How to Play the Keyboard Drum Set

If you're recording music at home and want to add drums to your track but don't have a real kit, consider using a keyboard. Sampling technology allows real drum sounds to be put on synthesizers, digital pianos and other keyboards, and playing them is fairly easy. Since it's a MIDI instrument, using a keyboard drum set also allows you to make easy edits with your digital-recording software.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Choose an instrument set you'd like to play. Most keyboards come with a variety of drum sets for different styles of music, like rock, jazz and dance.

2. Pick a time signature for your beat. Most songs are in 4/4, or common time. This beat has four quarter notes per measure.

3. Lay down a bass drum pattern. The bass drum is the foundation of the beat, keeping it organized and moving it forward.

4. Add some cymbal sounds to the beat. Use the ride cymbal and the hi-hat to create a driving beat, and use the crash cymbal to provide background accents.

5. Play the snare drum in a regular pattern along with the bass drum. These two usually interact in a predictable way. The variety in your beat should come from tom-tom fills and cymbal hits.

6. Practice with a song playing in the background. You can either use a pre-programmed tune on your keyboard or a regular song on CD or mp3.

Tips & Warnings

• Experiment with different sounds, and don't be afraid to mess up. Playing the keyboard drum set takes a while to master, so have fun along the way.

Resources

• Watch this video of a keyboard drummer.