Tag: drum beats

5 beginners classic rock drum beats with counting method

These 5 rock drum beats with quarter note hi hats were written to support my students learning the drum beats on Page 13 of Grades 1-2 Beats & Fills Drum Book – Unit 1 – Rock Pop Soul Funk – PDF Ebook, or as a standalone exercise sheet prior to starting the book.

Each of the drum beats has a quarter note hi hat pattern, so often there are kick drums out on their own with no other drum voice played (normally played with a hi hat). This can be tricky for beginners, so that’s why counting is a good idea.

Use the audio examples to hear what they are meant to sound like, and try your best to replicate how evenly spaced all of the drum beats are. Make sure to use the counting guide written above each drum beat until you start to get it – then try without counting.

3 bars of drum beats in 4 with open hi hats + 1 bar fills

The drum fills now last for a whole bar, so we are now only playing 3 bars of drum beats. This prepares the student for another real world example of a different length of fill within a drum beat phrase.

You’ll need to be able to sight read these because they will be difficult to memorise. Feel free to try and memorise them if you have time, as this will also be good practice.

Here is a list of the 5 free sheets, released as a series of posts:

These 5 sheet are from the following premium ebook:
Related (Premium): Grades 1-2 Beats & Fills Drum Book – Unit 1 – Rock Pop Soul Funk

4 bars of drum beats in 4 with open hi hats + 2 beat fills on 4th bar

This section is only a slight a variation on the previous. The drum fills now last for two beats, which means the 4th bar only has half a bar of the drum beat. This prepares the student for another real world example of a different length of fill within a drum beat phrase.

You’ll need to be able to sight read these because they will be difficult to memorise. Feel free to try and memorise them if you have time, as this will also be good practice.

Here is a list of the 5 free sheets, released as a series of posts:

These 5 sheet are from the following premium ebook:
Related (Premium): Grades 1-2 Beats & Fills Drum Book – Unit 1 – Rock Pop Soul Funk

4 bars of drum beats in 4 with open hi hats + 1 beat fills on 4th bar

Much like in the first two sections, there are 16 different exercises with drum beats in 4/4. This time, the phrase is over 4 bars and there is a short drum fill on the 4th bar before repeating. You’ll need to be able to sight read these because they will be difficult to memorise. Feel free to try and memorise them if you have time, as this will also be good practice.

 

Here is a list of the 5 free sheets, released as a series of posts:

These 5 sheet are from the following premium ebook:
Related (Premium): Grades 1-2 Beats & Fills Drum Book – Unit 1 – Rock Pop Soul Funk

2 bar drum beats in 4 with open hi hats

Much like in section 1, there are 16 different exercises with drum beats in 4/4, each with open hi hats placed within the beats, but this time it’s double the length. You’ll need to read these or really work hard to memorise them to play without reading.

Here is a list of the 5 free sheets, released as a series of posts:

These 5 sheet are from the following premium ebook:
Related (Premium): Grades 1-2 Beats & Fills Drum Book – Unit 1 – Rock Pop Soul Funk

1 bar drum beats in 4 with open hi hats

There are 16 different drum beats in 4/4, each with open hi hats placed within the beats. The open hi hats are marked with a circle around the X note head. These drum beats have been written for beginners between grade 1 and grade 2.

In this series of 5 free PDF drum sheets, we will be covering content from section 1 to 5 of the full ebook, focusing on the topic of drum beats with open hi hats in 4/4 timing.

Here is a list of the 5 free sheets, released as a series of posts:

These 5 sheet are from the following premium ebook:
Related (Premium): Grades 1-2 Beats & Fills Drum Book – Unit 1 – Rock Pop Soul Funk

Grades 1-2 Beats & Fills Drum Book – Rock Pop Soul Funk – PDF ebook

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all 3 ebook versions included in the download:

Number of Pages in standard ebook: 48
Number of Pages in fast track book: 28
Number of Pages in super fast track book: 17

About the fast track books: 28 page PDF Fast Track Version is with section 1 and section 3 removed. Ideal for moving students quickly through topics. The removed sections 1 and 3 are really only easier versions of sections 2 and 4, so you won’t be missing anything vital. The super fast track is good if the student will pick up the content quickly and won’t need to do lots of exercises before moving on to something else. It’s to avoid it getting boring for the student. As a teacher, I was also getting bored with the longer books because the content gets a bit samey, so I often use the fast track versions with my students. However, some players may be glad of the extra exercises, and with the full 48 page book, at least you can pick and choose which pages to work on yourself, so feel free to cut pages wherever you like. Just make sure to include some of the 6/8 and 3/4 exercises, and also some of the ones with open hi hats.

Double sided printing is advised.

  • 48 Pages
  • Focusing on Drum Beats and Drum Fills
  • Grade 1-2 Level
  • For Students and Teachers
  • Print unlimited copies for yourself or for students

Free Preview

Here is a list of the 5 free sheets from this ebook, released as a series of posts:

Introduction

Grades 1-2 Beats & Fills Drum Book – Unit 1: Rock, Pop, Soul, Funk

This is my second ‘Beats & Fills’ drum book, following on from ‘Beats And Fills Drum Book – Basic Beginners’, which was released just over 6 months before this one. Some players will actually be able to move straight onto this book from the first one, whilst others may need some more easier ‘basic beginners’ work first. I will probably create more basic beginners books, but for now I am moving on so that there are books available for higher grades. Interestingly, the first book was 24 page and this new book is 48 pages, so I have managed to double the length without trying. Make sure to print this double sided.

