Learn the drums
Free, in order, and built to be played rather than read: the notation on every lesson has a play button, every exercise opens a tool with the numbers dialled in, and every groove opens in the lab.
Start here
The beginner course
Ten lessons from your first stroke to your first song. 10 lessons, about 4 hours all told, no kit needed for the first three. Members see which lessons they have finished.
Start the course →Technique lessons
Longer lessons on one thing each: speed, the heel-toe kick technique, and why rudiments matter. New ones land here.
Free Drum Lessons
Drum rudiments | Why they matter, where to start
Rudiments are the drummer's vocabulary, and 400 years in the making. Here is why they matter, the five to learn first, and how to actually practise them.
Free Drum Lessons
How to drum faster in 4 easy steps
At some stage in your drumming journey, you are going to wonder about how to drum faster. Even if speed isn't your game, it is likely something you'll
Free Drum Lessons
Heel toe kick drum technique | Drum lesson
In this heel-toe kick drum technique lesson, you will learn the technique as well as exercises to improve consistency, speed and power. The heel-toe kick
Drum Lesson Guides
Drum Lessons Online | Benefits, Disadvantages, Free vs Paid
Taking drum lessons online has become commonplace in the drumming community. In the digital age where people want things on demand, it is no surprise. Why
The forty rudiments
The drummer's vocabulary, each with a page of its own: the notation, the sound with the hands at different pitches, how to practise it, and the way into the trainer. Start with these five.
- Single Stroke RollThe foundation. Perfectly even, both hands identical.
- Double Stroke Open RollTwo matched strokes per hand. The second note is the hard one.
- Single ParadiddleThe famous one. Accent moves hand to hand — keep the taps low.
- FlamGrace note low and close, main note full. Fat, not flat.
- Five Stroke RollTwo doubles into an accent, alternating lead each time.
Roll rudiments (15)Diddle rudiments (4)Flam rudiments (11)Drag rudiments (10)Why rudiments matter →
Classic grooves
22 famous beats written on the Groove Lab grid, from the Levee Breaks bar to the Amen break. Each has a page on what the drums do and opens in the lab with a tap. All the classics →
The trainers
- Tempo trainerThe click, subdivisions and accents. Members get the auto-climbing trainer and the gap click.
- Rudiment trainerAll forty with the sticking played back, each hand at its own pitch.
- Polyrhythm trainerThree against two, four against three, and the hat-versus-kick independence drills.
- The Groove LabWrite a beat on the grid, hear it, share it with a link. Two grids: sixteenths and triplets.
- Practice logWhat you played, how fast, how it felt. The streak is the habit.
Songs, with their tempos
98 songs by the drummers on this site, each with its BPM, the metronome at that tempo, and what the drums do. 20 are marked beginner: your next ten songs after the course. The tempo database →
Advice
Buying a first kit, finding a teacher, practising in a flat: the writing that goes with the lessons. Drummer advice → · New to drums? Start here → · Every free lesson →