#BASIC DRUM BEATS LESSON HOW TO#
#BASIC DRUM BEATS LESSON SERIES#
#BASIC DRUM BEATS LESSON FREE#

IвЂ™ve also found this to be one of the main beats I play when drumming in church. Playing all the quarter notes on the bass drum is typically referred to as playing вЂњfour-on-the-floorвЂќ.ДЇour-on-the-floor grooves are quite common in pop and dance music. You only add two more notes, but it completely changes the vibe of the groove. The next groove to learn is a slight variation of the basic rock beat. Your right hand will be playing 8 th notes on the hi-hat all the way through. When learning to play the groove, just remember that your snare drum lands on beats 2 and 4 while the kick drum lands on 1 and 2. ItвЂ™s the most used beat in the world, meaning itвЂ™s vitally important that you learn and develop it in the fundamental years of your drumming. IвЂ™ve most probably used this beat at least once in every gig IвЂ™ve ever played. The great thing about it is that you will never stop playing it. This groove is the first thing everyone learns to play on the drums, arguably making it one of the easiest beats out there. For now, you can start working on the first 3 drum beats.Here lies the holy grail of drumming, the basic rock beat. In the next post, weвЂ™ll review beats 4 through 6. In this post, we covered the first 3 of the 6 essential drum beats. Songs as diverse as Single Ladies by Beyonce and Forever and Ever, Amen by Randy Travis use this beat. This beat can be played as slow as 130 bpm ( Maggie May by Rod Stewart) to 208 ( ItвЂ™s the End of the World by R.E.M.). Play quarter notes on the hi-hat, bass drum on 1 & 3 and snare on 2 & 4. On the Super Fast beat we leave out notes to keep the tempo from slowing down (dragging). Notice how we added notes on the Super Slow beat to keep the tempo from rushing. Next is the fastest of all the drum beats. The 16 th notes on the hi-hat help to keep the tempo steady without speeding up (rushing).

#BASIC DRUM BEATS LESSON FREE#

Songs like ItвЂ™s Been Awhile by Staind, Purple Rain by Prince and Free Bird (the slow part) by Lynyrd Skynyrd can be played using this beat. ItвЂ™s played at tempos from 50 to 80 beats per minute (bpm). This beat is played with sixteenth notes on the hi-hat (by the right hand), the bass drum on 1 & 3, and the snare on 2 & 4 (with the left hand). The slowest drum beat I know is what I call Super Slow. Songs like Viva La Vita by Coldplay, Billie Jean by Michael Jackson and Another Brick In the Wall by Pink Floyd all have this as their basic drum beat. WhatвЂ™s great about this beat is that it can be played at many different slow, medium and fast tempos between 70 and 160 bpm. Quarter notes are played on the bass drum if you want a driving beat or played on 1 & 3 for a more laid-back feel. This beat is played with eighth notes on the hi-hat and the snare drum on 2 & 4. If youвЂ™ve been reading and practicing the lessons on the blog, youвЂ™ll recognize this as the first drum beat you learned. The simplest and easiest drum beat to play is what I call the Eighth Note beat.

#BASIC DRUM BEATS LESSON HOW TO#

If you need to refresh your memory about how to read drum music, visit this post: The Key to Reading Drum Music. Then in the next post, weвЂ™ll talk about a couple of blues beats and finish with a beat named after the famous guitar player, Bo Diddley. WeвЂ™ll start with the basic eighth note beat, and then go from super slow to super fast. So what are the most powerful, most important drum beats? Sure, there are some minor variations, but you can sound good playing all of the most popular rock, pop and country songs in the past 50 years by knowing 6 drum beats.

As I was researching which songs to include on the list, I was surprised that all the songs I listened to could be played with 6 drum beats. IвЂ™m working on a drum book that includes a list of the best play along songs for drums.

And playing along with recordings helps you improve your tempo, and gives you a feel for playing with a band. Learning the drum beats and fills played by top drummers on recorded music helps you have a strong foundation on which to build your own style. I believe that you can become the best drummer possible by constantly learning songs, lots of songs! Listening to music helps you learn from other drummers, what they play and how they work with other musicians. Then in 6 future blog posts, youвЂ™ll learn how to play each beat by breaking it down, starting with something you already know and gradually adding to it.

In the next post, weвЂ™ll quickly cover beats 4-6. In this post youвЂ™ll learn a little bit about the first 3 beats.

#BASIC DRUM BEATS LESSON SERIES#

This is the first in a series of blog posts where youвЂ™ll learn how to play these 6 powerful drum beats. Knowing these beats will allow you to get your first drum audition with a band and jump-start your musical career. These six drum beats are easy to learn, easy to remember, and form the basis for learning any song imaginable. Did you know that by learning just 6 simple drum beats, you can play almost any rock, pop and country song ever written? Pretty amazing, huh!

Basic drum beats lesson