Start Drumming

Table of Contents

How to Learn Drums.

a complete beginner's roadmap

Introduction

Learning the drums has never been easier.

Unfortunately, it’s also never been more confusing.

There are books, YouTube videos, online courses, private teachers, subscription platforms, social media clips, and endless opinions about the “right” way to learn.

After teaching beginner drummers since 2009, I’ve found that most people don’t need more information.

They need a roadmap.

This article isn’t about convincing you to learn from me.

It’s about giving you the framework I use to think about learning the drums so that no matter how you choose to learn—through books, YouTube, a private teacher, another online school, or one of my courses—you’ll understand what you’re trying to accomplish and why.

Let’s start by clearing away a few myths.

Don't Let These Three Myths Stop You

1. You’re not too old.

Adults become good drummers all the time.

In some ways, adults actually have advantages. They understand patience, long-term goals, and the value of consistent practice.

I wrote about the age issue in more detail here.

2. Talent isn’t what you think it is.

People worry far too much about talent.

The research I’ve read—and my own experience teaching—suggests that curiosity, consistency, and a willingness to do the work matter far more than some mysterious natural gift.

If you’re curious about this idea, I explain it in more detail in this video.

3. You don’t need a drum set to begin.

A practice pad and a pair of sticks are enough to start developing many of the foundational skills.

Don’t let equipment become the reason you never begin.

If you want to go deeper on this I wrote an article about it that includes an in-depth video that you may find eye-opening.

My Framework for Learning Drums

Everything I teach to help beginners can be summarized by this formula:

 

  • The 5 Pillars of Drumming  X  Effective Practice =  Drumming Skill

 

That’s it. If you understand these two things, you’ll always know what to work on.

Let me break this down below into two steps: 

1)The skills you should focus on (The 5 Pillars) and 

2) The practicing you’ll need to do.

 

Step 1: Work on the Right Skills

All of the skills you’ll need as a drummer can be distilled down to just five.  

I call these The 5 Pillars of Drumming® and I’ll explain them below.

Pillar #1: Reading

Reading music is important. In fact, it’s crucial.

But, as a drummer, you’ve got it a bit easier than a guitarist or pianist because you don’t have to learn melody.

You just have to learn to read rhythm and understand drum set notation. 

But–in my opinion–you do actually have learn to read. 

Why? Because music and drumming are languages, and if you want to speak that language, you have to learn to read and write it.

It will make your learning a great deal easier.

If you’re still questioning this, see what happens if you advise your son or daughter to tell their foreign language teacher that they don’t want to learn to read or write in that language.

See what I mean?

I wrote more about reading here.

Pillar #2: Technique

This is how you express yourself physically on the instrument. It’s pretty simple: the more technique you have, the more options you have creatively.

The better your hands can function and play the rudiments, go fast or slow, play loud or soft, etc, the more ability you will have to play different things that you want to play or are asked to play. Of course, you’ll want to pay attention to the mechanics of your hands.

But overall, the concept of technique and what it allows is pretty straightforward, right?

It is. But it’s one of the hardest skills and it takes the longest to develop. But it will be worth it because when you develop great technique, every single note you play will naturally sound better. 

And that’s what we want, right? 

To sound good. 
That is what technique allows.

Plus, if you want to solo or play fast it’s necessary.

Pillar #3: Independence

Independence means that you can play one or more repetitive patterns with one or more of your limbs and then play any other rhythm you wish–freely–with a different limb (or limbs).

This skill is critical because it gives you the facility to play beats and that is what we need to be able to do in order to function in our primary role as the time keeper in a band.

Sometimes this is pretty difficult for beginners at first, but there are very scientific methods of learning independence including one of mine called The Vertical Independence Method.

But if you simply work on independence at very slow tempos (at least at first), this skill is absolutely achievable by anyone. You just need a method for working on it.

Pillar #4: Groove

This is sometimes thought of in esoteric ways. But groove isn’t actually so difficult, and anyone can understand it and learn it. 

The idea of groove is that the drummer, when playing, can make everyone in the band (and in the audience) feel good. The way the drummer plays; the way their beats and playing are performed are such that the band feels like they’re floating on a cloud and the audience involuntarily nods their head and/or taps their feet in time with the beat.

