’re gonna start with is basically a single flam, which is your one stick up in the air and the other stick down toward the drum. This is set up for a right flam since your …

Transcript A flam rudiment that you’re likely to run into when you’re learning the drums is something called the flam accent. Now the flam accent is basically built off of a triplet figure. Now triplets are counted as one triplet, two triplet, three triplet, four triplet, three notes for each grouping. The flam itself goes …

Transcript A name of a rudiment which you may have heard before but you’re not really sure what it is, is called a flam. A flam starts out with one of your hands or arms up in the air, and the other one as close to the snare as you possibly can get it, and …

Transcript Most likely in your first day of drum lessons, you’re going to learn how to hold the sticks correct and do a full stroke, and learn to just basically how the coordination of hand to hand stick motion. And the first rudiment that you’re going to experience is called the single stroke roll, which …

Transcript The nine stroke roll is another rudiment in the series of roll rudiments. And much like the five and the seven, you can take that number and divide it in half and round it up to the next number which will allow you to determine how many motions there are in this roll. So …

Transcript In the series of rolled rudiments, you’re going to experience a variety of different numbers, like a five stroke roll, six stroke roll, and so on. This is an example of a seven stroke roll, and much like a five stroke roll, it’s an example of a roll that you can split the number …

Transcript Within the grouping of rolled rudiments for drums your going to find a variety of numbers, five, six, seven, nine, right now I’m going to talk about the six stroke roll. Now with the stroke rolls, basically what you’re doing is thinking about the motions you have in your hands or your arms, and …

Transcript Within this series of rolled rudiments, there are some different numbers that you’re going to find, numbers like five strokes, nine stroke, seven stroke roll, so on and so forth. I’m going to cover the five stroke roll right now, and basically what it is stemming from is the amount of strokes you’re doing …

Transcript Another roll on the rudiment list that you are going to experience is a closed or multiple bounce roll. Sometimes it’s called a buzz roll. Basically what it is, instead of open strokes or wide open or individual playing you’re going to have a series of buzzes on each stick as you alternate sticks. …

Transcript One of the more important rudiments that you’re going to study on the drums is called the double stroke roll. Really any roll you study and understand is important but the double stroke is something that works the muscle in your hands, really gets your hands moving, especially a round set of drums, but …

Transcript Most likely in your first day of drum lessons you’re going to learn how to hold the sticks correctly, do a full stroke, and learn to just basically how the coordination of hand to hand stick motion. And the first rudiment you’re going to experience is called the single stroke roll, which is basically …

Transcript If you’ve ever studied the piano, one of the things that you do to learn the instrument is to study scales, where you learn a certain fingering on the piano, and you move up and down the piano, and certain notes, and it changes the positioning of your fingers and so on. Well, scales …

Transcript In all forms of music while you’re reading music you’re going to encounter a term called dynamics. Now, dynamics could either be written on a piece of music, or it could be just sort of a general thing that you discuss with who you’re playing, with the band playing softer or playing louder. Dynamics …

Transcript A term that you’ll find in drumming and music that goes along with dynamics is accents, and the term accent can refer to anything that you’re playing, or even just a matter of speech when you accentuate a word that you’re saying, or accentuate a note or pattern that you’re playing. And basically accents …

Transcript Two terms you may have heard before even starting to play the drums, maybe tempo and metronome, and they kind of run hand in hand with each other, as the tempo is basically the speed of time that you’re playing something, and the metronome is linked to measuring your tempo and how fast you’re …

Transcript When learning to play the drums you’re probably going to come across two terms such as independence in coordination. Typically that’s what you play or that’s how you play when you’re trying to exhibit your patterns. You’re playing different rhythms in each limb of your body. You’re reading them or playing them from ear …

Transcript Measures and bar lines refer to the time that you have as the music is going by to mathematically fit a certain amount of notes in that time. You can call one amount of space a measure. You can call it bar. What separates the end of every bit of time are these bar …

Transcript A very important part of reading any sort of music is understanding what a time signature is, or another word for it could be a meter. And a time signature are the two numbers that fall on top of each other at the beginning of a line of music. You’ll see it if you’re …

Transcript What I’m gonna cover now is a series of notes called triplets. It’s a subdivision that’s a little bit different than the normal rhythm scale. Now if you think about a rhythm scale in a bar of four of four, or four counts, you’re talking about whole notes, to half notes, to quarter notes, …

Transcript When you’re working on counting, you may come across two syllables, e’s and a’s. And what that refers to is when you’re breaking down or subdividing sixteenth notes, those are the syllables that are going to be involved in your count. There are four sixteenth notes in each beat that you play, or each …

Transcript When reading music you may come across a term called note values, and what that basically refers to is the length of time that each note is worth. And you might also hear a term called the rhythm scale, and basically what the rhythm scale is the way math works, is you start with …

Transcript Just like with any instrument, reading is an essential part of learning, and the good thing is about the drum is all based around rhythm, and rhythm happens to be an essential of every instrument that you play. Everybody has to learn the basics of rhythm, the basics of counting, and the type of …

Transcript When playing the drums you may come across a term called the open high hat and what that refers to is when you strike the high hat your foot is coming off the pedal and separating the two high hat cymbals to create an open sound. Now normally what you’re going to do is …

Transcript The hi-hat pedal is a device that allows the hi-hat cymbals to separate from each other and make contact with each other. The top hi-hat cymbal is clamped on to the hi-hat post by the swing nut here, and as you depress the pedal, the cymbals make contact with each other. When you pull …

Transcript When you’re playing the high hat there are a variety of different techniques and different ways you can play it. There’s closed, there’s fully open, and then there’s also half open. This is called the half open high hat. Really it’s just what it says where if you pull your foot off the pedal, …