Tag: beats and fills exercises

40 Hip Hop and Funk Skip Beats and Fills Exercises ebook – Grades 3-8

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Introduction

This book contains drum beats and drum fills in the styles of Hip Hop, Rap, Grime and Funk, Soul and Rock/Pop. The book has some grade 3-4 level exercises and also some harder ones, ranging from Grade 5 to Grade 8. The book would be an ideal add on for anyone studying Grades 5-8, as many of the skills are needed at this level. To achieve grade 8, the exercises would need to be played precisely, with correct dynamics, speed and fluidity.

Video

You can use this video as a guide for when you are practicing the book but get stuck on a particular exercise – just look up the timestamp link below. Like I say later in the video, the book is not designed to be played in one go and you should focus on 1 or 2 sheets per session and really drill down those grooves and get the fills correct and precise. Precision is key with all of these exercises, no matter what speed you play them at.

Free PDF Sheets to browse or use before buying the book

People that might find this book useful

  • Drum teachers can print the book or single sheets for their students. They may like to select only some pages to teach if the students are not up to Grade 6 level. The flicks between ability levels and is not necessarily in order of ability. To achieve grade 8, the harder exercises would be played fluently and precisely at speed.
  • Drummers can teach themselves following on from a strong foundation in reading and playing at Grade 3 and above.
  • Drummers that want to learn funk and hip hop beats and fills in depth

About the book

The structure of the book is based on one of my favourite books “40 Beats and Fills Exercises (Grade 1-2)”. There are 40 exercises over 11 sheets, and I have also included 2 bonus sheets with basic skip beats with 8th note hi hats and 16th note hi hats, which adds an extra 20 exercises, but I’m not counting those in the title.

I created the book so that my students could study skip beats at grades 3-4 level and also for my students working on Grades 5, 6 and 8 (I usually skip grade 7) to work on alongside their grades.

Final Thoughts

I hope you enjoy working on this book or teaching with this book. Stick the metronome on and get into the groove. Repeat for less or more than 4 times for each exercise, it’s up to you. To extend the exercises, try playing the beats on the ride cymbal and adding in left foot hi hat ostinati.

Theo Lawrence / TL Music Lessons

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6 Rock & Blues Play Along Backing Tracks [Premium]

Contents

6 Rock & Blues Play Along Backing Tracks (with full sheet music)

★ Over 30 PDF Files of Sheet Music ★ Over 60 MP3 Tracks ★ 6 Guitar Pro Files ★

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This download will be greatly enhanced by having a copy of Guitar Pro installed on your device.

Listen to the 6 tracks here:

  1. Blues in A (Sun Shines Through The Window) – Play Along Track 1

Grade 3 Lead Guitar & Barre Chords
Grade 1 Guitar
Grade 1-2 Ukulele
Grade 3 Bass Guitar
Grade 1-2 Drums
Lyrics for the Verses

  1. Blues in E with swing – Play Along Track 2

Grade 3 Lead Guitar & Barre Chords
Grade 1-2 Guitar
Grade 1-2 Ukulele
Grade 3 Bass Guitar
Grade 1-2 Drums

  1. Slow Rock in A Minor – Play Along Track 3

Grade 3-6 Lead Guitar
Grade 2 Guitar
Grade 3 Guitar (Barre Chords)
Grade 2 Ukulele
Grade 4 Bass Guitar
Grade 1-3 Drums

  1. Alternative Rock in E Minor – Play Along Track 4

Grade 6 Lead Guitar
Grade 2-3 Guitar
Grade 2-3 Ukulele
Grade 3 Bass Guitar
Grade 3-4 Drums

  1. Indie Rock in C – Play Along Track 5

Grade 3-5 Lead Guitar
Grade 2 Guitar 1
Grade 2 Guitar 2
Grade 2 Ukulele
Grade 3-5 Bass Guitar
Grade 3-4 Drums
Grade 2 Easy Drums

  1. Funk Rock in A Minor – Play Along Track 6

Grade 5 Lead Guitar
Grade 2 Guitar
Grade 3 Guitar
Grade 2 Ukulele
Grade 5 Bass Guitar
Grade 6 Drums
Grade 2-3 Easy Drums

Written and self published in 2020 by Theo Lawrence / TL Music Lessons.

