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.