This ability to make beats feel good is achieved by listening and emulating drummers who have good “feels,” by developing and playing with a very steady time feel, and by placing your notes consistently and almost perfectly on the rhythmic grid.

That’s most of it. It’s consistent time, rhythm, sound and mimicry.

And all of this can be learned. 

Groove is not reserved for people with “talent” because there really is no such thing as talent. 

Groove (aka pocket or feel) is absolutely learnable. Don’t listen to those who claim otherwise.

For a “quick start” / “down and dirty” way to learn your very first drum beat, check out this article.

Pillar #5: Vocabulary

Vocabulary is simply a “word” or “phrase” in drumming–often a fill–that sounds a specfic way and that you memorize so you can play it at will. 

Great drummers know a lot of vocabulary. The more you know, the more you can say. 

It is generally not true that drummers are making most of their fills up on the spot. Some may improvise things they never played before but more often, drum fills are ideas that have been used many times before and are being used again because they sound great.

Vocabulary doesn’t have to be a fill.

If could be a little hi-hat embellishment or something else. 

What makes it vocabulary is that you want to understand exactly how to do it; what rhythm, what drums and cymbals, etc, so you can repeat it when you wish. 

If you want a beginner’s drum fill lesson, check out this article.

Step 2: Efficient Practicing

If you apply efficient practice techniques to the five pillars, you will acquire the skills you need and want.

Let’s talk about that for a moment. 

There are many components and techniques for practicing efficiently. 

I’m only going to address two of the most important ones. 

At the bottom of this page, I’ll direct you to my book, Drumming Decoded, where I devoted an entire chapter (The 16 Principles of Effective Practicing) to practicing. Dig deeper there if you wish.

But for now, here are the two practice concepts that I feel are the most important.

Practice Concept #1: Slowing Down

Practicing slowly is something that most successful musicians do.

And by successful, I don’t necessarily mean they earn a lot of money. I’m just talking about musicians who are really good at playing their instruments.

In fact, slow practice is a universally accepted foundational tool for learning to play any instrument well.

But in my experience, beginners often overlook it. 

I usually define specific tempos–30 bpm to 60 bpm–to represent “slow.” That way, there’s no confusion about what “slow” means. Just assign a number to be certain.

Slowing down will make your practice and absorption of material much easier.

MUCH easier.

Practice Concept #2: "Little Chunks of Mastery"

“Little Chunks of Mastery” is a phrase I use to describe the mastery of each little thing before moving on to the next little thing. 

Here’s how I think of this. 

I wish that every drum book could have just one exercise on a page. 

And if that were the case, it might be more likely that drummers would master each page before going on to the next one. 

Instead, with 25 exercises on a typical page of a drum book, there is an unspoken pressure that the page gives you to finish everything on that page so you can move on to the next page.

There’s an implied pressure to learn all 25 as quickly as possible.

That’s not good because many beginners will wind up “sort of” knowing those 25 exercises.  “Sort of” knowing doesn’t do anything for you. Because you can recall any of it when you’re playing. 

That means that time is basically wasted. “Sort of” is useless.

If you absorb and master just one exercise in an hour of practice rather that “kind of” learning 25 exercises, you’ll actually get value from your hour of practice. You’ll be farther ahead that way.

Putting It All Together

If you remember nothing else from this guide, remember this.

Learning drums isn’t about collecting information.

It’s about gradually developing five foundational skills through thoughtful, consistent practice.

That’s the framework I’ve used to teach beginners since 2009.

Whether you learn from a private teacher, YouTube, books, or an online platform or course, I hope this roadmap helps make your journey simpler.

Now that you know the skills, you can just go work on them.

One Last Thought

I’d like to leave you with something I believe very deeply.

The drums are a wonderful instrument that have given me an immense amount of joy. 

Learning drums isn’t easy, but if you stick with it and follow the system outlined here, you will get to a point where you sit down at the drums and simply start enjoying the act of playing. 

You’ll lose track of time and your anxiety will melt away. 

I hope that happens sooner rather than later. 

 

Mark Feldman
Founder,
BANG! The Drum School

Ready For The Next Step?

If you’d like me to guide you through this framework step-by-step: 

Drumming for Absolute Beginners

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Everything in this article is based on ideas from my book, Drumming Decoded. 

Find out more about it by clicking the button below.

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