This book has 5 structured sections (see contents), which in my head follows a pattern. With each section, the exercises get longer and more advanced. There is a chronological progression through the sections and within each section there are elements of both grades. For this reason, you may want to skip some pages in each section if they get too hard and come back to them later.

In the first two sections, we start out with 1 bar beats and then onto 2 bar beats. In sections 3-5 we introduce drum fills, starting with 1 beat fills, then 2 beat fills and finally progressing onto whole bar fills after 3 bars of a beat. By the end of the book, you should be well drilled in the basics of drumming and ready to start learning some songs on the drums.

Hope you enjoy the book and find it useful for either learning yourself or for teaching others with.

Once purchased, you may print out copies for yourself or for your students if you are a teacher.

Full Contents

Page 4-14   Section 1:   1 bar drum beats

1 bar drum beats in 4/4
1 bar drum beats in 3/4
1 bar drum beats in 6/8
1 bar drum beats in 4/4 on ride with left foot hi hat
1 bar drum beats in 6/8 on ride with left foot hi hat
1 bar drum beats in 4/4 with open hi hats
1 bar drum beats in 3/4 with open hi hats
1 bar drum beats in 6/8 with open hi hats
1 bar drum beats in 4/4 with quarter note hi hats
1 bar drum beats in 3/4 with quarter note hi hats
1 bar drum beats in 4/4 with quarter note ride and left foot hi hat

Page 15-23   Section 2:   2 bar drum beats

2 bars of drum beats in 4/4
2 bars of drum beats in 3/4
2 bars of drum beats in 6/8
2 bars of drum beats in 4/4 with open hi hats
2 bars of drum beats in 3/4 with open hi hats
2 bars of drum beats in 6/8 with open hi hats
2 bars of drum beats in 4/4 with quarter note hi hats
2 bars of drum beats in 3/4 with quarter note hi hats

Page 24-32   Section 3:   4 bars of drum beats with 1 beat drum fills on the 4th bar

4 bars of drum beats in 4/4 + 1 beat fills on 4th bar
4 bars of drum beats in 3/4 + 1 beat fills on 4th bar
4 bars of drum beats in 6/8 + 1 beat fills on 4th bar
4 bars of drum beats in 4/4 with open hi hats + 1 beat fills on 4th bar
4 bars of drum beats in 3/4 with open hi hats + 1 beat fills on 4th bar
4 bars of drum beats in 6/8 with open hi hats + 1 beat fills on 4th bar
4 bars of drum beats in 4/4 with quarter note hi hats + 1 beat fills on 4th bar
4 bars of drum beats in 3/4 with quarter note hi hats + 1 beat fills on 4th bar

Page 33-39 Section 4: 4 bars of drum beats with 2 beat drum fills on the 4th bar

4 bars of drum beats in 4/4 + 2 beat fills on 4th bar
4 bars of drum beats in 4/4 with open hi hats + 2 beat fills on 4th bar
4 bars of drum beats in 4/4 with quarter note hi hats + 2 beat fills on 4th bar

Page 40-48   Section 5:  3 bars of drum beats followed by a 1 bar drum fill

3 bars of drum beats in 4/4 + 1 bar fills
3 bars of drum beats in 3/4 + 1 bar fills
3 bars of drum beats in 6/8 + 1 bar fills
3 bars of drum beats in 4/4 with open hi hats + 1 bar fills
3 bars of drum beats in 3/4 with open hi hats + 1 bar fills
3 bars of drum beats in 6/8 with open hi hats + 1 bar fills
3 bars of drum beats in 4/4 with quarter note hi hats + 1 bar fills
3 bars of drum beats in 3/4 with quarter note hi hats + 1 bar fills

Buy Now →

Sheet 2 – Drum Exercises for Beginners – Grade 1

Welcome to the second in the series of ‘Drum Exercises for Beginners – Grade 1’.

You may like to listen to the audio to help understand the sheet music.

There are short repeated exercises in the following categories, which are ideal for practicing on your own, or for using by drum teachers as part of a lesson plan.

  1. Coordination Exercise
  2. Drum Beat
  3. Drum Fill
  4. Drum Beat + Drum Fill (Combined Exercise)
  5. Rudiments Exercise (rudiments that have been developed)
  6. Snare Drum Sheet music
  7. Technique Exercise

← Exercise Sheet 1

Sheet 1 – Drum Exercises for Beginners – Grade 1

Welcome to the first in the series of ‘Drum Exercises for Beginners – Grade 1’.

There are short repeated exercises in the following categories, which are ideal for practicing on your own, or for using by drum teachers as part of a lesson plan.

You may like to listen to the audio to help understand the sheet music.

  1. Coordination Exercise
  2. Drum Beat
  3. Drum Fill
  4. Drum Beat + Drum Fill (Combined Exercise)
  5. Rudiments Exercise (rudiments that have been developed)
  6. Snare Drum Sheet music
  7. Technique Exercise

Exercise Sheet 2 →

Beginners snare skip beats

Here we have 7 basic pop/rock drum beats with an added ‘skip beat’ snare hit, which slots in between the 8th note hi hats. It’s in the same place on each drum beat. It’s on the ‘a’ of counting “2 + a“.

The counting would then be 1 + 2 + a 3 + 4 +. Some drummers don’t count that way. It’s useful to start doing that and it makes sense after a little while. You count the 8th notes as 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +, and for 16ths you count 1 e + a 2 e + a 3 e + a 4 e + a. You pronounce the e as a capital E and the a as the sound of the small letter a, which sounds like a short ‘ah’.

The skill level for these exercises is about grade 2-3, or higher if played fast.

The beats could be used in a range of styles including pop, rock and funk.

Related: Snare Drum Skip Beats