If you are thinking of learning how to play the drums, you may also be asking questions about how you can learn to drum as a part of a band or what the best and easiest drum songs to get started with will be. Like the majority of tasks in life, when it comes to getting started with drumming, the first steps can often be the most challenging. But if you are enthusiastic about getting into drumming, it’s going to be this that motivates you to put in the necessary practice and reach your full potential as a drummer, even if right now, it’s completely new to you. Read on to find out more about the basic information that you need to get started with building a solid foundation for the best possible drumming experience.

Getting the Right Equipment

To get started with drumming, you will first need to invest in the right equipment. At the least, this will include a pair of drum sticks, a playing surface, and the right materials for practicing including sheet music exercises and rudiments. For those who are completely new to drumming, the first piece of drum equipment that you can use is actually your own body! You can get started with hand drumming, whether that involves tapping on your thighs or using a pillow. Tap along to your favorite songs and stay focused on playing along with the drummer. If you don’t have access to sheet music, you can still practice keeping up with a steady tempo, which involves alternating between tapping with your right and left hands.

Getting Started with Learning

Once you have all the equipment that you need and have gotten to grips with some of the basic drum notations, it’s time to start practicing. Just like any other skill that you can learn, good practice habits are essential to getting better at what you do. Start out with some easy drum songs for beginners and essential drum beats, and master these before you move on to anything more complex. Pirate.com has some great information on getting started with drumming, including posts on how to hold drumsticks; this is a great guide for beginners when it comes to getting the technique right. You can also use Pirate.com’s recording studios around the world to create professional music that you can listen back to and hear your progress.

Reading Drum Sheet Music

To get good at drumming, it is a good idea to learn how to read drum notation. Most drummers are also expected to know how to read sheet music. This is typically a requirement if you are in a professional ensemble such as a school concert band, jazz band, marching band, and more. Understanding drum sheet music can be your secret weapon and help you get more opportunities for making music. Drum notation is simpler than you might realize. Once you have the basics down, you will begin to find it easier to apply the knowledge to a range of more advanced concepts. For beginners to drumming, it’s important to start out with reading very easy and simple starter drum rhythms, before you move on to something more intermediate and complex.

Start Out Simple

It’s best to get started with something simple and easy to master. For example, you can start practicing drumming exercises that use a combination of quarter notes and quarter rests, with all the notes played on just one drum. Before you start to play them on the drums, it is a good idea to read the rhythmic exercises out load, since this will help to strengthen the connection between your limbs and your brain along with getting you more mentally prepared for the exercise. In addition, by reading out the exercise before you play it, you will have a better chance at locating any rhythms that you might find challenging so that you can spend more time working them out beforehand. When you’re starting out with rhythms, focus on the coordination of your left and right hands, making sure that you are playing in time with a metronome.

Coordinating Your Limbs

Many beginners to drumming will have trouble coordinating all three limbs, so to make this easier for yourself as you start out, you can break the exercise down to only focus on two limbs at a time. Before you start to put all three together again, make sure that you are comfortable with each limb combination. Eventually, as you practice and become more coordinated as a drummer, you will want to start introducing some fourth limb practice – the hi-hat pedal foot. Like you did with your hands and foot, you should also start out with some very basic simple exercises to get used to coordinating all four limbs before you start learning more advanced beats.

Get the Techniques Right

As you practice, it is important to make sure that you are checking in with the techniques that you are using to ensure you’re using the right ones. For example, as you are practicing, keep making sure that you are holding the sticks correctly. You can work with a drum teacher or tutor who can check your progress and offer feedback or use one of the many online guides and videos that are now available to help people teach themselves drumming and get good at it.

Practice Makes Perfect

No matter how good you get at drumming in the end, any good drummer knows that practice makes perfect no matter what level they are at. No matter where you are headed, you can practice drumming by tapping on your thighs or carrying a pair of sticks with you so that you can work on beats as much as possible. Once you have mastered drumming on your own, you may want to consider practicing as part of a band – if you have friends who play musical instruments, practicing together can be a great way to learn how to coordinate your skills with other musicians and a lot of fun too.

Drumming is a fun skill to learn and as a drummer, you’ll be needed in all types of bands. Keep these tips in mind to get started, even if you have never played drums before.