Tips for Beginning Drummers

Series Summary

The drum was perhaps first created from the primal idea of mimicking the human heartbeat, yet today its music has developed into a technical, complex arrangement of beats and grooves. Different sized drums and cymbals are arranged into kits, where a drummer can pick from a variety of sounds to lead or accompany a particular song. Kit sizes vary from the simple to the outrageous. Modern drummers, including the likes of Buddy Rich, Billy Cobham, Neal Peart, Dave Weckl, and Jimmy Chamberlain, have helped drummers develop their playing skills by inspiring new beat and rhythm patterns, new combinations of sound upon sound. The modern approach to drumming, then, is to try and master the fundamentals of beat and time signature, and then to create fresh, innovative patterns and fills for each song.

In this free instructional video series, learn how to play the drums, both as an absolute beginner, and as a drummer who is looking to improve their skills. Our expert is a world touring drummer who plays every style of music imaginable and will show you how to work on your chops. Drum clinic lessons include basic stick grip tips and techniques, using accents and double hits as well as developing hand speed.

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Jason K on behalf of Expert Village. This series is going to show you, from your first drum lesson on, how to play. We're going to be using a practice pad for the beginning, which is what I'd like you to do. The reason we use a practice pad is that it feels different from a drum. It gives you a little bit more bounce. It's really a hard surface and it's quieter than a drum as well. You can really hear what you're doing. It's very important that you use a practice pad. We're going to go over some different things, different techniques of holding the drumsticks. There are several different ways you can hold them. Match grip. Traditional grip, which you may have seen drummers holding like this. And we're going to go over a little bit of reading, snare drum rudiments, which you may or may not have heard of. They are little exercises that you're going to learn on the practice pad and then take to the snare drum and practice there as well. You'll need these to get proficient with the drum sticks, which is the most important thing as a beginner. You need to get good with these if you want to get good on this."