Free Drum Lessons
Starter Grooves and Drum Fills
This lesson shares some good sounding drum beats and fills designed to keep beginner to intermediate level drummers motivated (and sounding cool).
The E's and Ah's of Drum Fills
Putting a strong emphasis on the syncopated strokes (i.e. the “E” and “Ah”) in a drum fill gives the fill a … well, more syncopated feel.
Beginner Drum Fill Concepts
This drum lesson explores beginner drum fill concepts and gives a few examples of notated drum fills along with ideas for successful practice.
Simple Drum Fill, But Not Simple Sounding
This lesson focuses on a sixteenth-note triplet fill that's easy to grasp, but because of the syncopated snare strokes that really stand out, this groove sounds much more difficult than it actually is. Of course, playing difficult-sounding drum fills shouldn't be your main goal. This drum fill has a lot of tasteful applications.
Triplet Tom Fills
This lesson explores some ideas for half-measure triplet tom fills. All of these patterns use alternating sticking (i.e. R L R L, etc.). Make sure you pop the accent on beat 4 to make these grooves rock. You can also explore other dynamics such as a crescendo to bring these to life.
Skeleton Fill
A skeleton drum setup is a kit without toms … only bass, snare and cymbals. This lesson focuses on skeleton fills, meaning that they only use bass, snare and cymbals.
Stopping Short
Pulling a concept form the chorus of Headstrong by the band Trapt, this lesson focuses on stopping short. A coool technique to add a unique flavor ...
Improve Your Drum Fill Improvisation Skills
This lesson lays out a template designed to force you to create drum fills on the fly. Practicing this template daily will help to develop your abi...
How You Have Your Fill
This lesson explores a foundational fill pattern and 5 variations of that pattern. Have fun exploring your own fills, changing them to create new sounds.
Nate's Grooves From - How You Have Your Fill
I had a big response from people enjoying the lesson but also interested in the grooves I played. This Monday's lesson, I'm giving the notation for those grooves and an explanation.
Crash Your Fill
This lesson explores the creation of a second layer using the crash cymbals. Often we get stuck into a rut of using the crash only to end a drum fill. Using the crash in a similar way that you would use a tom or snare creates a unique and fuller sound.