Introduction

When the UK went into lockdown in March 2020 due to Covid-19, I quickly moved many of my lessons onto Skype/Zoom online lessons. I decided to make some of my own songs for my students to play so that they had backing tracks to play along with when they had learned and practiced the songs. I wanted to make sure they were possible for them to play, whilst also being a challenge to learn them. By the end of June, I had written these 6 songs and they felt like they worked together as a set of pieces to share with the world.

My students are all at different levels. Many of my beginners pupils of primary school age have been having lessons for at least a year or several years, so I wrote the lowest ability parts at Grade 1-2, and sometimes elements of Grade 3. I also have some grade 4-6 pupils on Guitar, Drums and Bass, so I wanted to make parts for them too. With all those parts together, there is something for almost everyone in here – just not for complete beginners because they need to work on the basics before learning these pieces.

People that might find this book useful

  • Guitar, Ukulele, Bass and Drum teachers can use these resources in their teaching or for their student’s performances.
  • Guitar, Ukulele, Bass and Drum students can teach themselves to play the music if they are able to read the sheet music. The backing tracks can then be used to practice with.
  • The Backing Tracks could potentially be used for school performances, such as for GCSE (check with the music teacher at school for song choice suitability.

 

About the PDF Sheet Music

These are the overall ranges of grades that the instruments cover in this selection of 6 songs. There are separate PDF files for each instrument part.

Grade 3-6 Lead Guitar
Grade 1-2 Guitar
Grade 3 Guitar Barre Chords
Grade 1-3 Ukulele
Grade 3-5 Bass Guitar
Grade 3-6 Drums
Grade 1-3 Easy Drums

About the MP3 Audio Files and the Guitar Pro Files

There are at least 3 different speeds of backing tracks available for each song. With performances in mind (such as for school GCSE submissions, school performances, or Eisteddfod entries), I have also included mp3s for each song without Lead Guitar, without Drums and without Bass Guitar. There are also one or two extras in there, such as ‘Just the Ukulele Part’ for some songs where I felt they would be especially helpful. If you need backing tracks that aren’t in the download pack, I strongly suggest investing in a copy of Guitar Pro, because you can do so much with these files. You can make the pieces be any speed you want, you can edit the parts, you can change the sounds of the instruments, and you can make your own mp3s and pdf files with it. You can also turn on the metronome and loop sections.

Summary

During the last few months, I have noticed that my students that carried on with online lessons have seemed to progress more than usual. I’m not sure if it’s the extra time at home with less going on, or if it’s these songs with backing tracks. I’d like to think it’s a mixture of all of those things, and probably more. I can say for sure that these pieces have gone down well with all of my students and that the range of techniques and rhythms included in the songs have been beneficial for them. It’s also been a nice outlet for me – it’s been like songwriting again (I’ve had a substantial break from it), and even though I was purposely trying not to write things that were out of reach for my students to learn, I was also enjoying the creative flow, and at times really went for it. I got really into the lead parts and was quite creatively free with those mostly, and on the drum parts I added my own style and flair into them, especially on the last piece with adding in fast double strokes on the hi hats and fills.

I hope you enjoy learning / teaching with these pieces.

6 Rock and Blues Play Along Backing Tracks

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Theo Lawrence

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Sheet 1 – 40 Beats and Fills Exercises Grade 1-2

For this exercise sheet, you will need some basic beginners reading knowledge of drum beats and drum fills.

In the exercises, you will play 3 bars of drum beats, 1 bar of a drum fill and then repeat the exercise. There are 4 exercises on the sheet and each one can be played twice, or more times if you like and perhaps the sheet can be revisited on over several practice sessions if needed.

On the first 3 exercises, there are times when there are 2 hi hats on their own with no bass drum or snare drum, so it’s helpful to especially listen out for these two hits whilst playing to avoid missing one of them out, as some learners can do by accident.

