Cobus Potgieter Live #2

This is the second live lesson we filmed with Cobus Potgieter to announce the Cobus Method. The Cobus Method will teach you how to play the drums by ear, just as Cobus has.

To watch the live lesson in it’s entirety simply click on the play button. The live lesson is split up into four 15 minute sections, once you reach the end of a section the next section will automatically load and begin to play.

If you would like to skip ahead to a different section, place your cursor over top of the video player. Once you have done this, a list of the four sections will appear and you are now able to select which part of the lesson you would like to jump ahead to.

For more information about the Cobus Method go to: http://DrumMasteryLessons.blogspot.com

How To Mic A Snare Drum

In this free drum lesson, Jared Falk and DrumLessons.com sound engineer Victor Guidera, guide you through the microphones and miking techniques used for getting the snare drum sound you hear on all the free drum lessons on DrumLessons.com. This free drum lesson on snare drum miking is loaded with tips for bottom and top microphone positioning, and includes some tricks you can use to avoid microphone leakage.

You have to realize that there are numerous factors that contribute to the sound you’ll be getting from your snare drum. Having good quality snare drums, good tuning and drumming abilities, comes before having the best microphones and knowing the best miking techniques in the world. You should work on getting your snare drum to sound as awesome as possible before you start capturing its sound with a microphone. Therefore, if you’re lacking on good tuning skills and knowledge on muffling techniques, we encourage you to check the free drum lessons “How To Tune Your Snare Drum” and “How To Muffle Your Drums“. If you want to improve on your snare drumming technique, we encourage you to check the free drum lessons on the 40 drum rudiments that we have here at DrumLessons.com.

If you’d like to learn more about how to mic other instruments on your drum set, we encourage you to check the free drum lessons “How To Mic A Bass Drum“, “How To Mic Toms“, and “How To Mic Cymbals“.

Drum Play-Along - Punk Rock

In this video, Jared Falk jams along to a hard hitting and fast paced punk rock drum play-along. This punk rock drum play-along is a great place for you to practice all kinds of punk rock drum beats and drum fills. This free drum lesson comes with three MP3s that you can download and use to play along or study with – one with the drum tracks removed, an alternate version with a metronome added in, and a full band track that you can use for further studying Jared’s licks or for enjoying the music.

Start by watching Jared jam along to the punk rock drum play-along, so you can have an overall idea of the drum play-along’s structure and feel. After watching the video, take the drum play-alongs to your drum set and see what you can come up with. If you’re a beginner drummer, start by jamming along to the version with a metronome added in. This will help you keep basic time while learning how to play along to this song. When you’re able to keep a steady tempo, you can start jamming along to the version that doesn’t include a metronome.

If you don’t know what drum beats and drum fills to play, take some of the ideas Jared demonstrates in the video just so you can get started. You can also check the free drum lesson “Beginner Punk Rock Drum Beats” to learn how to play for some basic patterns. That free drum lesson features a list of influential bands and drummers in this style of music, so you can keep furthering your study of this style of drumming and music if your heart desires. For all you intermediate drummers out there, check the free drum lesson “Intermediate Punk Rock Drum Beats” for more challenging and complex punk rock drum beats.

Intermediate 7/8 Drum Fills

This free drum lesson is the second installment in a three-lesson series on drum fills played in 7/8 time signature. In this video, Jared Falk teaches three intermediate 7/8 drum fills and discusses how these drum fills – or any other pattern for that matter – should be practiced. These drum fills incorporate 32nd notes, hand-to-foot combinations, and some cool cymbal patterns.

If you’ve never learned how to play drum fills in 7/8 time signature, we encourage you to take on the free drum lesson “Beginner 7/8 Drum Fills” before going through this one. It’s very important that you take a step-by-step approach. This way, when you return to this lesson after mastering the beginner drum fills, you’ll be able to build on the concepts acquired beforehand. This in turn will have you learning these drum fills a lot quicker.

