Good morning, and thanks a lot for visiting Midnightdrummer.com today!
This time I'd like to show you 21+ easy drum songs for beginners which you can start practicing today!
Yes, today – including a FREE DOWNLOAD BUNDLE!
This blog post is a fantastic addition to my drum lesson about 55+ easy drum beats for beginners, which you should also try!
In particular as a beginner drummer!
EASY drum GROOVES
for beginners!
Files Included
But now let's talk about easy drum songs for beginners, which are great to play along to.
Here are the contents:
What is the easiest song to play on drums?
One of the most popular and easiest songs to play on drums is “We will rock you” by Queen. For this pop song, you only need to play snare and bass drum in a very simple 8th notes pattern. The drum groove of this song can be easily learned within your very 1st drum lesson.
21 [+] Easy drum songs for beginners
Let's start with an easy drum song for beginners, which you will probably know already.
There are a few steps which make it as easy as possible to make you understand how the drum grooves are being played:
Here are my favorite easy drum songs for beginners:
#1
5/5
Billy Jean – Michael Jackson
Billy Jean is one of the most popular songs which Michael Jackson has ever recorded & performed. It's a very steady and fantastic bass line any drummer will love playing to.
Although the tempo requires some practice, this drum beat can easily be played after a few months.
If you still need a slower version of this groove in another song, please have a look at this one.
Play drum beat:
Download this FREE DRUM BEAT
#2
5/5
We will rock you - Queen
“We will rock you” is a mega rock song written and performed by Queen.
The drum beat couldn't get easier than in this song. Most people who start playing drums can play this groove within their first few minutes at the drum set.
You can play it too!
Play drum beat:
Download this FREE DRUM BEAT
#3
4/5
Every breath you take – The Police
“Every breath you take” is another chart breaker and was written in the 80s of the past century by a famous band called “The Police”.
Sting wrote this song with a very easy drum beat, which is easily playable after a few weeks of practice. Due to its rhythmic changes during the song, it can become more challenging than the others I mentioned here. Still, it's worth trying out.
You can listen to a much faster version of this drum beat in this song.
Play drum beat:
Download this FREE DRUM BEAT
#4
5/5
It's only love – Simply Red
Simply Red is another fantastic band still touring around the world. “It's only love” is a song with a moderate 16th note pattern being played on the hi-hat.
The basic drum groove is quite simple and easy to learn. Yet, it can take some time to get used to the hi-hat pattern, which is being played by alternating hands.
Play drum beat:
Download this FREE DRUM BEAT
#5
5/5
Sledge Hammer – Peter Gabriel
Believe it or not, even Peter Gabriel's song “Sledge Hammer” is a song from the 80s and I love it – in particular the drum groove.
And yes, compared to the very 1st drum groove in this blog post, it's nearly the same in an even slower tempo.
Play drum beat:
Download this FREE DRUM BEAT
#6
5/5
Sweet sixteen – Billy Idol
Billy Idol is known for rock music, but one of his greatest hits ever is this song called “Sweet sixteen”, which is – simply put – a soft pop song.
The drum groove comes in a playful Latin attitude, which – at this tempo – is very challenging to play for beginners.
Consider this song with almost the same drum groove for your first approach to mastering this rhythm on the drum set.
Play drum beat:
Download this FREE DRUM BEAT
#7
5/5
Highway to hell – ACDC
Here's one of the greatest rock songs of all time:
“Highway to Hell” by ACDC is a simple but very cool song, that sounds harder than it really is.
The great thing about this song is, that the tempo is moderately slow, and the basic beat is almost as easy as “Billy Jean” by M. Jackson.
Try it out for yourself!
Play drum beat:
Download this FREE DRUM BEAT
#8
5/5
Gimme all your lovin' – Zztop
Sooner or later it dawns on every drummer:
Great songs don't need a highly complicated drum groove to become a hit!