All of the drum fills are played on the snare drum only. If there are 2 lines attaching the notes, they are played as 4 fast notes. If there is 1 beam attaching the notes, they are 2 medium speed notes, and if there is one single note on it’s own, it’s 1 single hit lasting for 1 beat. There is also a rests for 1 beat that look like a squiggle on the 3rd exercise’s drum fill, so for that you don’t play anything, and wait for 1 more beat before continuing.

More Sheets like this

If you found this exercise sheet useful, you can download all 10 sheets in this premium ebook: 40 Beats and Fills Exercises Ebook.

Drum Practice Routines – Sheet 2 – Grade 1-2

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Drum Practice Routines – Sheet 2 – Grade 1-2

It’s still the summer holidays and most people are taking a well deserved break. I’ve been on holiday and I’m fully relaxed but I have a few lesson days coming up so I’m keeping on with lesson prep and making new material like this. I have made this sheet for some of my drum students to learn and practice over the holidays, which can be done in about 5 minutes and can be easily practiced several times per week.

In this practice routine, we are covering many of the fundamental parts of grade 1 and grade 2 material. First on the sheet we have singles and doubles (left handers need to play the opposite sticking to the ones shown). Whilst we don’t usually learn a proper double strokes technique until about grade 5 level, we still play doubles to get used to it, and you will just be hitting the drum with the same technique as you would for a single hit.

Secondly, we will be accenting (playing louder) the ‘off beat’, which means it’s not on the 1 2 3 4, it’s in between those. You could cound 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +. The accents would then be on every +. Then, moving onto a basic drum beat in the second bar, the accents are played in the same place but this time you play them on the hi hats.

The flams and stepped hi hat section is for building up your stepped hi hat coorination aswell as for practicing the all important flam. Make sure the stick height for the quiet note in the flam is kept quite close to the drum (2 to 4 inches depending on the volume). The stick can start at a much higher position for the loud note in the flam.

For the rhythm/fills section, I have included ‘breakfast rhythm’ counting to help. If you say the words at the same time as playing the rhythm, it should help you. The rhythm on the drum fill is the same as the one in the first bar on the snare drum, so it’s a nice exercise that flows.

Lastly, many students complain about improvisation, so it’s important to practice this until confidence is higher. Start off with really easy drum fills lasting for 1 bar and build up your confidence with each practice.

Related: Drum Practice Routines – Sheet 1 – Grade 1-2

Drum Practice Routines – Sheet 1 – Grade 1-2

In this practice routine, we are covering many of the fundamental parts of grade 1 and grade 2 material. On the sheet we have a paradiddle 8 times (left handers need to play the opposite sticking).

There are accents on 8th note snare drums and then moving onto a basic drum beat, the accents are played in the same place but this time on the hi hat part of the drum beat.

The flams and stepped hi hat section has a classic rock feel to it and it is an easy way of introducing 4 way coordination into your playing.

For the rhythm/fills section, it’s the same rhythm on the drum fill as it is in the first bar on the snare drum, so it’s a nice exercise that flows, so we do that 8 times.

Related: Drum Practice Routines – Sheet 2 – Grade 1-2

Drum Practice Routines – Sheet 1

Here is a sheet that is ideal for drum teachers to give their grade 3-4 students to practice as ongoing homework for perhaps a half term, or 4-6 weeks. Rather than giving them something new each lesson to practice, this substantial sheet can be given to practice alongside a song or their homework for a grade they might be working towards.

There are several sections, covering many of the techniques and requirements of the Grade 3 level, and a lot of it crosses over to Grade 4 too, so I’d say Grade 3-4. The following techniques and exercises are included on the sheet: Paradiddles, Accents, Skip Beats, Flams, Stepped Hi Hats, 4 way coordination, Syncopated Rhythms, Drum Fills, Improvisation.

Beats and Fills Exercises – Sheet 11

Sheets 1 to 10 are available as an ebook called 40 Beats and Fills Exercises Ebook, which consists of 10 drum exercise sheets with 4 exercises on each page.