Once you’ve mastered these drum fills as notated, add the hi-hat foot pedal to the mix. This is a great way of working on 4-way independence, of adding a different texture to your drum fills, and most important of all, of keeping time. Start by adding the hi-hat foot on all the 8th notes. Once you feel extremely comfortable with it, play the hi-hat foot on every other 8th note. This will have you playing the odd numbered 8th notes on one measure and the even numbered 8th notes on the following measure. This can easily throw you off. Therefore, practice this approach slowly at first. Count out loud and use a metronome. Increase the speed of the click only when you feel comfortable with the tempo you’re practicing at.

Once you’re done with this free drum lesson, we encourage you to check the free drum lesson “Advanced 7/8 Drum Fills“.

Heel-Toe Technique

The heel-toe technique has been around for quite some time, but only recently has it become very popular amongst the drumming community. This is a great technique for playing fast double strokes with the feet. In this free drum lesson, Jared Falk breaks down the heel-toe technique for you, showing you exactly how and what to practice to develop it. He takes the time to debunk some of the more common myths associated with the heel-toe technique as well, like foot size, type of footwear and bass drum pedal.

As you practice the heel-toe technique, strive for having the two motions meld into one single rocking motion with the foot. The rocking motion is what will enable you to play a fast double, since you’ll get two strokes from one single motion. Don’t slam the foot too hard onto the footboard when playing the heel stroke – easy does it. It may take you five minutes, or it may take you five hours to learn how to play this technique. Time doesn’t really matter here; YOU can do this. You just have to be very patient and keep at it.

The slide technique is another very popular method for playing very fast double strokes with only one foot. Go through the free drum lesson on the slide technique next, so you can see which one suits your style the best – the slide or the heel-toe. If you’d like to further your knowledge on foot technique check the “Bass Drum Boot Camp“. There, you’ll be introduced to three foot techniques that the world’s fastest drummers use to achieve maximum speed, power, and control.

Multiple Bounce Roll

The multiple bounce roll (also known as buzz roll) is mostly associated with orchestral and marching band snare drumming. However, it’s still possible to hear the multiple bounce roll being applied to the drum set in drum solos, and in popular styles of music like jazz, rock and Latin. In this free drum lesson, Lionel Duperron teaches you how to apply the buzz roll to drum beats and drum fills, and shares cool practice tips that will get you playing the multiple bounce roll to your fullest potential.

The multiple bounce roll consists of consecutive and alternating multiple bounce strokes. Each stroke has an undefined number of notes that are produced by pushing the stick into the drumhead or practice pad surface, using a little bit of fulcrum pressure. The number of bounces is generated by the pressure you use on your fulcrum – the more pressure you use, the fewer amount of bounces.

If you don’t push the stick into the surface you’re practicing the multiple bounce roll with, you’ll be playing a single stroke roll. So, basically, the single stroke roll is the basis for the multiple bounce roll. Learn how to play the single stroke roll before going any further with this free drum lesson on the buzz roll.

The multiple bounced strokes are represented by the double diagonal lines on the note stems from the sheet music below. Work on getting your hands to produce an even amount of pressure on the drumsticks. As the stick bounces, you can relax a bit of the pressure on the fulcrum, making it easier to prepare for the next stroke. Don’t squeeze the sticks with the back fingers since it kills most of the bounce. Relax the back fingers and focus on the fulcrum pressure with the thumb and forefinger.

All these small tips will get you playing the type of multiple bounced strokes required to attain a great sounding buzz roll. As with the single stroke roll, the buzz roll does not alternate within itself. So, it’s important you learn how to play the multiple bounce roll leading with both hands.
Drum Beats

Exercise #1 is a 16th note drum beat that incorporates two drum rudiments – the single stroke roll and the buzz roll. The first two counts will have you playing a 16th note single stroke roll between the hi-hat and the snare drum. Count 3 sees you playing a 16th note multiple bounce roll that ends with a single stroke on count 4. Add the bass drum on counts 1 and 3, and you’re done.

