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How are Drums Played?
Beginner’s Guide
How are Drums Played:
Drum kits have a standard setup that leads most drummers to play them in the same way. The kit will have a bass drum situated in front of the player’s foot, and every other part gets positioned around that bass drum. The other parts include varying sizes of drums as well as a set of cymbals.
A drummer will play the drums using a pair of drum sticks. The drummer will then play a combination of beats and drum fills to create rhythms with the instrument.
Brief Introduction to Drum Parts
While drum kit setups differ from drummer to drummer, most kits start with a standard setup. The majority of drum sets you buy will have a setup like this, so it’s a good base to start with. A drum kit will include the following components:
Snare drum
High tom
Mid tom
Floor tom
Bass drum
Hi-hats
Crash cymbal
Ride cymbal
Some drummers love using many toms while others only use a few. The most varying component of a drum set is the cymbal setup. If you watch pro drummers, you’ll notice that none of them use the same cymbals. Your cymbals create your personal sound behind the kit, so customizing the setup is a great way of being unique.
If you want to read more about each drum part in detail, check out our Drums Anatomy 101 article. We break down every little bit of the kit there. We also mention a few parts that aren’t found on standard kits such as stacks and effects cymbals.
Warm Up
Drums are a very physical instrument. You’re moving your arms and legs, and there’s a high probability that you’ll build up a sweat. Because of this, it’s wise to warm up before playing. This will prevent you from getting wrist injuries and cramps in your legs.
If you’re a beginner drummer, your warm ups don’t need to be too hectic as you’re most likely not going to play blazing fast patterns on the drums. A few minor dynamics stretches will be more than enough before playing.
A good one to start with is to hold your sticks together in one hand and then rotate that hand from side to side. Do that for a few seconds and then take the sticks in your other hand. This will warm up your wrists.
You can also do warm ups on the kit. This is what pro drummers do before they play gigs. An easy warm up is to play singles around the drums. This is when you alternate your hands and play 4-8 notes on one drum and then move on to the next. Repeat that around the drums until your arms are feeling loose and comfortable.
How Do You Play Basic Drums?
The cool thing about drumming is that it’s quite easy, to begin with. Everyone learns how to play a basic beat first. This basic beat can be used in thousands of songs, so it’s one of the most useful tools you’ll ever learn on the kit.
To play a basic beat, you need to hit your hi-hat 4 times. Do that for a while and get used to how it feels. Also, count out loud to keep track of where you are. Next, play the bass drum whenever you count 1. That may be tricky, but you’ll get used to it soon.
After you can do that, play the snare drum whenever you count 3. There’s your basic beat.
When playing this, you should keep your right hand on the hi-hat and your left on the snare. Your hands should be crossed to feel comfortable. You could do it with your hands in opposite positions, but most people prefer the first way. The second way is called open-handed playing.
Start Practicing without Drums
If you don’t have a drum set, don’t worry! You can take a pair of sticks and play on any surface. Pillows, blankets, carpets, and counters are all fair game. However, it’s most ideal to get a practice pad. These are small pads that are designed specifically for drummers to practice on. A cheap drum set can cost around $500 while a practice pad will only cost around $20.
You can use the practice pad to work on rudiments and hand technique. If you want to practice beats, you can get a practice pad for a bass drum pedal. Otherwise, stomping your foot on the ground in place of the pedal is another alternative.
Also, use a metronome! Using a metronome while playing patterns on a pad is one of the best ways for drummers to improve their skills.
Check our article on how to play Drums without a drum set.
Lesson for Beginners / How Do You Play Drums Step by Step?
1. Learn How to Hold Drum Sticks
Hold the sticks close to the bottom. Connect your index finger and thumb with the stick, then lightly wrap the rest of your fingers around. This is called matched grip, and it’s how most drummers hold their sticks. Watch some videos on YouTube on this as you want to make sure that you’re holding the sticks properly. If you aren’t, you won’t be able to play faster patterns and you may get an injury at some point.
2. Learn the Names of the Drums
It will be easier to learn to play the drums when you know all their names. Play a few games with yourself to memorize the name of each drum and cymbal. A drum teacher will tell you to hit the snare drum, and you should know exactly which drum to play without too much thought about it.
