When asking whether something is hard to learn, you need to factor in everything it takes to learn that skill. When it comes to drumming, you need to master things such as rhythm, timing, coordination, playing with a band, and understanding how note values work.
While all of that may sound a bit overwhelming, taking it one step at a time makes everything a lot easier. Drummers don’t even know that they’re working on those things when they first start, meaning a lot of it comes naturally. At the end of the day, learning to play drums isn’t too hard if you have a focused practice routine that you stick to following.
Of course, there are several drumming topics that are complicated and challenging. These are much harder than your basic beats and fills. Some examples of challenging concepts would be polyrhythms and metric modulation.
These topics are typically only tackled by advanced drummers who have been playing the instrument for years. You need to have some mastery over the fundamental aspects of drumming before taking those on.
If you’re wanting to start playing drums because your favorite bands are Tool and Animals As Leaders, then drumming is going to be a lot harder to learn for you than it will be for people who just want to play some simple beats.
Simply playing for fun is one of the best reasons to start playing the drums. Since there are no goals to hit yet, you have a clean slate to decide what you want to focus on. However, you should start learning all the basic fundamentals of drumming, and that’s usually quite an easy process.
Once you know how to play a few beats and fills, you can sit and jam as much as you’d like. The great thing about playing the drums is that there are no wrong notes, allowing you to sit an experiment around the kit without it sounding off. You have to keep in time, though!
The difficulty level involved in learning to play songs depends on what songs you’re learning. As we said earlier, it’s going to be very hard to learn to play to progressive metal bands. But learning to play to straightforward pop songs is quite simple.
The best thing to do is master the basic rock drum beat. Once you have that down, you can play to hundreds of songs. You’d just need to learn where the breaks are and perhaps move your right hand to the ride cymbal to add a bit of contrast.
A classic song that has a pure basic rock beat is Billie Jean by Michael Jackson.
Playing with a band is a bit trickier than playing to songs in the practice room. A band environment is more organic, and you need to worry about fitting in with the other musicians.
The biggest difference is that when you play to music tracks, there’s a built-in pulse as those tracks have been professionally recorded. When playing with a band, it’s now your job to maintain that pulse. If you don’t keep the rhythms locked, the band may alter their tempos slightly, leading the band to sound like they’re not together.
You have other musicians to worry about now, adding an extra element of difficulty in learning to play in this environment. The band members may also not like the drum part that you’re playing, so you’ll need the skills to change it up a bit when needed.
Live gigs are the most daunting aspect of being a drummer. This is where all the skills you’ve learned get tested in a somewhat stressful environment. You have people watching you perform now, creating a sense of pressure.
You also need to apply all the skills of playing with a band in this setting as well. Those skills are just intensified as you can’t stop and restart songs as you could in a band practice.
The more live gigs you play, the less stressful it gets. However, your first few live shows will be quite intimidating.
There’s also an extra element of showmanship needed for live shows. If you look like you’re concentrating too hard on your drumming, the crowd isn’t going to enjoy watching you. You need to be an entertainer behind the kit as well, and that shows in how you play the drums.
The best way to make sure that you’re getting the fundamentals correct is to learn with a drum teacher. Drum teachers will guide you in the right direction, offering the best advice possible for a learning drummer.
Learning with a teacher will take all the guesswork away from drumming. There are so many aspects of playing the drums that it can be overwhelming to choose what to learn first. A teacher’s job is to give you guidance in what to learn.
They’ll also help you iron out technique issues, which is incredibly important. Bad techniques can be developed, and a teacher will keep you accountable for those.
Learning to play the drums is a lot easier when you do it with a drum teacher.
If you don’t want to learn with a teacher, it’s completely possible to learn by yourself thanks to modern technology. The internet has made it easier than ever to learn any skill online, and drumming is a skill that has plenty of free resources to learn from.
You can find a fair number of free drum lessons to get you started. However, you’re not going to get a good timeline of guidance from these. That’s why we suggest you go for a few lessons with a teacher to at least give you a bit of guidance.
The definition of being a professional means that you make money for doing something. If you can play a few basic beats with a band that gets paid to play, you’re technically a professional drummer.
There are plenty of drummers like this around the world, showing that it’s not difficult to become a pro drummer in that sense.
However, if you’re thinking of being a pro drummer in the sense of technical skill, it’s quite hard to get to that level. It requires years of dedicated practice and growth behind the instrument before you can be considered a pro player.
Things you’ll need to consider before learning how to play the drums:
Learning to play the drums is a quick process in the beginning. Your main goals will be to play a few beats and fills as well as learn the correct technique behind playing those things.
Some people will nail all of that in their first drum lessons while others may take a few months to get a good hold on it. So, we’ll safely say that learning to play the drums only takes a few months. However, it takes a lifetime to master the instrument.
You can easily learn the drums on your own by watching free teaching material online. However, those online lessons don’t give you any planned long-term structure, and they don’t offer accountability. Those are two things that make learning to play the drums a lot easier.
So, it’s possible to learn the drums on your own, but it’s a lot more difficult than it would be if you learned to play the drums with a teacher.
Drums are excellent for beginners. If you’re just getting into drumming, the elation you’ll feel when learning and nailing something is very special. Having a new hobby to pursue is something wonderful to experience.
The big difference between drumming and piano playing is that pianos have melodic notes. You need to worry about key signatures, chords, and scales. Those are things you don’t need to worry about with drumming, making drumming a bit easier to learn at the beginning.
It’s also highly recommended that you read music when you learn piano online. Music notation exists for drums, but it’s not as widely needed.
In conclusion, drums are fairly easy to learn at the beginning. Playing them gets progressively more difficult as you introduce more concepts and start playing with bands in live shows.
If you’re wanting to learn the drums, you should start as soon as possible. We’re huge fans of drummers here (naturally!). You’ll have a fantastic time playing the drums, and the barrier to entry is quite low.
Founder of TheDrumNinja
I’m crazy about drums, it’s been my passion since I was 12 years old. I played in numerous bands going through different styles like Rock, Progressive, Pop & Jazz-Rock. After being featured in major music publications (Drumeo, Guitar Guitar, AudioIssues, MusicThinkTank) I started this website to share my knowledge and create a resource for drummers of all levels.
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