Transitioning from the 16th note single stroke roll on the hi-hat to the 16th note buzz roll on the snare drum is the most challenging part of this exercise. You’re not only changing techniques but doing so while going from one surface to another. Practice this exercise slowly at first, to enable you to get used to transitioning smoothly.

Exercise #2 is a 16th note drum beat. This exercises’ main challenge is pretty much like the one on exercise #1 – transitioning smoothly between buzz rolls and single strokes. The main difference here is that these transitions are played on one single surface instead. Thus, if you can play the previous exercise quite effortlessly, this drum beat will come easier to you.

Drum Fills

Exercise #3 is a 16th note drum fill that features the multiple bounce roll. Taking a look at the sheet music below, you can see how the drum fill has the same rhythmic pattern being played twice – one starting on count 1 and the other on count 3. The only difference is the drum played on counts 2 and 4. This rhythmic pattern is the same as the one starting on count 3 of exercise #1 on this free drum lesson. Thus, if you can play exercise #1 quite effortlessly, this drum fill will be easier to master.

Exercise #4 has a very similar rhythmic pattern to the one on the last drum fill. Still, there are some differences. The bass drum on count 3 of exercise #3, here is moved one 8th note to the left, to the “and” of count 2. The floor tom played on the fourth count of exercise #3 is moved one 8th note to the right – to the “and” of count 4 – with a hi-tom note being added to count 4.

Just remember to take your time with the material in each of these free drum lessons on the 40 drum rudiments. These patterns take years to master. The more thorough you are at practicing each one of the 40 drum rudiments, the better you’ll ultimately be at performing them.

Once you’re done with this free drum lesson, you can move on to learn how to play other drum rudiments. We encourage you to learn how to play the double stroke roll next. If you’ve done that already, check the free drum lessons on the triple stroke roll or on the single paradiddle instead.

Beginner Ghost Notes

Ghost notes are basically quiet strokes. Ghost notes add feel to whatever you play, being especially applicable to groove based music like funk, hip-hop, blues, fusion, and drum ‘n’ bass. Nonetheless, it’s common to listen to ghost notes in jazz, Latin, pop, and a lot of different styles of rock music. Therefore, learning how to play consistent and low sounding ghost notes is a must if you want to take your drumming to the next level or even be a professional drummer. In this free drum lesson, Jared Falk teaches you three beginner drum beats that encompass ghost notes, and shares some tips that are sure to help you play ghost notes to your fullest potential in no time.

These exercises are fairly basic variations on the stock 8th note rock drum beat. Focus on the hand patterns if you’re having issues with playing the drum beats as notated. Add the bass drum on counts 1 and 3 once you’re able to play consistent sounding and evenly spaced ghost notes. This is enough to master exercise #1. For exercises #2 and #3 you just have to add bass drum strokes to the “and” of counts 1 and 3.

The exercises notated on this free drum lesson have ghost notes on the snare drum only. Since ghost notes represent a low sounding dynamic level they are not limited to a single instrument. Therefore, you can apply it to any other instrument on the drum set, including the bass drum and the toms. Just remember that the secret to playing great sounding ghost notes is in bringing the drumstick or the bass drum beater close to the surface of the instruments as you’re about to play them.

You can keep expanding on the content from this free drum lesson by taking these 16th note ghost notes and applying them to other drum beats on “DrumLessons.com”. We encourage you to do so by going through the free drum lesson “Beginner Linear Drum Beats“. If you’d rather learn new ideas on how to use ghost notes to spice up your drum beats, we encourage you to check the free drum lesson “Intermediate Ghost Notes” next.