In that book, the exercises are all based on beats using the Hi Hat and playing a drum fill on bar 4, and then repeating. The next step you could take is continuing those beats but moving the right hand (if you are right handed) onto the Ride cymbal or the Floor Tom, instead of playing the Hi Hats throughout the drum beats.

This, ‘Sheet 11’, is a continuation of this book, available for free, There are various directions you could go after the first book. I am also writing another book focusing on playing on the ride cymbal and using the stepped hi hat, which may become or feature as ‘Book 2’ of this series, or perhaps I will do a mixture and include sheets like this one too.

The drum music is written in an easy to read sort of way, where all of the drum voices (bass, snare, hi hat etc) are linked in one stem, rather than separating the cymbals from the rest of the drums. This way of writing and reading has proved very popular with my students and I think it’s a good way of reading drums to start with, before moving on to the regular way of writing and reading the music.

[Premium] – 40 Beats and Fills Exercises Ebook

I’ll start by saying I’m really pleased with this ebook! It’s a compilation of half a year’s work, which started out as making some fun and useful exercise sheets for my drum students. I would make one sheet every every couple of weeks or so and it eventually finished at sheet 10, not just because it’s a round number, but because I was ready to start introducing other things that wouldn’t neccesarily fit in neatly with this ebook. I’m very pleased with the book because it’s very focussed on the fundamentals of drumming that every drummer should be learning to start with at least.

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Introduction

This drum ebook is a good set of exercises for the beginner drummer that has learned how to read and play very basic beats and fills already. All 40 exercises are laid out in the same way so it’s a focussed effort on building up your core drum beat beat and drum fill skills.

  • For beginners Grade 1-2 level drummers.
  • 10 Exercise sheets with 4 exercises per sheet.
  • Improve your drum beats and drum fills and practice changing from one to the other.
  • Exercises consist of 3 bars of a drum beat and 1 bar of a fill, repeated.
  • It’s a fun ebook to work through quickly or slowly. 1 sheet per week would work well for some.

The layout is slightly different to my other books so far. Usually the cymbals are notated separately (stems pointing up) to the rest of the drums (pointing down), but in this book everything is pointing in the same direction (usually up, although it doesn’t matter which way they go). I find that at this beginners / grade 1 stage, it all makes more sense this way to learners because otherwise you get rests appearing sometimes in the bottom part of the stave when there are still hi hats playing, and this almost always causes confusion with beginners young and old. It’s important to learn the other way too and move onto that, and it’s like that in most of my other books.

For beginners, but not straight away

A complete beginner could start this book early on, but not straight away. They can follow the book either with a teacher or on their own if they are a quick learner. Self taught learners may need to look some things up because not everything is explained for the complete beginner. A good book to start with for complete beginners is First Drum Book – Easy Reading Beats & Fills, which is especially good for younger learners. Another ebook that has content for complete beginners in is Beats and Fills Drum Book – Basic Beginners – PDF Ebook. That book goes beyond complete beginner too and has similar ability level content to this book, so it can be used in addition.

The usual info

  • When you purchase, you get a pdf file to keep. Please do not redistribute the file, unless you are a teacher sending it to students to practice with.
  • Drum teachers can print the book or single sheets as required for their students.
  • Drummers can teach themselves following on from a strong basic foundation in reading and playing

I hope you enjoy the ebook!

Free Preview

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(Premium) – First Drum Book – Easy Reading Beats & Fills

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For a free preview of the ebook, click Buy Now and then click ‘Preview’ at the top left of the cover image.

