THE BEAST

Learning to Play Drums: 7 Easy Steps for Beginners 

If you are a young drummer or you just started drumming, no matter your age, you might face some challenges and difficulties. Don’t get confused because learning and practicing and making mistakes along, is the expected path.

To help you overcome those drumming troubles, consider taking private drumming lessons either in-person or online. Also, a few drumming bits of advice can help you while you’re learning to play drums effortlessly. Thus, here are seven takeaway tips for newbie drummers!

1. 
   

   Make a Schedule and Plan your Time

   
   

Self-discipline or drafting a consistent practice timetable is the best approach. Your practice doesn’t have to last for hours. For starters, it would be enough to start practicing every day for at least half an hour. 

In general, four to five practice sessions a week should be sufficient if you remain consistent. Don’t overdo it or set unrealistic goals because you can end up disappointed and even give up on your drums.

1. 
   

   Pay Attention to your Drumming Posture

   
   

Learning the correct drumming posture is the most crucial for beginners. When you play the drums with the proper posture, you will avoid injury and have a much more enjoyable time playing.

Firstly, you must set your drum throne to the right height. The thighs should slope slightly downwards towards the knees, keeping your spine and lower back in a healthy position. Hi-hat stands and bass drum pedals should be placed at a 45-degree angle between the legs, where the feet naturally fall.

Setting up your drum set with your hardware, such as the drum throne, will massively affect your skills and sound. 

1. 
   

   Hold Drumsticks Correctly

   
   

There are many ways to hold drumsticks. The ‘matched grip’ refers to holding the drumsticks simultaneously with both left and right hands and at the same time, it is one of the most poplar ways of holding drumsticks for beginners.

The fulcrum - a part of a drumstick, is placed between the thumb and index finger, while other fingers are wrapped around the rest of the drumstick.

Remember to keep your drumsticks loose so they can bounce after hitting the drumhead; thus, avoid holding them too tightly. Take advantage of this bounce to attain fast speeds to play powerfully and consistently.

4. Take Lessons with Drum Platforms 

You can easily get professional drumming lessons through different platforms, such as the drum platform drumeo . 

Drumeo, including drumeo edge, offers beginners over 500+ video lessons. This platform is excellent for both drumming geeks and those who are more professional in drumming. You can always learn something new here.

However, the lessons they offer online are one-size-fits-all. If you are not that kind of person and would like your own personal coach, you can always seek a teacher for one-on-one lessons. The lesson plan your teacher creates for you will be personalized and precisely tailored to your needs. 

5. Practice With a Metronome

Playing drums effectively requires you to keep track of your time when practicing the fundamentals of rhythm. But how can one achieve that? With metronome. 

The metronome helps maintain a steady rhythm and avoid tempo changes. It will help you build precision, consistency, and rhythm and improve your playing speed.

Start easy with basic rudiments like paradiddles, single-stroke, and double-stroke rolls. Once you master those, you can try some more straightforward songs to play. 

6. Aim to Hit the Middle of the Drums

The ability to hit the drum in the middle of the drum is another aspect of performance that many beginning drummers find challenging. This approach is essential if you want an excellent technique and sound like the pros. 

Often, the problem is a lack of concentration, but for others, it could be too much effort spent learning complicated patterns. Concentrate on where you hit the drums; if there are stick marks, you must practice your hitting!

7. Learn Basic Drum Beats 

With the help of many beginner drumming tutorials, you can quickly skyrocket your drumming skills. However, getting the foundation right is essential because if you learn it wrong, it would be much harder to re-learn it. 

The first step of any drum lesson is accommodating your drums and correctly holding your posture and drumsticks. As you master those things, you can start learning basic drum beats. 

Initially, it might be tedious or daunting, but you must stay focused, practice, and trust the process. You will inevitably face difficulties with your arm and leg coordination, but consistency will get you right where you want to be!

In Conclusion 

No matter your age, if you just started learning to play drums, you might face many challenges in the process. And that’s totally fine; it’s the regular learning pattern. 

However, you can do a few things to upgrade your drumming skills much more effortlessly. Before you even start practicing, ensure you have a plan you will follow daily. Practicing drums every day for at least half an hour will benefit your drum skills greatly. 

Ensure the equipment and your drum throne and posture are correctly set up. Choose the best and easiest technique of holding your drumsticks and start with some simple and basic drum beats. 

If you need assistance, you can find many drumming lessons available online and if you are a more one-on-one person, book a class with a professional drumming teacher.