Learn How To Play Drums by: Antone Williams

If you wish to learn how to play drums, then several avenues are open today. Several websites offer beginning drum lessons videos. These drum lessons are usually designed to educate novices to learn how to play drums. Further, many sites offer help to even seasoned professional drum players to learn new fills and beats. Normally, the drum lessons start from the simplest beats, gradually leading you to learn beats that are more complicated.

At the outset, you would be expected to learn how sheet music is to be read and how time should be counted. These drum lessons form the essential basics of music as well drum playing. The next set of lessons would teach you the simple beats that every drummer needs to learn in the beginning. They would be followed by the several variations in the drumbeats that form the higher levels. The next levels are generally classified as intermediate levels and advanced levels.


The first step in beginning drum lessons is to understand the importance of hi-hats and playing them properly. These hi-hats could be played either with the drumstick when the hi-hats remain closed. For this, you need to use your left foot on the pedal of the hi-hats. Otherwise, you could play the hi-hats with the help of your foot also, by using your foot to open and alternatively close the hi-hats.

Next, you should learn to play the ride cymbal. The main purpose of the ride cymbal is to keep the timing steady in playing the drumbeats. The ride cymbal stokes are played with the drumstick on the part lying between the bell and the edge of the ride cymbal. This part is known as the ëbowí. After that, you would learn to play the snare drum and the bass drum. This would be followed by drum lessons on playing the Tom Toms.

The most important point in learning how to play drums is to count time. Time counting should come naturally to a good drummer. Unless you are able to count time properly, you would not be able to play the notes of the sheet music properly. You should be able to understand the counting of drumbeats and the relationship of the subdivisions to each other. Initially, you could start with tapping the timing on a single drum. The first lesson would be on the quarter notes and the eighth notes. Learn how to play the drum with these notes separately. Then you should learn how to combine the quarter and the eighth notes. This would be followed by the lessons on sixteenth notes and combining the sixteenth notes with the eighth notes and finally combining all the three types of notes.

Another chief aspect in beginning drum lessons is to keep you highly motivated all the time. Any lacking in motivation would adversely affect your interest in learning the drum lessons in real earnest. Constant practice and keen interest in learning more and more complicated drumbeats is also quite significant in drum lessons. Remember that beginning drum lessons is quite easy but should be backed up with hard work.