This course is designed for the beginner drummer and focuses on creating a solid drumming foundation. Throughout the course you’ll study the fundamentals of playing the drum set. Lesson topics include developing proper technique, learning to read music for the drum set, and learning to play essential groove and fill ideas.

In Drums we slowly build up to the full drum set by introducing the snare drum first, followed by the bass drum, then the cymbals, and lastly the tom toms. We believe this flow allows you to thoroughly understand and experience each element of the drum set without being overwhelmed by tackling the complete kit all at once. The course focuses on the use of a four-piece drum set; however, we have supplied supplemental material for the five-piece drum set in the lesson on drum fills. We address the drum set from the standpoint of a right-handed drummer. Left-handed drummers can simply reverse the sticking directions.

In this second stage of lessons for drum set, we focus and expand on groove drumming. We explore adding more texture and substance to grooves by using open/closed hihat techniques (hihat “barking”) and incorporating the bell of the ride for accented patterns that will take your grooves to the next level. We also dedicate lessons to sixteenth-note based grooves, focusing on new and exciting sixteenth note bass drum patterns as well as technique for playing up-tempo sixteenth-note grooves using alternating hand patterns.

In addition to the straight ahead sixteenth-note grooves, we also introduce a few of the tried and true syncopated ride and hihat patterns that will transform the sound and feel of your grooves and provide some great new options for you to explore. We also begin looking at getting away from the backbeat by exploring different snare drum ideas and rhythms within your grooves. Lastly, we’ve added a lesson focusing on a groove concept created by the legend himself, Steve Gadd, which will be sure to challenge you and allow you to sound like a true pro!