Drums Learning Methods
The best way to learn the Drums
Within our ‘Beginner’s Guide To Learning The Drums’ series, this specific section will give you the knowhow to determine which way of learning will most likely be best for you and your personal situation.
Most important choices for Drum Learning Methods
Humans learn in different ways. Some have got photographic memories; some can speed read, while others can’t read whatsoever. We are all distinct, and because of this, there isn’t one ‘correct’ technique of studying a musical instrument.
The four vital learning strategies that exist are:
- Traditional, face-to-face, one-to-one learning
- Traditional, face-to-face, group lessons
- Video Tutorials
- Apps
Traditional, face-to-face, one-to-one classes
If you think of drum lessons, this is probably what you imagine. A one-to-one lesson, either at the teacher’s house, a purpose-built music room, or even the teacher coming to your house to teach you on your own drums.
Teaching at your own house has the advantage that you will be playing on your own kit and you don’t have to travel of course.
Having lessons at a purpose-built music studio either at the teacher’s house or another building can often mean that it is set up to listen to music loud enough to play along to. In an ideal set-up there might be two drum kits set up opposite each other, so the teacher can play one and you can play the other. This is especially useful if you are opposite-handed to your teacher (ie, if you are a left-handed player who sets up their drum kit left-handed but your teacher is right-handed).
There really is no substitute for having one-to-one lessons with the right teacher for you. It can be an incredible experience that encompasses so much more about learning music than just playing the drums. Mine taught me so much about the music business in general and what makes not just a good drummer but also a good musician. Make sure it’s the right teacher for you though – do you want to learn heavy metal? Jazz? Reading showband music? How much experience has the teacher had in these different areas? I was personally very lucky to have the world-renowned Paul Brodie teach me as he only lived a few miles away from where I grew up and I can honestly say, to this day, I always still think about nuggets of information he taught me about playing the drums every time I sit down at the kit.
There is a problem though:
Not every teacher has the experience of Paul Brodie/Ruth Nye.
In fact, the scary thing is to become a music teacher on any instrument, you don’t need any qualifications at all. Nothing. Nada. It could be someone with terrible technique who’s been kicked out of every band they were in, who funnily enough now has lots of time on their hands and is quite happy to take your money.
The drums are a very physical instrument and bad technique can cause you all sorts of injuries and pain down the line.
And this is the biggest downside with a traditional teacher:
Quality control.
You need to find a really experienced teacher who you connect with. Who understands you and your needs. Who makes you laugh. Who you look forward to seeing every week. If you can find that teacher, you have then achieved something most people fail at. Being inspired to play and motivated to learn is the biggest gift a teacher can give you.
Out of all the options on this page, this is the most expensive. But with most things in life, you get what you pay for.
PROS
- Personalised feedback
- Lessons Adapted To Your Style Of Learning
- The Most Efficient Way Of Learning
- Can Be The Most Inspiring Option
CONS
- Expensive
- Difficult Scheduling
- Finding Right Teacher Is Difficult
- Requires You To Travel
Conventional, face-to-face, Group sessions
Depending on where you live, you may be able to discover group classes. The ethos is much like one-to-one trainings, though the charges are much lower as the teacher needs to divide their time between all of the students.
For orchestral musical instruments, for instance violins, team lessons are quite a smart idea to get started with. Nearly all professional violinists of course find themselves as one of many violins in an orchestra. The drums is slightly different however. It is very much a solo instrument.
How many times have you ever seen drummers playing together in a group? Thought not…
PROS
- Personalised feedback
- Can Be Fun Learning In A Group
- Cheaper Than One-2-One Lessons
CONS
- Difficult Scheduling
- Limited Choice Of Teacher
- You'll Learn At The Speed Of The Group
- Sharing The Teacher With Others
- Requires You To Travel
Video Tutorials
Free Courses
YouTube is definitely the greatest source of training videos in the world. There is absolutely no greater place than YouTube to discover instructional information for the drums. Due to the sheer level of options on the platform, it’s out of the question to review all of them.
Like most mass appeal platforms, 95% of content is complete rubbish, with the other 5% no cost gold dust. Finding that 5% however is certainly difficult!
By far the best place to start for learning drums is the youtube channel, Drumeo. They have over a million subscribers, have plenty of free videos and are usually well recorded and look and sound super clear. They also have drummers that specialise in different technique so you can start following the ones that interest you.
You can start with the free lessons and pay as you go.
For those who would prefer to not shell out your money, and to take advantage of the free material on YouTube, you’ll need to spend a decent amount of energy looking for a well-respected coach that you like.
Paid Courses
With an incredible number of paid lessons on the internet, it’s totally impossible to review them all. Therefore we thought we would simply give you the most widely used choice:
PROS
- Low Cost or Free
- Huge Amount of Content
- Learn Whenever You Want
- No Travelling To Lessons
- Great For Popular Material
CONS
- So Much Choice It's Difficult To Find Great Content
- Quality of Content Is Questionable
- Not Great For Classical Playing
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