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As with any other musical instrument, mastering the drums and becoming an expert player takes
ambition, time, dedication, and a whole lot of practice. In order to achieve an advanced level of
playing, you'll need to work hard at refining the craft of drumming for a number of years. However,
that doesn't mean that you (or anyone) can't learn to play a relatively simple drum rhythm that's
actually quite popular and common in many famous rock tunes.
Most rock music is written in 4/4 time. If you're not familiar with time signatures like this, the
bottom number indicates what kind of note we're using to subdivide the beat. In this case, the "4"
indicates quarter notes (an "8" would indicate eighth notes, a "16" sixteenth notes, and so on). The
top number tells us how many of that particular note will be found in a measure of music bearing
that time signature. In 4/4 time, there are 4 quarter notes per measure. 6/8 time would indicate that
there are 6 eighth notes per measure, 3/4 that there are three quarter notes per measure, and so
on.
As I mentioned, 4/4 is the most common time signature found in most rock music and so it's a
good idea to be familiar with it. So, let's get to learning that simple drum beat. If you have a drum
kit, that's great but you don't even need any real equipment at all to get the feel of this beat. To
start off, take your right hand and tap out an even rhythm on a desk or table. Every four beats you
tap will equal one measure of music (that's right, these beats are representing those quarter notes
I talked about earlier). If you do have a drum kit to play on, you'll want to play these hits on the
high hat.
Next, we'll add in the bass drum. If you have a kit, you'll obviously be using your foot on the pedal
to trigger the drum; if you don't have a kit, simply tap or stomp your foot on the ground. For this
beat, you should hit the bass drum or tap your foot on every first and third beat of the measure. So
you'll hit the hi-hat/desk with your righthand while you hit the bass/floor with your right foot. Then
you'll hit the hi-hat/desk by itself and then repeat the process.
To finish up the beat, we'll add in our snare drum with your left hand. Again, this can be a table or
desk or an actual snare if you have a drum kit. For this beat, you'll want to hit the snare on beats
two and four along with the hi-hat. So, our beat becomes bass plus hi-hat followed by snare plus
hi-hat followed by bass plus hi-hat followed by snare plus hi-hat. This is one measure of music
which you then should repeat. Congratulations, you've played a common rock drum beat.
If you'd like to spice things up, you might add a cymbal crash on the "1" of each measure
(assuming you have an actual drum kit). You might also want to try playing eighth notes on the hi-
hat while leaving everything else the same. In that case, you'll be hitting the hi-hat 8 times per
measure instead of four and instead of counting "1, 2, 3, 4" for each measure you will count "1
& 2 & 3 & 4 &" where the "&" represents lone hi-hat hits without the bass
2. or snare.
Probably the most well-known band to make use of beats like this is AC/DC. You can find many
songs by the group featuring a simple beat very similar to this one. The key here is, even though
the beat is simple, it works perfectly with the music. Try jamming along to some AC/DC tunes and
you'll see what I mean. Have fun with this simple yet effective rock drum beat!
Rob Wariner is a guitarist, drummer, and composer that has recorded with several well-known
progressive rock musicians. He is currently teaching himself to play drums at home and is
chronicling his self-taught drumming lessons on his blog, Drum Lessons at Home. He is using the
Complete Drumming System as a resource and has published a Mike Michalkow's Drumming
System Review on his blog. Anyone who is learning how to play drums will find the Drumming
System to be an invaluable resource.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rob_Wariner
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To get 5 free drum lessons from an expert drummer and teacher, check this out:
http://tinyurl.com/drumtechnique
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