drum fill exercises – Page 3 – Learn Drums For Free

Sheet 2 – Easy Reading Beats & Fills

Here we have a drum beat repeated 3 times, then a fill, then another drum beat 3 times followed by another drum fill. The sheet can be then repeated around multiple times, or you could just repeat the first half around for a while and then focus on repeating the second half.

These are great for beginners and especially for those that haven’t moved on to reading drum sheet music properly yet. It will help those that struggle to read the drum music, for example young drum students.

Right handed drummers should play all of the hi hats with their right hand, and all of the snare drums with their left hand. Left handed drummers should do the opposite.

Related: Sheet 1 – Easy Reading Beats & Fills
Related (Premium): This free drum sheet is part of a premium ebook, which you can purchase here: First Drum Book – Easy Reading Beats & Fills

(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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5 Blues Drum Fills for the 12th Bar music stops

These are some quick drum fills we came up in a lesson with for use with ‘Mean Jumper Blues’ (Grade 2 Trinity Rock & Pop). There is one bar that asks you to make up a drum fill, which is at the end of a blue progression. Often the music stops on the 12th bar and this is where the drummer can put in a fill before repeating around the 12 bar groove.

Just a note on this, Grade 2 Trinity Rock & Pop has strong elements of Grade 3 Rockschool. It is a blend of Grade 2 and 3 really. The fills on this sheet could also be heard in Rockschool Grade 3 level, especially the final drum fill on the last line.

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

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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.

Coordination Exercise
Drum Beat
Drum Fill
Drum Beat + Drum Fill (Combined Exercise)
Rudiments Exercise (rudiments that have been developed)
Snare Drum Sheet music
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.

Coordination Exercise
Drum Beat
Drum Fill
Drum Beat + Drum Fill (Combined Exercise)
Rudiments Exercise (rudiments that have been developed)
Snare Drum Sheet music
Technique Exercise

Exercise Sheet 2 →

Sheet 3 – 10 EASY drum fills lasting 1 bar around the kit – 8ths and quarters

This free drum fills pdf sheet music is from page 11 of the premium ebook Beats and Fills Drum Book – Basic Beginners.

Each drum fill is an ‘around the kit’ fill, meaning that you play each note grouping on the drums as follows: snare drum, tom 1, tom 2, floor tom.

To help with reading the rhythms, you could try this sheet: 10 breakfast snare drum exercises – phonetic rhythms

(Premium) – Beats and Fills Drum Book – Basic Beginners – PDF Ebook

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Number of Pages: 24

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

This beats and fills drum book has been created for beginner drum students to follow from complete beginner up to grade 1 level. This book could either be used by self taught drummers, or it could be used during drum lessons, and practiced by the student in between lessons. Teachers may purchase this book online and print out unlimited copies for their students.

The book is aimed at students of any age, including adults. The minimum age is about 7 years old. This book is for complete beginners that have a little knowledge of reading drum music. The book can be worked on very soon after starting to learn drums. Younger players (age 5+) may struggle to read this book, and would need to be shown the beats and fills and/or start learning to read music in different ways, such as with hand sketched drum beats with clear visual icons for each drum voice (e.g. a pictures or sketches of bass drum, snare and hi hat).

There are 3 main sections: drum beats, drum fills, and various combination exercises of drum beats + drum fills. We focus on establishing a core and fundamental understanding and ability to play basic beginners drum beats and drum fills. Some prior knowledge of reading music will be required if you are working through this book on your own without a teacher.

Drum Beats

The drum beats in this book are all aimed at complete beginners with a little bit of knowledge of how to read drum music or they can be taught to read it while working through the book with a teacher.

Drum Fills

The drum fills in this book range from easy ‘around the kit’ fills with quarter notes and 8th notes, to more advanced movements, leading up to grade 1 level.

Drum Beats & Drum Fills

The drum beats and drum fills section brings together the things you have learned in the first two sections of the book. This section is designed to give a more realistic drumming experience, because most songs are not based on just beats or just fills. Master these and you will be well on your way to start playing along with songs.

I hope you find these useful.

Looking for something more challenging?

Try this similar book, next level up, which is for Grade 1-2:

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

Beginners Drum fills lasting for 2 beats – Half bar drum fills

The drum fills last for 2 beats, or half a bar of 4/4. They are all made up of combinations of 16th notes and 8th notes, and 1/4 note flams. There are 12 drum fills.

The drum fills could be used in the final bar of a section. For example, play 7 and a half bars of drum beats, and then insert one of these drum fills – and then repeat. To finish off the exercises after repeating, you could play a crash and bass together.

The fills could also be used to start off a song or before playing through some drum beats.

Mix and match the fills to create 1 bar fills lasting 4 beats.

10 beginners drum beats with 2 beat drum fills exercises

The structure for these drum exercises is: One and a half bar of a drum beat, then half a bar drum fill – and repeat.

These drum exercises are for practicing drum beats and fills, similar to what you would do in a song environment, by playing the drum fills before and after drum beats.

The exercises have been limited to 2 bars, with a single repeat, so that the drum beats and drum fills are practiced fairly equally, rather than playing the drum beat for longer like in a song. Therefore the skill of playing the beat for longer and counting bars like 7 and a half, or 15 and a half before playing the fill is not being exercised here, but should be practiced another time.

This sheet could be used by beginner students up to grade 1 or grade and even grade 3 students could find these useful and challenging by playing them very quickly.

For a variation on the drum beats, you could swap the hi hats for a ride cymbal, or even a floor tom. You could also add in open hi hats (or ride bells) for quick drum beat variations.