Good morning, and thanks a lot for joining me on Midnightdrummer.com today!
I suppose you found this online drum lesson because you were searching for easy drum beats for beginners and how to start learning them on your drum set.
Correct?
Okay, then this blog post is all you will ever need to begin your drumming career with.
What you will learn:
Isn't that cool!
You will learn 55+ really cool and easy drum grooves, which every beginner can play. You too!
I will show you step-by-step how it works.
Let's have a look at the contents and get started:
How to learn drum beats?
There's not just 1 way on how to learn your first drum beats.
In my drum lessons, I usually start with very basic exercises like the following drum groove:
If you play it right, it should sound like this:
Now, that you just have learned your very first easy drum beat, let's go on, and I will show you some more complex drum grooves.
Useful stuff
Here are a few things which will make it easier to practice the exercises:
Drum Practice Pad
A drum practice pad like the "Evans Real Feel" is a must-have for every drummer.
It's ideal to practice drum rudiments like the single paradiddle, and it's quiet too.
You can use it for warming up your hands before a gig, and it fits any backpack in case you aren't near any drum set.
Drumsticks
Of course, you need a pair of drumsticks to play along to the single paradiddle exercises.
If you don't own a pair and don't know which fits your drumming style, you should have a look at the best drumsticks for beginners.
Ear Plugs for Drummers
Your ears need protection when playing drums!
In this blog post about the best earplugs for drummers, you will find great ear plugs and ear protection which doesn't cost much and works very efficiently!
Metronome / Click Track
To improve your timing, you should use a metronome or a click track when practicing.
There are several devices and smartphone apps which are recommendable.
The most popular metronome is the Tama Rhythm Watch, which you can see here.
Easy drum beats for beginners
Let's get started with a few things which will help you understand and play the following basic drum beats for beginners more easily.
How to interpret the drum notation
If you haven't seen sheet music or any drum notes before, here's how it works.
Don't worry – the basics are really easy!
Let's have a look at my basic drum notation key – click to zoom in:
Basic Drum Notation Key
All you need to know for now is, where the following instruments of your drum set are notated in my drum key:
Easy!
What does 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + mean?
You can find “1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +” above every exercise on the PDF file. This is the way, you will count 8th notes in drum beats.
The “+” sign is pronounced as “and”.
Any drum note (bass drum / snare / hi-hat) on the PDF-file can be found exactly under a particular number or +.
Here's an example:
Example of drum beat notation
Drum Beat 1:
- Bass Drum on "1" and "3"
- Snare Drum on "2" and "4"
DRUM BEAT 2:
- Bass Drum on "1", "1 +", "3" and "3 +"
- Snare Drum on "2" and "4"
DRUM BEAT 3:
- Bass Drum on "1", "3" and "3 +"
- Snare Drum on "2" and "4"
DRUM BEAT 4:
- Bass Drum on "1", "1 +" and "3"
- Snare Drum on "2" and "4"
Easy, isn't it?
Please have a look at the snare drum in these exercises 1-4.
Do you notice anything? 🙂
Yes, the snare drum only appears on "2" and on "4" and that will be the case throughout the whole PDF-file!
Here's another example:
Drum beats with off-beat hi-hat notes
Looks interesting?
Here are a few things to get used to:
- The 8th note rest sign on "1" and "3" (hi-hat)
- The single 8th note on "1 +", "2 +", "3 +" and "4 +" (hi-hat)
- The flag between "2" and "2 +" and between "4" and "4 +" (connecting snare drum & hi-hat )
What about rest signs?
Rest signs, as the one you see above, are quite useful for your eyes. It's a lot easier to recognize quickly what has to be played and when.
Of course, too many rest signs would be counterproductive and may overload your eyes with unwanted information.
That's why I use rest signs only where it makes good sense.
8th notes & using flags
A single 8th note looks different compared to two 8th notes which are notated within the same 1/4 note. If the latter is the case, I use a flag to connect these two 8th notes.
Most drummers do that. 🙂
There's nothing wrong about notating two 8th notes as one would do if there's only 1, but again, it's easier for your eyes to grasp the idea behind it, when you connect those two 8th notes with a flag.
Here you can see exactly what I mean.
8th notes notation
By the way:
It doesn't matter, at all, whether the tail of the music-note shows up or down.
Here again it's a matter of better readability, why I use tails looking upwards and in other cases – bass drum for example – downwards.
Exercises 1-14
Let's start with the basic exercises, which you can find in the following video and on the PDF-file.
Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for upcoming new videos.
Video
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These very first exercises (1-14) are the basics.
Don't rush through these basics!
Get used to the drum beats and try to control every stroke on the snare and on the bass drum.
A good tempo for the beginning is between 40 and 60 BPM (beats per minute).
You don't own a metronome?
Click here to start a 60 BPM click-track:
Exercises 15-28
This is the second page of drum notation included in the PDF download.
Now we will add the hi-hat / ride cymbal and play 8th notes in addition to the basic drum grooves you practiced in the exercises 1-14.
Too difficult? Try this exercise first!
If it's too difficult to play groove no. 15, please start with the introduction exercise, which you will find in the following video starting at 0:55.
Video
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Please practice groove no. 15 as long as it takes for you to really master it.
That would mean the following:
When you really mastered the basics, proceed to drum beats no. 16, 17, 18 and so on until you can play all exercises on this page.
For advanced drummers, mastering the exercises would mean:
Exercises 29-42
In exercises 29-42, you will learn to play 1/4 notes on hi-hat / ride cymbal.
That might sound easy, but it is not.
It's quite challenging when you practice exercises where hi-hat & bass drum notes play different notes.
In the following video, you can play along to all exercises on this page, and you will see immediately where the challenge lies.
Video
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Exercises 43-56
In the exercises 43-56, you will learn how to play the hi-hat on every “+” (“and”).
It can be quite difficult at first, because we are used to hearing the downbeats in any given groove or rhythm.
If the tempo in the following video is too fast, try to count in a very slow tempo like this:
“1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +”
On every “+” try to hit the hi-hat, then slowly add bass drum and snare drum to the groove.
Here's the video showing all exercises on this last page of the free PDF file.
Video
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Common drum beats for beginners
If you like to learn more common drum beats for beginners, you should have a look at the extended version of the exercises you found on this page.
You can find the download bundle here:
EASY drum beats
for beginners!
Files Included
Let's wrap this up
I hope you liked your first 55+ drum beats and learned how to play them easily.
If you want to try out your drumming skills, please have a look at my blog post about easy drum songs for beginners.
If there are any questions, please leave a comment below, and I will try to answer them as soon as possible.
Together we will learn a lot more, and I am happy to help.
The most important thing when learning to play drums, is patience! Please allow yourself enough time to practice your skills step by step.
Talent is a great gift, but perfectioning your skills develops over time and needs a lot of practice.
So, let's do it and enjoy the ride!
Talk soon and play drums!
