Free Drum Lessons

Six Linear "Skeleton" Drum Fills

The term "Skeleton," in drumming, refers to drum parts that use only the snare, bass, and cymbals. In other words, no toms or other drums are used. If you see a drum kit with only snare, bass, and cymbals, you could call it a skeleton setup (or skeleton kit).

Six Ghostly Beats

Enjoy a collection of six drum beats using varying ghost stroke techniques to fill out the sound. After learning these, try adding ghost strokes to beats that already play. Note how the sound/feel of the groove changes.

Rock Ride & Tom Build - 6 Beats

Starting with a straightforward rock groove, each beat builds from the previous. The first grooves are easier and grow with complexity. The audio example plays each groove 4 times before moving on.

Six Two-Bar Rock Grooves

These six rock grooves use a two-bar repeating pattern. The beginning grooves are simpler and become more complex throughout.

Four-on-the-Floor Drum Beats

The four-on-the-floor phrase is a catchy way to describe drum beats that feature the bass drum on beats 1, 2, 3, and 4. This bass pattern is often used in dance music, pop, rock, funk, and any song that benefits from a driving feel.

Non-Standard Open Hats

The open hi-hat technique is often used to create an off-beat feel or to accentuate a particular stroke or two. These 8 groove examples incorporate 4 unique open hat patterns that instead create a rhythmic layer on top of the grooves.

Unique Crash Placements in "Down-the-Tom" Fills

Accenting the down-the-tom fills with crashes brings a new flavor to the classic fill technique. These four drum fill examples feature the bass drum along with each crash. The audio example plays each fill one time before moving on.

Drum Rudiments Crossword Puzzle

Reinforce your students' knowledge of drum rudiments with this fun crossword puzzle for drummers.

Drum Fills - Adding Punch To Your Standard

Even a standard sixteenth note drum fill can be spruced up by replacing some of the strokes with the crash and bass. In this lesson, we first take a look at some drums-only, sixteenth-note drum fills. Then, we add the punch with the crash and bass.

The 26 Standard American Drum Rudiments

The National Association of Rudimental Drummers (NARD) originally published The 26 Standard American Rudiments in 1933. The Percussive Arts Society, in 1984, added 14 rudiments to the American Standard Rudiments, creating the 40 International Snare Drum Rudiments.

Rolling Through the Week - Practice Pad Challenge

Challenge your students with this one-week plan to increase roll BPM by 10! Spending time developing the open-stroke roll technique goes a long way. Having a crisp, clean open roll not only feels great - it can be implemented on the drum set to create big-league embellishments, beats and fills. Remember to focus on playing cleanly and consistently.