How to Learn to Play Drums

If you’re just starting out to play drums, it can feel like you’re learning to walk—you’ve got to move all of your limbs at different times, yet working together. As with all things, practice makes perfect.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• A drum set
• Drum sticks
• Practice pad

1. At first just play the hi-hat part with you’re right hand, without snare or bass drum. A simple 4/4 beat is best.
2. Next, add the snare hit. Adding the bass drum with the snare is the hardest part, so at first make sure you’ve got the hang of the snare and hi-hat together.
3. Stop playing the hi hat. Now try to play the bass drum and snare in a steady rhythm—bass drum hit, snare hit, bass drum hit, snare hit, and so on.
4. Finally, add the three different parts together—hi hat, bass drum, and snare. The hi-hat is playing eight times. The snare hits on the three and seven of the hit hat, the bass drum hits on the one and five of the hi hat. The most common problem is hitting the bass drum and snare at the same time. Keep at it.

Tips & Warnings

• You are going to mess up, unless you’re some kind of prodigy. Devote some time to practicing a simple beat. It may seem tedious, but play the same simple beat for several hours straight until you get the hang of it.
• Playing along with songs is very helpful. Listen to a recording—not jazz (unless you’re trying to learn jazz drums), not prog-rock--something pretty slow and straight forward.
• Learn some drum hit techniques, like the flam or paradiddle. It’s very helpful when you want to incorporate some drum fills. Remember to hit the bass drum every time you hit the cymbal, or the cymbal will sound brittle.
• There are practice pads that you can put on each drum so you won’t bug the neighbors. Better yet, get an electronic drumset.