Drum Lessons

7/8 Groove

Use a metronome at a low tempo to memorise the intricate rhythms before you attempt them at full speed.

Linear Drumming Pattern

A good warm up exercise. Focus on clean strokes with good time at lower tempos. Accents can be alternated between hand and foot.

Buddy Rich Sixes

This is a six stroke pattern in triplets using the ride cymbal, snare and bass drum. You can play this pattern starting on any of the six notes.

Kick Hat Snare 02

Practise paradiddles with and without accents. Next try starting them on the offbeat.

Deep Purple - 'Fireball' Drum Intro

Get the double bass pattern down first. You can play this with a slight swing to give the right feel.

The Bonhadiddle (Moby Dick)

Happens around the 2 minute mark. Swap the double 'L' in a regular paradiddle for 2 bass drum strokes.

Unison Fill

Practise moving from flams to unison and back again to improve accuracy. This example is mostly finger work.

Filling Time - Chapter 2 (sample)

Convert simple hand-to-hand patterns into advanced linear sticking patterns...

'Immigrant Song' Drum Beat

Practise the bass drum double separately then introduce the hands.

Playing Across The Bar Line

Use a metronome to keep the count while you experiment with playing over the bar line.

Quintuplets - Groups of 5

More information is covered in my book 'Filling Time'.

Manky Beat

A manky sounding linear pattern played open-handed between hihat, snare and floor tom.

'50 Ways To Leave Your Lover' - Drum Intro

Practise linear patterns between hands and hihat pedal.

Kick Hat Snare 06

Practise a roll between hand and foot. F,R,F,R etc. This will help with the start of this beat.

Kick Hat Snare 01

First get comfortable with F,R,L,F,R,L,R,L (whilst accenting the last 'L'). There rest is a variation on a basic paradiddle.

Foo Fighters "Rope" - Drum Break

Practise playing the bass drum with the crash cymbal on your weaker hand (See bar 3) @ 2mins 50.

Halftime Groove

Work on the 16th patterns in bar 3 between hand and foot separately. Be careful to play the ghostnotes lightly.

Syncopated Groove

Master the Swiss Army Tap to allow you to play syncopated patterns like this one.

Doubling Up

You may need to experiment with different bass pedal settings to find the right spring tension for you.

3 Pedals 2 Feet

A Dennis Chambers-inspired 'fat foot' technique which involves playing the hihat and slave bass pedal together.

Paradiddle in 12/8

Play groups of 4 with the accent on the first beat. Play this pattern in 12/8 to hear the 3 over 4 feel. Then switch to paradiddles.

"Rock And Roll" end solo

R,L,F is a signature Bonham triplet. Move it around the kit.

Alternating Linear Fill

Play the linear pattern without accents. Next accent every third note, alternating between hand and foot. Switch hands.

Halftime Groove & Fill

Play with a metronome set to a low tempo and count in 16ths.

Street Beatz 03

Jojo starts the beat with pull-out accents on the snare hand. Start at a slow tempo and aim for accuracy and good dynamics.

Toto - 'Mushanga'

Be aware of the dynamics Jeff uses to create this feel. Some drums are accented, others are tapped lightly.

Linear Drum Beat

Learn the R,L,F and L,R,F combinations slowly and lightly with an emphasis on moving from the forearm/elbow.

Toto - 'Africa' Drum Beat

Play the bass drum hits on beat 1 & 3 slightly louder to create more of a bossa nova/samba feel.

Solo Groove

Try this on the practise pad first. Get comfortable with the right hand sticking as much of the bass drum pattern copies this.

Sting - Seven Days (basic pattern)

A hypnotic pattern in 5 which sounds easier than it really is.

Rudimental Warm Up

Use fingers to help with the left hand triple strokes. Use bounce for the quick ruffs.

Songo-inspired halftime

Play R,L,F,L with accents in different places. Keep right hand on Hihat and left hand on the snare.

Linear Drum Fill 03

Play this fill without the double strokes on the bass drum initially to get a sense of the rhythm.

Ghostnote Groove

Practise pull-out accents on the snare hand. Watch for this accent on the second double of the shuffle.

32nd Note Fill

Work on the basic 6 note pattern between the hands and feet (RLRLFF).

Insane 4-way Co-ordination

Try playing the left side ostinato without doubles as a 16th note pattern, to begin with...

Street Beatz 01

Practice linear patterns between snare, hihat and kick in 4/4. RLF, LRF etc.

2 Cross Sticking Patterns

Use a palm up technique to strike the floor tom, then palm down on the hihat.

Linear Swing Fill

Practise triplets of R,L,F and L,R,F in time to a metronome. Then shift from hand to hand singles and back to the linear triplets.

Street Beatz 02

Work on good dynamics between snare ghostnotes and accents.

Moscow Groove

Practise the first 8 notes of this pattern on a practise pad only. Use it in daily playing. Gradually introduce the bass drum hits.

12/8 Groove

Count this out at slow tempos in order to get comfortable with the 12/8 feel. Count every second 8th whilst playing to improve timing.

32nd Note Inverted Doubles

With inverted doubles the pulse will be felt on the second stroke. Practise at low tempos to begin with.

Kick Hat Snare 08

Practise the 'closed' roll on the edge of the snare. See how many times you can get the stick to bounce on each hand. Then increase the tempo.

Sneaky Shuffle Variation

Time the drop of the stick to allow the ghostnote to land between the shuffle pattern. There is no need for much force here, simply timing.

Walk This Way - Drum Intro

Timing the bass drum with the open hihat bark is the key to nailing this beat.

Kick Hat Snare 05

Practise the 6 stroke roll: R,L,R,R,L,L. Next play it in groups of three as triplets.

Linear Drum Fill 02

Practise to a metronome at a slow tempo to ensure the cross-sticking is clean.

Nirvana - 'Scentless Apprentice' Intro

Focus on the hand pattern in order to execute the flam comfortably. Heel-up will mean more volume.

Drum Solo Triplets

Blistering singles and doubles between the hands and feet in a triplet pattern.

Kick Hat Snare 03

The L,F,R triplet is key to learning this beat. Practise it in 12/8.

Kick Hat Snare 04

Practise the inverted single paradiddle: R,L,L,R,L,R,R,L with and without accents on the first beat of each 4 notes.

Kick Hat Snare 07

You can change the pitch of the hihat bell by applying some pressure to the pedal. Find the sound you like best.

32nd Note Offbeat Groove

Work on the hi-hat pattern first. Next introduce bass drum. Introduce the snare when you can play steadily between hihat and bass drum.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - 'Dani California' Intro

Work on one-handed ruffs, bass drum double-strokes and, of course, timing and feel...

Drum Groove and Fill

Play R,L,F and L,R,F to very slowly to a metronome as 16th notes. This three over four feel will help you understand the rhythm.

Triple Stroke Bass Drum Exercise

Use the heel-toe method to play a double stroke. Add another toe stroke to complete the triple stroke.

Linear-Type Beat

Practise cross-handed sticking between splashes and cymbals.

Drum Solo Excerpt

Pay attention to Steve's masterful use of dynamics and timing...

U2 - 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' Drum Intro

Try to play each drum at the same dynamic level to create the marching feel of this song.

Guitar Center Solo

Learning the R,L,R,F combination is key to playing this pattern.

Grammys Fill (transcribed)

Break down the fill into parts. Work on the hand and foot combinations separately first, then put it together and gradually increase the tempo.

Linear Drum Fill 01

L,R,F triplet is the basis of this fill. Learn it and also, L,R,L,R,F.