3. Learn to Play a Basic Beat
As we stated above, it’s quite easy to play a basic beat. Learning to play one will fill you with confidence and allow you to play the drums without stopping. Play it at varying tempos so that you get used to playing it in different ways. The standard tempo names are fast, medium, and slow.
4. Learn to Play a Basic Fill
Once you can play the beat, learn a fill that you can add to the end of a phrase. A fill will help transition from a verse to a chorus. The easiest fill to learn would be a single stroke roll going around the drums.
5. Play with a Song
Take the basic beat and fill and try to play along with a song. There are some popular songs that are fairly easy to play on the drums. Some examples are Beat It by Michael Jackson and Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes.
How to Read Drum Music
The great thing about drumming is that you don’t need to read music to play. However, reading music can be incredibly helpful. There are so many things to remember when playing the drums, and having those things written out in front of you makes the process of learning a lot quicker for most people.
When reading drum music, you need to learn about things like quarter notes, eighth notes, triplets, and where the drums are placed on a bar. We highly suggest all beginner drummers learn how to read a bit of music when starting the drums. You don’t need to dive too deeply into it, but some base knowledge will help you drastically.
Drumming notation is a bit different from the notation used for other instruments. You could argue that drum notation is slightly easier to read as you don’t need to worry about pitched notes, scales, or key signatures.
We have a full guide on reading drum music here.
Finding a Teacher or Learning Online
A big question that will come up you when starting drumming is whether you can learn everything online or if you should find a teacher to guide you. There are benefits to both, and you’d need to assess your current situation to see which path to follow.
The biggest benefit of learning online is that there is a lot of free material. Whether you watch YouTube videos or sign up for a free trial of a website, you’ll be able to easily learn all the basics of drumming without paying a cent. The downside of this is that there’s no accountability. No one will be checking your technique, and you may be harming yourself in the long run.
Most free resources also don’t give you a clear path to follow. As a beginner, this can get very confusing thanks to all the educational content available about drumming.
This is why it’s preferable to get a drum teacher to help you, especially in the early stages of drumming. They’ll show you how to play the drums properly and correct you if they see anything wrong. They’ll also give you a clear path to follow. However, some drum teachers can end up charging up to $100 per lesson. So, look for a reasonably priced one!
FAQ:
How do you teach yourself to play the drums?
The best way of teaching yourself is to use the Internet. There are dozens of YouTube videos that you can watch for free that explain all the early stages of drumming. You can follow along with those and try to apply what they’re teaching to your drum set.
The problem that you’ll find eventually is that free videos don’t give you any solid direction. That’s when you’ll need to either find a teacher or sign up for a website that has a step-by-step process.
Are drums easy to learn to play?
Drumming is relatively easy in the early stages. The basic rhythms needed to play are simple to learn, and most new drummers can play a basic beat by the end of their first lesson.
As rhythms get more complicated and you try to play to music, drumming gets a bit harder. Some beginner drummers catch onto music very quickly while others take a bit longer.
Also, certain styles of drumming are much harder than others. A drummer will typically wait until they’re at an intermediate level before learning things like jazz or Latin beats.
How do drummers know what to play?
It starts with the learning process. A drummer will learn to play different beats and fills. They’ll also learn what is appropriate to play in different styles of music. Once they learn those things, they develop an arsenal of things to play at any time.
A good drummer will know exactly what to play for different songs. This is called musicality. The more musical a drummer is, the more appropriate their playing will be for the style.
Some drummers read music that tells them what to play. Whichever method they use, it all comes from dedicated practicing and learning of the instrument.
How do you play drums with music?
Music has repeating patterns that a drummer can listen to and lock in with. It’s the drummer’s job to provide a steady pulse that the rest of the band can connect to. Even without the drummer playing, a pulse can be heard, and a drummer will play to that pulse. However, the drummer keeps the pulse steady which is what the rest of the band relies on.
In terms of physical logistics, you can play drums with music by putting on a set of headphones, connecting the music to an amp, or playing with a band.
Conclusion
If you’re keen to play the drums, you should start by getting a pair of drum sticks. They’re inexpensive and they’ll allow you to start playing a few patterns. The next step would be to get a practice pad and sign up for some drum lessons.
Once you see yourself progressing, you should decide whether to buy a drum kit or not. You’re not going to improve as quickly if you don’t have a set.
We have plenty of articles about drum gear on this site if you’re looking for something specific. You can start by reading our guide on the best drum sets for beginners.