If you compare all songs which I have mentioned so far, you will notice that the grooves are almost the same in each and every single hit. “Gimme all your lovin'” by Zztop takes the same line.
Listen here:
Play drum beat:
Download this FREE DRUM BEAT
#9
5/5
That's all - Genesis
“That's all” by Genesis is another easy drum song for beginners. It starts completely different from all the other songs mentioned above, playing bass drum and hi-hat only during the intro of the song.
Later on, the drum groove is the same as in the previous examples.
In the demo groove, you will only hear the intro drum groove.
Play drum beat:
Download this FREE DRUM BEAT
#10
5/5
Iris - Goo Goo Dolls
Please don't panic!
This song is written in 6/8 which sounds ultra-hard, but of course, it is not.
At least not in this song called “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls.
The basic drum beat is quite easy, and it shouldn't be too difficult for beginner drummers, to learn it.
Of course, later on the song develops some more difficult parts, which can be learned later.
Click here and listen:
Play drum beat:
Download this FREE DRUM BEAT
#11
5/5
Kiss - Prince
Prince is another hero from the 80s, and “Kiss” is probably one of the most popular songs he's ever written.
The basic drum groove is really simple. The snare drum plays on “2” and on “4”, the bass drum on “1” and on “2+”. If you like, you can also add a simple 8th notes hi-hat pattern on top of the rhythm.
Play drum beat:
Download this FREE DRUM BEAT
What's the best song for beginner drummers?
In case you want to search for your own song for beginner drummers, you should keep a few things in mind:
Great songs aren't always easy to find. In particular, those which are easy to play on drums, and you are a beginner.
What's the best song for beginner drummer?
Sometimes it can be necessary to look into music genres, which you may not like that much.
But here you probably will find easy drum songs for beginners to grow with and maybe hidden pearls you even fall in love with.
Compare your researched songs with those I have posted on this page, and you will get an idea of their playability / difficulty level.
More easy songs to learn on drums
In case you are looking for more easy songs to learn on drums, you should listen to music as much as you can.
Any streaming app like Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music etc. allows finding new songs based on your favorites list.
This is a good way to dig out music which you haven't thought of at all and find your next songs you love playing drums to.
Another great way to find new songs to learn on drums can be buying a new drum book.
Most times, there are play along songs contained in many of such books.
Are there easy drum songs that sound hard?
Maybe you have tried to play these songs with good drum beats also. If yes, you can see, there are plenty of easy drum songs to practice, which aren't hard to play at all, but still sound as if they are hard to learn and hard to play.
The funny thing is:
Most popular songs, no matter what genre, sound pretty easy. But that is a trap in most cases. Don't forget that the drummers who were booked to record these songs, are pro-drummers who practiced their instruments for years to become a master.
In case you are an experienced drummer, you will have noticed over the years of practicing, that even the simplest drum grooves sound better and better the longer you play drums.
As a young beginner drummer I also played the grooves, I have mentioned above, and I was convinced that I was able to play them after a few hours of practicing them.
Unfortunately, experience, knowledge, and mastery develop over time. Becoming a great and supportive musician has to mature over time. There's no shortcut in my opinion.
Easy to learn snare drum songs for beginners
Just in case you are practicing your first drum rudiments, you might be interested in playing along to a few easy snare drum songs.
The question here is:
What are snare drum songs?
Snare drum songs are only played on a snare drum and not on the complete drum set. Thus, it can become quite complicated and complex what the drummer has to play.
Of course, this isn't the case in all “snare drum songs”, but a few drum rudiments like the single stroke roll and the single paradiddle should be in place.
Here's something for the younger drummers to start with:
The snare drum plays the zoo
This snare drum song book is made for younger drummers who are learning to play the snare. A CD is also included containing exercises and play-along songs.
And here's a great book for the “grown-up” drummers:
The all American Drummer
The all American drummer is not a book for beginners!
Still, this is a book full of snare drum “songs” and marches for the advanced and pro-drummer.