  • 28 Pages
  • 20 Drum Lesson Exercise Sheets

Introduction

People that might find this book useful

  • All ages will be able to enjoy this book as the drumming content will be a challenge for any beginner.
  • Beginners at ages 5-11 should benefit the most from these sheets when starting out, as they take away a lot of the initial reading difficulties.
  • Drum teachers can print the book or single sheets for their students. They can be taught to beginners of any age and also to very young beginners that wouldn’t otherwise understand some of the standard drum notation – especially the drum fills.
  • Drummers can teach themselves to play the drums using the easy to read music

About the book

This ebook has been created after nearly 9 years of teaching the drums and after many of these years developing my own way of writing drum music for beginners so that they could focus on the drumming rather than getting stuck working out which drum to hit. I noticed this problem with almost all of my drum students of school ages from ages 5 to 11 especially (these are the ‘Primary School’ ages in the UK).

After planning to write this book over a year ago, I have been handwriting similar types of sheets and photocopying them for my students to test the water and see which exercises work best. It’s really quick to write out your own sheets and I do encourage writing out your own by hand if there is something that you want to either teach or remember for yourself to play, that doesn’t appear in this book. All you need to do is draw out the symbols as they appear in this book, just on a blank sheet of A4 with any type of pen (I like using a think pen like a permanent marker so it stands out).

Following on from honing the hand drawn drum exercises, they have been recreated using Adobe Illustrator to give them a clean look and so that they are easy to read and well presented as an ebook.

This ebook should get students familiar with how real drum music is laid out, because I have kept everything the same really. So, when moving on to trying to read real drum sheet music, it should start to make sense a lot quicker than usual. My next ebook to try after this might be Beats And Fills Drum Book – Basic Beginners because it covers most of the content again in a different way but this time with real drum sheet music notation.

You are freely welcome to print this ebook for personal use or for giving a copy to your students if you are a teacher, but please do not redistribute the .pdf file online.

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(Premium) – Drum Book PDF – 10 drum solo performance pieces grade 1-3

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Audio Examples


download the audio examples for free here

Contents

10 Drum Solo Performance Pieces Grade 1-3

Pages

2. Contents
3. Introduction
4. Grade 1 Drum Solo 1
5. Grade 1 Drum Solo 2
6. Grade 1 Drum Solo 3
7. Grade 2 Drum Solo 1
8. Grade 2 Drum Solo 2
9. Grade 2 Drum Solo 3
10. Grade 3 Drum Solo 1
11. Grade 3 Drum Solo 2
12. Grade 3 Drum Solo 3
13. Grade 3 Drum Solo 4

This 1st Edition ebook was published in 2017 by Theo Lawrence / TL Music Lessons.
Front Cover Artwork Template by RogueSkins. Modified by Theo Lawrence.
Front cover illustration by Rich Orr.

People that might find this book useful

  • Drum teachers can print the book or single sheets for their students
  • Drummers can teach themselves following on from a strong basic foundation in reading and playing
  • Drummers that need to perform for school or competition etc.
  • Building ideas for you own drum solos

Contents Highlights

The 10 pieces are performance pieces for drums, with no backing. They have elements of actual drum solos that you would perhaps find at grade 1-3, but they are extended to be about 1 minute each, so there is more of a mixture of grooves and beats too so that they can be performed without backing instruments and still be interesting.

About the book

The book is split into 3 pieces for each grade, with an extra one for the grade 3 level.

At the moment I teach a lot of primary school students. All of my school teaching is primary, and then I have some older students in the evenings. Some of the primary school students have completed the other books I have written so far at this level, and are ready for a new challenge, so I have prepared this for them. It will be ideal for some of them to perform at their school concerts, as it would for others around the world that download this.

This book will definitely provide new challenges to those that have only followed the first few drum books, because there is much more focus on drum fills. The other books were about 70% beats and 30% fills. This one is about 70% fills and non regular groove playing bits.

Final Thoughts

I really hope this ebook gives young players and novice older players the confidence to perform drum solos. I hope it gives them ideas for making their own solos too. Being good at any instrument is all about the confidence in knowing you can do something. I also hope that the focus on drum fills and drum solos in this ebook will help drummers in their Rockschool exams (other exam boards are available!), when they need to ‘develop’ or ‘cont. sim.’ or ‘drum solo’. I’ve seen drummers shut down at the sight of these things, and it’s vital to break through that. Good luck!

– Theo Lawrence / TL Music Lessons

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