How To Play Drums

The four drum patterns below make it easy to learn the drums progressively. They start out with just one part of the drum kit, and eventually include all the voices that make up a simple drum beat. This way you can learn how to play the drums with baby steps.

The Basic Drum Patterns

Take a look at the first exercise below. It has a single measure of eighth notes. The count is listed above each of the eight notes in the measure. The "x" symbol above the top line of the measure indicates that these counts are to be played on the hi-hats. Start by counting out loud (one and two and three and four and), and then play the hi-hats along with your counting. Loop this a few times, and focus on playing at a consistent pace.

In exercise two, you'll learn how to play the bass drum on the one and three counts. As you can see below, the bass drum is indicated with a solid note in the bottom space of the measure. You can watch the video lesson for tips on how to play the pedal with control.

Next, exercise three includes the snare drum on counts two and four. The snare drum is indicated by a solid note on the middle line of each measure. As with the bass drum, you want to focus on playing these right with the hi-hats. The strokes should line up perfectly, so it sounds like one complete sound.

Finally, exercise four brings everything together. The previous patterns were all leading up to this. As you can see below, this beat includes the hi-hats, snare drum, and bass drum - all together in one complete beat. This is how to play the drums in a real band setting.

Be sure you really focus on playing this beat steady and in time. It is highly recommended that you play along with a metronome - especially when first learning how to play on a drum set. Everything needs to sound even and consistent. Just loop the pattern over and over until you are feeling very confident.

If you are having any difficulty with this last beat, you can always go back and practice beats 1 - 3. That will help you focus on timing and limb-independence. Then, when you feel ready, come back to beat 4.