How To Tune Your Snare Drum

Practicing drum beats, drum fills, hand and foot technique, drum rudiments and drum solos are the biggest part of what we do on our practice time. However good you might be, your chops and musicality will take a back seat to the way your drum set sounds if it isn’t tuned properly. Therefore, it’s essential for you to practice your abilities to tune your drums if you ever want them to sound any good. In this free drum lesson, Jared Falk goes over the different steps he follows to tune the snare drum to his liking. He also shares some tips and tricks that will have you tuning snare drums like a pro.

Think of this free drum lesson as a way of learning a bunch of very useful techniques for snare drum tuning. Don’t worry too much about knowing what the right sound for your snare drum should be. As you practice your tuning abilities and explore the possibilities, your ears will start telling you what you like and what you don’t like. Listening to your favorite recordings is a very good way of checking what type of snare sound you like the most as well.

Once you’re done tuning the snare drum to your liking, you might find that it rattles a lot once you hit a rack-tom, or that it rings and resonates for too long. Check the free drum lesson “How To Muffle Your Drums” to learn about the muffling techniques Jared enjoys using for getting rid of unwanted resonance and ring, and for decreasing sympathetic snare buzz.

If you’d like to learn how to tune the remaining drums on your drum set, check the free drum lessons “How To Tune Your Bass Drum” and “How To Tune Your Toms“.

Bass Drum Speed Techniques

In this live drum lesson, Jared Falk, Sean Lang, and Dave Atkinson discuss different bass drum techniques that you can use in your drumming. Dave discusses the slide technique, Jared talks about the heel-toe technique, and Sean discusses how to develop fast single strokes on the double pedal. Enjoy!

To watch the live lesson in it’s entirety simply click on the play button. The live lesson is split up into four 15 minute sections, once you reach the end of a section the next section will automatically load and begin to play.

If you would like to skip ahead to a different section, place your cursor over top of the video player. Once you have done this, a list of the four sections will appear and you are now able to select which part of the lesson you would like to jump ahead to.

Get more free bass drum lessons here: http://DrumMasteryLessons.blogspot.com

Drum Set Mic Technique Overview

In this free drum lesson, DrumLessons.com sound engineer Victor Guidera teaches you the meaning of some of the more common technical terms and theory behind drum set miking for both live and studio settings. With this video you’ll learn what are audio spectrums and frequency responses, and how the type of microphone you use to record a given instrument affects the overall sound you’re capturing.

Although you can rely on sound engineers to get the best sound out of your drum set in any live or studio setting, you must be well aware that their work is only a small portion of what’s required to make your drum set sound amazing. The type of microphones used and the recording and mixing techniques are all very important, but not as much as what you’re responsible for.

It all starts with the instruments you buy. Good sounding drum shells and cymbals are the number one reasons for getting a great sounding recording out of your drum set. Your tuning skills and the skins you buy are a close second. You can have the most exquisite and expensive drum set on the world. If you don’t know how to tune it properly or if you buy really crappy drumheads, you’ll have the sound of a 100$ drum set. You must learn how to tune your drum set properly and resist the urge of cheaping out on drumheads. This means you have to practice tuning and experiment with a lot of different quality drumhead options. How you hit the drums and cymbals is the last thing you’re responsible for. Hitting them properly requires good technique and spending time on your practice room.

Drum Play-Along - 7/4 Fusion

In this video, Jared Falk jams along to a funky sounding 7/4 fusion drum play-along. This 7/4 fusion drum play-along is a great place for you to practice all kinds of 7/4 drum beats and drum fills. This free drum lesson comes with three MP3s that you can download and use to play along or study with – one with the drum tracks removed, an alternate version with a metronome added in, and a full band track that you can use for further studying Jared’s licks or for enjoying the music.

Start by watching Jared jam along to the 7/4 fusion drum play-along, so you can have an overall idea of the drum play-along’s structure and feel. After watching the video, take the drum play-alongs to your drum set and see what you can come up with. Start by jamming along to the version with a metronome added in. This will help you keep basic time while learning how to play along to a song in 7/4. When you’re able to keep a steady tempo, you can start jamming along to the version that doesn’t include a metronome.

