Beginner drummers should start off by learning songs that are straightforward yet entertaining – ones with simple rhythms with lots of room for experimentation will teach beginning drummers how to add fills and maneuver around their kits.
With its traditional 4/4 rock beat, this song provides beginners with an ideal way to practice their timekeeping and lock in with their bassist – both essential skills in playing drums.
1. “Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes
“Seven Nation Army,” by The White Stripes, should be included as an essential song for beginner drummers. With its simple beat and iconic melody, its simple rhythm provides ample opportunities for practicing basic skills while increasing coordination and speed. Furthermore, practicing single strokes, double strokes, paradiddles and flams – integral elements in building speed, power and precision on a kit – offers ample practice opportunities during this song’s drum part practice session.
Beginners should begin by learning the drum track to this iconic hit before moving on to more complex beats and fills. By building their skills gradually and gradually progressing their abilities rather than diving headfirst into advanced beats that may be too advanced at this stage, beginners will avoid any potential pitfalls caused by abruptly transitioning into advanced patterns that are beyond their capabilities at this time.
This song also serves as an excellent introduction to using hi-hats, an essential feature that adds texture and interest to any drum beat. By opening and closing their hi-hats during this song, drummers can experiment with different sounds and grooves while developing sensitive playing – an invaluable asset when it comes to drumming!
Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Bad Moon Rising” is another ideal beginner drum song. As with other songs from its era, its four-on-the-floor beat provides a straightforward four-on-the-floor beat and only two minor variations to kick and snare patterns (an occasional hit on beat 3’s “and” and sometimes hitting on beat 2) make this tune ideal for learning as you master basic drumming techniques.
Beginner drummers would do well to focus their initial practice sessions on perfecting these drum parts before adding any embellishments such as additional cymbal hits or fills, as this approach will teach them how to play drums as supportive instruments rather than as dominant forces, an essential aspect of developing one’s style and musicality as a drummer.
Radiohead’s “Creep” is an ideal drum beginner song as it serves as a great example of how drum fills can add tension and intensity to a song, creating tension through their use. While its drumbeats may appear simple at first, their use helps give this track its signature sound due to tempo changes and dynamics. Furthermore, this song serves as an introduction into playing with distortion – an effect used by drummers of all levels to produce heavier sounds.
2. “Rebel Rebel” by David Bowie
David Bowie made one of his most iconic tracks his final farewell to glam movement that he pioneered with this track, his farewell to “Endless Love”. Beginners will especially enjoy its simple drum groove. Additionally, this song provides an ideal opportunity to learn how to play rimshots (hitting both center and edge of snare drum simultaneously) which can help develop deeper tones from your kit while staying more in tune.
This song can help beginners build up their foot pedal technique. They should make sure their feet remain planted on the beat and focus on keeping their pedal movements consistent; this will ensure they remain in sync with the bass drum, helping maintain rhythm.
This song’s drumming is fairly straightforward, using a four-on-the-floor rock groove. However, beginner drummers may find this track too fast at 120 beats per minute (bpm). Beginners should practice slowly at first before working to maintain their pace by using a metronome as a timekeeper.
An important feature of this song are the drum fills played throughout. They are easy for novice drummers to start out playing and can become increasingly complex as skill develops. Furthermore, this track contains two 2-bar “tag” sections that provide beginner drummers an opportunity to practice footwork and stay in time with the rest of the band.
Green Day hits like This Is America are essential listening material for drummers of any experience level! The song provides an energetic groove that serves as a solid basis for various other genres and musical genres. Starting off as an easy backbeat, then switching into an extra measure of drumming to lead into guitar solo, it provides beginners an ideal opportunity to hone footwork skills (particularly opening up hi-hat on count 4 and practicing opening hi-hat on count 4) before closing up with an added flourish on beat 3 of prechorus prechorus section!
3. “Creep” by Steve Jordan
Music of any style-rock, jazz or country-can make any drumming session more enjoyable; finding songs easy to play can be tricky as a beginner drummer; therefore we have put together this list of beginner-friendly songs so you can build up your skills while enjoying some favorite tunes!
“Creep” by Steve Jordan is an ideal song for beginner drummers to learn to play. The main groove features kick drum hits on beats one and two and snare hits on beat three; Jordan then adds extra snare hits in bar two of each loop to match vocals more closely, as well as open hi-hats to give an added heavy sound during chorus sections of his loop.
This song provides an ideal opportunity to develop steady rhythm and learn transitioning between sections of a song. The intro contains an 8th note groove while verse has more complex arrangements including hi-hats and crashes, while Jordan introduces some rimshots on the snare drum in verse one which are great ways for beginners to start practicing this technique.
Though this track from Metallica can be challenging for beginners to play, beginners should focus on playing a 4-on-the-floor rock beat while advanced drummers may experiment with other tempos and add additional snare hits for an effective playing experience.
This rock song features a catchy melody and tight, bouncy beat. The drum part is simple enough for beginners to pick up while still offering lots of flavor; beginners will enjoy working on fast parts while more experienced musicians may experiment with cymbal fills or other advanced tricks.
4. “You Shook Me All Night Long” by AC/DC
Drums are an integral component of music, yet can be challenging for beginners to master. Therefore, it is recommended to start out by learning beginner drum songs with easy beats that are simple to pick up and play. When practicing drums it is crucial to work on techniques which improve speed and coordination; playing songs that are enjoyable will make this process much smoother and speed your progress faster.
As a drummer, when selecting songs to practice it is essential to consider your preferred genres of music. Each genre offers its own distinct rhythms for you to master; for instance, rock enthusiasts might enjoy learning songs such as AC/DC’s “Back in Black” or Queen’s “We Will Rock You”. Both songs boast classic rock sound with simple beats ideal for practicing drumming.
Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” is another fantastic song to try playing on drums for beginners, providing an upbeat beat perfect for learning drumming. Additionally, this popular tune provides an opportunity for practicing keeping a steady beat while drumming.
“Ticket to Ride,” one of the Beatles’ classic hits, is an ideal song to learn for drummers as it uses an easy rhythm pattern of kick, snare and hi-hat with excellent use of opening up of hi-hat pedal for dramatic sound effects.
“Bullet the Blue Sky” by U2 tops our list of beginner drum songs, boasting an easy rhythm perfect for beginning drummers. Using straight hi-hat and kick rhythms with some additional color provided by snare drum and tom-toms. This song provides a good example of using drumming to set an atmosphere within music as well as providing an opportunity for drummers to begin developing their own style and sound.