Great Intermediate drum songs
Maybe you have been playing for a while, here are great intermediate drum songs, which you should have a look at:
#12
5/5
You might need somebody – Randy Crawford
There are a few famous songs which feature one of the coolest but also most difficult drum grooves of all time.
“You might need somebody” is one of those songs featuring a so-called half-time-shuffle. Here you can listen to the original song and to a basic half-time-shuffle drum groove.
Play drum beat:
Download this FREE DRUM BEAT
#13
5/5
Smoke on the water – Deep Purple
“Smoke on the water” is the most popular song by Deep Purple, containing a very interesting drum part.
Before you start practicing this drum groove, you should have tried easy 16th notes hi-hat grooves for a strong basis.
Play drum beat:
Download this FREE DRUM BEAT
The most popular pop songs with drums
Here are a few popular pop songs with drums, which you probably heard before:
In the Air tonight – Phil Collins
“In the Air Tonight” is probably Phil Collins' most popular song. Watch the following video, which will automatically start at the most famous part of the song at minute 4:25:
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It doesn't happen too often, that a drum-fill like that becomes the “hook” of one of the most popular songs in the history of pop music.
In most cases, it's a guitar riff, a vocal part or something else which defines the “hook”. That's why “In the Air Tonight” is a very special song.
Mushanga - Toto
Mushanga by Toto is another song in which the drums play a main part. Still, the way Jeff Porcaro plays the groove, it stays more in the background.
In the following video, Jeff Porcaro describes the process of the groove development:
Subscribe to my YT-channel and get free drum lessons for beginners.
Easy rock drum songs
In case you are more into rock music, here are easy rock drum songs you should have a look at:
Boulevard of broken dreams – Green Day
Subscribe to my YT-channel and get free drum lessons for beginners.
Seven Nation Army – The White Stripes
Subscribe to my YT-channel and get free drum lessons for beginners.
Good drum songs for beginners
If you are looking for good songs to learn on drums, and you are a beginner, you should first search for slow to moderate tempo songs.
Before you can start playing a new drum groove, you need to do some research. You have to listen very carefully to get the tiniest details like ghost notes on the snare drum, hi-hat openings and quiet notes on any instrument of the drum set.
As a beginner, you should therefore try to select songs, which aren't too complicated.
The slower a song is, the easier it is to hear all elements which create the “groove”.
What are the best beginner drum songs?
That's a good question, and still it is difficult / impossible to answer.
We all know, that there is no accounting for taste! That's why there can't be “the best drum song”, but there are a lot of songs, which are fun to play on the drums.
IMO, I mentioned quite a few of those “best drum songs” in my article. But please add your own picks in the comments below.
I will add them to the list later.
And now it's time to start playing drums!
Enjoy and have fun.
FAQ
What is the easiest song to play on drums?
One of the easiest songs to play on drums for most beginners is “Billy Jean” by Michael Jackson. Although this song isn't very slow, the drum beat itself can be learned within a few hours of practicing drums. It consists of an 8th notes pattern on hi-hat, snare drum on count 2 and 4 and a bass drum on count 1 and 3.
Here, you can listen to a slowed down version of the Billy Jean drum beat:
What should a beginner drummer learn?
A beginner drummer should learn the basics from different categories like drum rudiments, easy drum beats and drum-fills. Besides that, learning to play to a click-track or metronome builds a great rhythmic foundation.
What is the fastest way to learn a song on drums?
The fastest way to learn a song on drums depends on which song a drummer wants to learn. Easy drum songs which consist of a simple bass drum- and snare drum patterns can be played within a few minutes of practice.
“We will rock you” by Queen is an example which anybody can play within minutes in their first drum lesson.
What drums are best for beginners?
Any drum set or drum is great for the beginning and, of course, better than nothing to play on. You can still buy a more sophisticated drum kit later. Then you will be able to decide for yourself which sounds and therefore which drum set you should aim for. In case you are on a tight budget, you should check out my blog post about cheap drum sets for beginners.
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