If you don’t know what drum beats and drum fills to play, steal some of the ideas Jared plays in the video. If you want to write your own 7/4 drum beats and drum fills, take any two 4/4 drum beats or drum fills from the rock drumming section on this website for instance, remove a quarter note from one of them and glue them together to come up with a brand new 7/4 pattern. Another cool idea is to mix and match seven quarter notes from different patterns to come up with a brand new one. The possibilities are quite endless. Explore 7/4 time signature with the help of this free drum play-along and just have fun with it.

Intermediate Broken 16th Note Fills

Bored to death of practicing? Try this… DrumMasteryLessons.blogspot.com . Learn how to play some intermediate broken 16th note drum fills, from Jared Falk in this video drum lesson. Take these fills to your kit, and have fun with them! . View the resources for this lesson at: DrumMasteryLessons.blogspot.com

Bass Drum Independence Etude

Independence is the holy grail of drumming. It’s what enables any drummer to play anything they want to on a given moment. Therefore, working on improving your independence will hail great results in regards to your ability to be more musical and to play by feel with ease. In this free drum lesson, Jared Falk takes you through a bass drum independence etude designed to free your bass drum leg from Quarter note, 8th note, 16th note, and 32nd note based hand patterns. If you’re having any issues with freeing up your bass drum leg from your hi-hat hand, this free drum lesson will do wonders for you.

If you’re not used to playing a certain combination between your hands and feet you won’t be able to play it at a higher speeds from the get-go. So don’t force it, it will only hinder your progress and make you sound sloppy. The secret for mastering this etude comes from working on it slowly at first, regardless of the hand pattern you’ve chosen to play on top of it. The more control you have over it at slow tempos, the faster and cleaner you’ll sound. Take your time with this etude. One of the biggest assets you can develop as a musician is patience – it will do wonders for you drumming.

When you feel you have nothing more to take from this free drum lesson, you can keep on experimenting with new options. Take any Quarter note, 8th note, 16th note, and 32nd note based hand pattern from this website and go through the etude with it. We encourage you to start by checking the free drum lessons “Beginner Tom-Tom Drum Beats” and “Two-Handed Hi-Hat Drum Beats” to do so.

Another cool thing you can do to keep furthering your independence is to move the hi-hat strokes to the ride cymbal and use your hi-hat foot to play some simple 8th note patterns on top of the etude/hand pattern combination. This will have you working on 4-way coordination and challenge you even further.

Single Stroke Roll

In this free drum lesson, Lionel Duperron teaches you how to play the single stroke roll and how to apply it to the drum set through a couple of drum beats and drum fills. If you’re totally new to the 40 drum rudiments and don’t know exactly how to get started, this is the perfect drum lesson for you. The single stroke roll is the main pattern you’ll find on the single stroke family of drum rudiments, and it’s actually the drum rudiment anyone should learn how to play first.

Taking a look at the sheet music below, you can see that the single stroke roll is made out of alternating single strokes: R (right hand) L (left hand) R L.No matter the hand you start playing it with, it’s important you learn how to execute the single stroke roll leading with both hands. Leading with your weaker hand is a great exercise for developing it further. This will be hard at first, but with perseverance and practice you’ll be able to execute a single stroke roll with your weaker hand as well as you do with your stronger one.

Practice in front of a mirror so you can check your posture and the way you execute each stroke. Be thorough in the assessment you make of your own playing. This will ensure a faster development of your technical facility, since you’ll be able to detect and fix any issues you might be having even before they become bad habits, which is tougher to correct. Try making things sound and look as perfect as possible. Always remember: “Proper practice makes better”.

