The Basic of Drum..

This tutorial assumes that you know nothing about drums and have never even picked up a pair of drum sticks. This page will explain everything from reading music to how sticks should be held.

First thing we need to talk about is how you actually play the drums. The great thing about drums is that you don't really need a drum set to play. You can use a table top, your knees or even a friend's head!

OK, if you are a right-handed person you will be using your right hand to play the hi-hat, your left hand to play the snare drum, your right foot to play the bass drum and your left foot to move the hi-hat up and down. If you are a lefty, then everything is reversed...your left hand will play the hi-hat, right hand the snare drum, and so on.

Note: this is not a must, it is more important to play how it feels more comfortable than how you should play the drums. I know several good drummers that are left-handed but play on a right-handed drum set up. For the following examples we will use the right-handed style of playing.

Since we aren't using a drum set at this point we'll just use the desk you are sitting at. Tap your right hand on the desk four times while counting to four. Next add a tap with your left hand on the third count. Take a look below for a more visual sense of what you are doing.


count 1 2 3 4
R=right hand R R R R
L=left hand L

This is the basic hand pattern for 80% of drum music played in today rock/pop music. Repeat this pattern over and over without stopping. When you feel comfortable with this, move on to the next section.

Now that you have got the hand stuff figured out, lets add a foot into the mix! Tap your right foot on count one. See below for what this looks like to help with your counting.


count 1 2 3 4
R=right hand R R R R
L=left hand L
F=right foot F

Now your cooking! Once you have this hand/foot combination down and can keep up a steady rhythm for at least 3 minutes straight you are on your way to becoming a drummer.

Lets take a look at some actual drum music and then talk about all the different parts of it. This is the same pattern as above written out as a drum transcript. The right hand is playing eighth notes on the hi-hat and the foot and left hand are alternating on the quarter note downbeat. We'll talk more about what eighth and quarter notes are later on.