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Intermediate Drum Warm-Up – Part 2

Following on from the Grade 1-3 Drum Lesson Warm Up posted recently, and the intermediate drum warm-up Part 1 for drummers that have reached a higher level of ability (about Grade 4-6 +), here is the second part of the Intermediate drum warm up.

This second part of the warm up consists of stylistic exercise, including Swing in 4/4, Swing in 3/4, Jazz and metal. This is a continuation from part 1 where on exercise 3 there was a funk rock exercise.

Free PDF Sheet Music:

Intermediate Drum Warm-Up PDF

Exercise 4 – 8th Note Swing in 4/4.

The snare drums with brackets around are ghost notes, which means small quiet taps on the snare drum about 1-2 inches from the snare head. These beats and fills could be heard in musicals or swing bands for example.

Exercise 5 – 8th Note Swing in 3/4

These beats and fill again could be heard in musicals, swing bands, and also in Jazz.

Exercise 6 – Jazz

The ghost note snares and bass drums on the 4th bar are what you might play if you were comping. Here is a video that goes into great detail about comping:

Exercise 7 – Metal

This exercise is a good warm up for anyone and only needs a single bass drum pedal (kick pedal). It’s sort of an introduction to blast beats. You can learn more here in this video:

Snare Drum Piece – Jan 2018

Here is some drum sheet music of a snare drum piece, which can be played by a solo snare or a snare line group.

The snare piece starts off in 3/4 timing and then moves into 4/4. There are various dynamic changes. There are also plenty of techniques involved. In bar 2 there is a flam. Bar 3 sees the first buzz roll. Bar 4 has a rim hit on the last note. Bar 8 has a drag at the end. Bar 9 and 10 are repeated 4 times and feature accents. Bar 11 starts the quietest section in pp, which means very quiet (pianissimo). Bar 12 sees the first rest, and the final techniques are found in the final bar, which are ghost notes.

Funk Grooves – Grade 5

You’ll need to be able to read the sheet music to play these funk drum grooves.

These funky beats are versatile and can be played in various scenarios or even different styles of music.

Use these funk drum beats for some new inspiration or ideas for adding flare to basic funk beats.

The first beat adds accents on the hi hat to add some dynamic depth.
The second beat adds in open hi hats – the hi hat should be played with the right hand only (or left if you’re a lefty).
The third beat has quiet drags on the snare, slightly open hi hats and accents, and ghost note skip beats.
The fourth beat has just skip beats and open hi hats.
The fifth beat uses two hands for the hi hats, and the ones with the slashes through are doubled up using the double stroke technique.
The sixth and final beat has a similar style to the third beat.

8 Technique Exercises for Accents and Ghost Notes

These snare drum or practice pad exercises are similar to drum rudiments. The drum exercises work on possible sticking and dynamic eventualities that you may encounter in drum beats and grooves, drum fills, and snare drum sheet music. The exercises also could be used as a warm up, especially from playing snare drum sheet music.

While beginners will be able to play these exercises at their level, advanced players should be aware of using Up Strokes, Tap Strokes, Down Strokes, and Full Strokes so that there is a greater continuity of volume and attack.

6 Skip Beat Drum Grooves With 8th Note Hi Hats

If you are new to these kind of drum beats, check out some of the easier looking sheets on the skip beats page.

This is a great drum sheet for drum students that enjoy playing basic bass drum and snare drum skip beats and want to progress with them further. These drum grooves explore some of the creative concepts that can be applied to these kind of drum beats.

There is plenty of syncopation and dynamic texture in the drum beats, so they are interesting to listen to and play. A good bass player would enjoy locking in with these types of funk drum grooves.

You could of course use these in different styles, such as fusion or rock. Drum & Bass would use these types of beats, played really fast.