Do You Want To Learn How To Play Drums?
The Beginner's Guide To Playing Drums
This section is dedicated to the absolute beginner. Whether you have a drum-set or not, you can start to play the drums using this short tutorial.
We are going to start out by developing basic time. If you have a metronome you can use that, however, a wristwatch, stop-watch, or anything else that shows seconds will do fine.
If you have a metronome set it to 60 bpm. A wristwatch or stopwatch is obviously set to go at 60 bpm as long as your battery is not slowly dying. Count along with the timer, counting each click as one beat. It should sound like this, "1, 2, 3, 4." Repeat this over and over again until you are lining it right up with the click.
Next, take your dominant hand and tap along with the click on beats 1, 2, 3, 4. You are learning to keep basic time, which is essential when first learning how to play drums. Make sure you are confident in your strokes, staying right on the click. Do this for 5 or 10 minutes straight, or until you feel comfortable to move on.
For the next step, you may want to sit down; however, it is not necessary. While you are tapping with your dominant hand on clicks 1, 2, 3, 4; you can add in a foot stroke on clicks 1 and 3. To do this, you can raise your whole leg and drop it, or just tap with the front of your foot.
Now that you have your dominant foot and hand going, we can add in your other hand which would be the snare stroke on an actual drum-set. The snare stroke falls on the 2 and 4 clicks. Remember, always keep in time with the click. Your dominant hand should be staying lined up with it throughout all of this. Once you have added in the other hand you should be playing a full beat; with 2 notes on all four strokes.
Congratulations if you've made it this far. You are well on your way to becoming a successful drummer. If you are interested on taking your drumming skills to the next level, I encourage you to check out Jared Falk's "Rock Drumming System." It is a step-by-step detailed guide to learning everything about playing the drums.
Alternatively, you can check out the articles on this site for more information.