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50 Beginners Drum Beats

This collection of 50 beginners drum beats features in my ebook Beginners Drum Book 2023. I am planning to update this book at some point so the 50 beats may change or become more than 50, but if I do create a newer version, the 2023 version will still be included as a pdf ebook. We start off fairly easy and by beat 21 the beats do get quite hard, learning Jazz beats with 4 way co-ordination. This selection of 50 beats can be learned as one topic, or it can be something to dip in and out of. Here are all of the sheets with all 50 beats, but if you would like the printable pdf, then you will need to purchase that here.

drum notation containing beginners drum beats — Drum Beat Exercises 11-22

2 Longer Rock Exercises with Beats and Fills – Sheet 7 – Inside The Book: 40 Beats and Fills Book 2

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Next Page: Sheet 8 →

Here is Exercise Sheet 7 from 40 Beats and Fills Exercises Book 2.

This sheet only has 2 exercises because we have doubled the length to 8 bars. The structure is 7 bars of drum beats, with a 1 bar fill on bar 8, and then repeat. We are also adding in a short drum fill at the end of bar 4. Short drum fills in music help to break up repetative beats and sections and add a bit of interest to the music.

Exercise 1 is all on the hi hat and has plenty of open hi hats here and there to watch out for. Exercise 2 starts on the ride cymbal with stepped hi hats on all 4 beats of the bar, and then switches to the hi hats on bars 5-7 for some practice of switching your lead hand between the hi hat and ride.

Video Demonstration for Sheet 7

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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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Next Page: Sheet 5 →

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

You can download the pdf for this page by buying the book or downloading the free preview on the product page.

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

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Next Page: Sheet 4 →

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.

You can download the pdf for this page by buying the book or downloading the free preview on the product page.

There are more free pages like this one, use the the navigation below to view them.

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10 Basic Hip Hop and Funk Skip Beats

This sheet is one of 2 bonus warm up sheets in the book 40 Hip Hop and Funk Skip Beats and Fills Exercises. Before getting stuck into exercises usually lasting for 4 or more bars, we focus here on 1 bar at a time, looping each drum beat for a while and making it comfortable to play.

Here is a video showing how to play these 10 exercises:

You should focus on mastering each beat on this sheet before moving onto the rest of the book. When it starts to get more comfortable, introduce the metronome at around 60-70bpm and settle down into a groove for a bit. Try increasing the speed after a while. The skip beats are the snare drums or bass drums that slot in between the 8th note hi hats. The ‘skip’ should be exactly in the middle of the space between the hi hats. when added they should sound like even 16th notes between the hi hats and the skip beats. Concentrate hard on acheiving this even spacing to make your beats sound tight.

Often snare drum skip beats are played as ghost notes. This is not notated, but you should also go through the sheet again trying this.

You can also view the next sheet in the book for free: 10 Basic Hip Hop and Funk Skip Beats with 16th note hi hats.