Free Drum Lessons
How To Play Enter Sandman Intro Beat
Learn the intro beat from the classic Metallica song Enter Sandman. Lars Ulrich's drum track features a hard-rock, tom groove in the intro. The syncopated crash/snare accents within the groove make this intro an instantly recognizable drum track. The bass drum drives the groove. Be sure to nail steady kicks. Bring out the high and middle toms strokes to bring home the backbeat.
Adventure of a Lifetime - Coldplay - Groove
Learn the main groove used by Will Champion in the song Adventure of a Lifetime.
Drum Technique in a Bottle
Learn the tom-layering technique used by Stewart Copeland in the classic hit Message in a Bottle.
Hard Times - Tom Groove
This lesson explores the main tom groove used in the song Hard Times by Paramore and introduces an off-beat hi-hat foot technique.
Superstition Groove
The intro to Superstition by Stevie Wonder is one of the drum grooves that is instantly recognizable. Studying this intro beat will give you ideas about how to incorporate the techniques into your own playing.
Hi-Hat Ostinato Over 7/8 - Building Grooves
These grooves explore a steady, quarter-note hi-hat foot played over a 7/8 groove. Drum fills included.
The Easy Way to Get the Most Out of Your Beats
We've all spent time learning new drum beats, and that's great. However, we often learn a groove and then move onto the next without really getting the most out of the pattern.
The Groove
We've all got that go-to beat that we play first every time we sit down at the kit. Here's my most recent go-to beat. For whatever reason, I've been attached to this groove lately. It's a lot of fun to play and is full of ghost strokes. What could be better than that?
Funkin' Five Stroke Roll Variations
The placement of the five stroke rolls creates a displaced, funky back-beat on the “ah” of beat 3. We can add a little flare to the technique by re-orchestrating the right stick to different surfaces during the five stroke rolls.
A Fun Groove To Play - Go Go Style
These grooves all feature syncopated, go-go beat style patterns. Beat #1 uses the bass drum to emphasize the syncopation, while grooves 2 through 6 play the syncopation on the ride bell.
The Way of the Hi-Hat
Hi-hat patterns and articulations can change the feel of a groove entirely. Because of this, it's important to recognize the feel your hi-hat patterns create — and to use that knowledge to choose hi-hat patterns that match the feel of the song.
