blues rock – Learn Drums For Free

Here is Exercise Sheet 6 from 40 Beats and Fills Exercises Book 2.

All of the 4 beats and fills exercises are in 6/8 time signature and the emphasis is naturally on beat 1 and 4. In the drum beats, the first beat of the bar usually has a bass drum and beat 4 of the bar usually has a strong snare drum. 6/8 means that there are 6 8th notes per bar.

This is how the emphasis on 1 and 4 looks like if you see them in bold:

1 2 3 4 5 6

On exercise 4, you can see dotted quarter notes (dotted crotchets) in the drum fill on bar 4. The dotted quarter notes each last for one and a half beats, which is the equivalent of half a bar each in this 6/8 time signature. If you think about trying to count these without prior knowledge of playing in 6/8 time, it can throw you off a bit, but if you think about the pulse of the bar (2 pulses per bar, on beats 1 and 4) then they really only feel like they are 1 beat each, along with the pulse.

Video Demonstration for Sheet 6

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Drum beats and drum fills in different time signatures – Sheet 4 – 40 Beats and Fills Book 2

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Here is Exercise Sheet 4 from 40 Beats and Fills Exercises Book 2.

The drum beats and drum fills are played in different time signatures (3/4, 5/4 and 2/4), as well as changing to and from the usual 4/4 bar length.

Time Signature Changes: “Do not panic – they’re quite easy”, as I say in the video!

The time signatures are not too hard And sometimes you don’t even need to worry about counting them. There are situations where you might need to count them and they might be harder depending on what is contained in the bars, but thes have been written for newcomers to time signatures in mind, so there are no real suprises – it’s meant to be a straightforward introduction.

On exercise 3, I have taken away the stepped hi hat so it’s 3 way coordination. The stepped hi hat is included on exercise 3 with the 5/4 bar, so there’s an added challenge there.

Video Demonstration

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Drum Beats and Drum Fills in 6/8 time signature – Sheet 3 Inside the book

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Here is Exercise Sheet 3 from 40 Beats and Fills Exercises Book 2.

The drum beats and drum fills are all in a 6/8 time signature. We will be putting emphasis on the beats 1 and 4 of the bar, which is standard for 6/8 drum beats. The counting should be 1 2 3 4 5 6 for 8th notes, and for 16th notes, you could count 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 +. This is unlike 4/4, where the 1 2 3 4 is counting the quarter notes, rather than the 8th notes.

We are playing in a blues style in this sheet, although you could also hear these beats in other styles such as Pop, Jazz and Musical Theatre.

Video Demonstration

As you can see in the video, some of the exercises are quite fun when played quickly. Do start slowly and correctly though, because those fills could sound messy if they are not played with accuracy.

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40 Beats and Fills Exercises Book 2

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This book contains drum beats and drum fills in the styles of pop, rock, blues, musical theatre, jazz, heavy metal, hard rock, punk rock, and indie, as well as covering fundamental techniques such as stepped hi hat, open hi hats, 16th note hi hats, 4 way coordination and time signature changes. The book ranges from grade 1 to 3.

The last book focused on grades 1-2, so this book is focusing on the high end of grade 1 and up to grade 3 level. The book would be an ideal add on for anyone studying Grades 1-3, and in particular grads 2-3. To achieve grade 3 and possibly grade 4 level, the exercises would need to be played precisely, with correct dynamics, speed and fluidity.

Demonstration Video

There is a video accompaniment with timestamps for every exercise in this book here: https://youtu.be/jMT9UHOBHNM

About the book

This is the second book in the series, following directly on from “40 Beats and Fills Exercises (Grade 1-2)”. There are 40 exercises over 12 sheets, and a bonus sheet 13. There is also a warm up sheet, which can be played at the start of a lesson if you are studying some of the book.

Final Thoughts

I hope you enjoy working on this book or teaching with this book. Stick the metronome on and get into each exercise. Aim to repeat each exercise at least 2 times (ideally 4 or more). You could do 4, or keep repeating until you are happy with it. If you have done the sheet a few times before, perhaps 2 times each would be sufficient. Start without the metronome first if you are needing to slow down and learn each one. Slow it right down if it’s tricky and really make sure to play it properly. It’s better than trying to messily play it too fast.

Kind regards to you all,

Theo Lawrence / TL Music Lessons

6 Rock & Blues Play Along Backing Tracks [Premium]

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 ★

Buy Now ⟶

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

Listen to the 6 tracks here:

tlmusiclessons · 6 Rock & Blues Play Along Backing Tracks

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

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

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

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

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

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.