·        Lesson Materials: You need good lesson materials, such as a beginner lesson book or guide.  

·        A pair of drumsticks: The best size is 5B. If you don’t have the money for drumsticks, you can use your hands.

·        A practice pad: Practice pads are used to simulate the sound of drums. Very realistic.

·        A metronome: This device helps you keep in rhythm to the sounds you hear. Once set in motion it rocks back and forth in a certain rhythm or count. It helps to improve your way of playing when producing sound.

 

·        Learn Without Drums: Start learning by just using your hands and feet. Here is how this works. You will use your right hand to imitate a hi-hat; your left hand will be a snare drum. You will use your right foot to imitate a bass drum. Or, if you do have drums, just follow along. Rest comfortably at a desk or table and start tapping with your right hand. As you do count to four either out load or to yourself. After you get past four, start the count over. Remember, each number will be one tap of the hand. Now using your left hand as a snare drum, tap that for every count of three. In other words, when you get to three you make one tap with the left hand. Now, using your right foot as a bass drum tap with it for every count of one. Remember, your right hand will tap four times, your left hand will tap on every third tap of the right hand, and your right foot will tap for every tap of the right hand.

·        Reading Drum Notation: In order to play the drums you have know how to read drum notation. This is the way to learn how to play the drums. You will see this in every drum book or program out there so become familiar with it. On music notation the pitch of a note is indicated by a dot on the five horizontal lines called a staff. Of course the higher the dot the higher the pitch. When reading drum notation, the note’s position will indicate what drum or cymbal to use. The generally accepted way to position drum and cymbal notes is the brass drum is at the bottom, the snare in the middle, the hi-hat and cymbals are at the top. If you are not familiar with this, the timing of each sound depends on the progress of the notes from left to right. When you look at the notation, you will no doubt see 4/4 on the left. This is called a time signature. This indicates how much time and exactly how many beats are in a measure. Each measure is separated by a vertical line. If you see a note with a stick or tail going either up or down, this has no bearing on the note. It is just written like that for clarity. If you see a dot after a note, that indicates the note one and a half times the length of the non-dotted note.

 

·        Learn Drum Stick Balance: Before you do anything you have to learn how to handle a stick and balance it. You can’t be awkward when holding drumsticks or you won’t be able to play. The best spot to hold the drum stick is a little more than a third of the length up from the base of the stick. The best way to determine this is by holding the stick in your hand and striking the drum and see how the stick bounces back. Place the drum stick on your index finger, lift up and let it strike. 

·        How to Hold a Stick Using the Matched Grip: This is the most popular of all grips. Most rock bands have drummers who use this method. What you do is lay the drum stick in front of you, the tip pointing away, and then pick it up at the stick’s balance point using your index finger and thumb. You palm has to be facing down. Once you have done this, you simply bring the stick back and across the index finger so that it is resting between your first and second joints of the index finger. Next, curl the fingers around the stick. Keep the fingers loose though. Now, tilt your hand at a slight angle to the right if you are right-handed, or to the left if you are left-handed.

·        How to Play Drums Using Matched Grip: Take the drum stick in right hand as you did in the matched grip style you learned from above. Hit the drum by moving just your wrist in a quick motion; allow it to go down then back up. You should only bend your wrist about 30 degrees. Another thing to remember is when the stick hits let it bounce back to you. Take your curled fingers and release them a bit. This way, when you hit the drum, the stick will hit those fingers as you lift your wrist up and will strike your palm as you move the wrist down.

 

·        When holding the drum stick, always hold it loosely in between your thumb and second and third fingers.

·        Don’t tense up. Keep your arms and shoulders relaxed or you won’t be able to move your arm freely enough.

·        If you find you can get your coordination down, trying playing the high hat and bass drum separately until you get them down.

·        Maybe it is a good thing to start out practicing with slow songs until you get up to par.

·        Until you get your rhythm down, play softly first.

·        When you do play, do not allow others to control what style you play. Be yourself. Develop your own style and stick to it.

·        The best way to learn how to play good is to find a really good instructor who is dedicated to his craft. If you can’t afford an instructor, continue to train yourself. Don’t give up.

·        When you learn and train to play drums, make sure to learn all about stick control, drum method, and syncopation. This is important.

·        The basic thing you need to do is practice! Practice all the time.