Practice with a metronome, have a lot of patience and just keep playing and having fun. Use all of these tips while practicing the 40 drum rudiments. With time, you’ll become the drummer you aspire to be – you just have to keep at it. If you’ve been playing drums for some time now, but have not began learning the 40 drum rudiments, chances are you’ve already applied the single stroke roll to your drum beats and drum fills without knowing about it.
Drum Beats

Exercise #1 is a 16th note two-handed hi-hat drum beat. Start by playing a 16th note single stroke roll on the hi-hat. Once you have that down, take the leading hand off of the hi-hat on counts 2 and 4, and move it to the snare drum. Add the bass drum on counts 1 and 3, and you’re set.

Exercise #2 is a 16th note drum beat with a broken 8th note hi-hat pattern. Take a 16th note single stroke roll and split it up between the hi-hat and the snare drum. Keep the left hand close to the snare, so you can produce very soft ghost notes on the “e’s” and “ahs” of each count. Play the hi-hat at a normal volume with the right hand. Once you have that going, take the leading hand off of the hi-hat on counts 2 and 4, and move it to the snare drum. Finally, add the bass drum on counts 1 and 3.

Drum Fills

Exercise #3 is a 16th note single stroke roll drum fill played around the drums. Start on the snare drum and move down the toms, playing four strokes per drum.

Exercise #4 is a 16th note single stroke roll half-bar drum fill – a variation on the previous exercise. This drum fill starts on count 3, which is known as a half-bar fill. Hit the snare drum first and move down the toms, playing two strokes per drum.

Don’t rush the process of learning how to play any of the 40 drum rudiments. Taking your time with each step of the learning process will actually make you a better drummer. Focus on quality and not on quantity.

Once you’re able to play the single stroke roll and the exercises herein accurately, you can move on to further expand your knowledge of the 40 drum rudiments. If you want to keep studying single stroke based drum rudiments, we encourage you to move on to learn how to play the single stroke four. If you’d rather learn how to play drum rudiments from a different family, check the free drum lessons on the double stroke roll and the multiple bounce roll.

Beginner Opening-Closing Hi-Hats

The opening and closing of the hi-hat is a very cool way of enriching drum beats, drum fills, and most important of all, music. These techniques add a whole new world of possibilities and textures to your drumming, while improving your four-way independence at the same time. In this free drum lesson, Jared Falk teaches three beginner drum beats that include the opening and closing of the hi-hat, and explains how to notate these techniques on sheet music. Jared also delves a bit into a couple of approaches for getting different sounds from the opening of the hi-hat.

Once you’re done with this free drum lesson, you can use these exercises as the foundation for further developing four-way independence, and some original material of your own. You can do so by keeping the hand pattern for each drum beat exactly like notated, while using the bass drum patterns from the different exercises found on this website.

If you’d like to explore new ideas on how to use the opening and closing of the hi-hat for creating cool sounding patterns, we encourage you to check the free drum lesson “Intermediate Opening-Closing Hi-Hats“.

How To Muffle Your Drums

In this free drum lesson, Jared Falk takes you through some of the muffling techniques he likes to employ for getting rid of sympathetic snare buzz, unwanted snare ring, and overall drum set resonance. The muffling techniques he teaches in this free drum lesson are great for any live or studio setting. Give this free drum lesson a try, and you’ll be muffling your drums like a pro in no time.

Knowing how to tune your drum set is the most important part of getting your drums to sound great for live gigs, recording sessions, and rehearses. Muffling should only be used to get rid of unwanted ring and resonance, and not as something to help you cover up for bad tuning and poor tuning skills. Learn how to make your drums sound good by practicing your tuning skills first. Only then should you mess around with some muffling options and learn how to muffle your drums properly.

If you’d like to learn about some very cool tuning techniques, we encourage you to check the free drum lessons “How To Tune Your Snare Drum“, “How To Tune Your Bass Drum“, and “How To Tune Your Toms“. Those free drum lessons are packed with cool tuning techniques Jared Falk uses for getting his drums to sound fantastic for any situation.