In this lesson, you will learn how to play "Born Under A Bad Sign" by Albert King. This is a classic example of a cross-over blues song. The parts are fairly simple to play, but there are a few tasty nuggets to catch on the drums. In this lesson I'll break down the groove as well as a few simple fills that he plays throughout the song.
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Blues music is usually based on a triplet rhythm. When we don't play the middle note of each triplet, we get the shuffle rhythm. "Rock Me Baby" by B.B. King is a great song for a beginner to explore a shuffle beat.
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Let's learn to play "Ticket To Ride" by The Beatles. It was originally released on their 1965 album Help! The main groove that Ringo Starr plays in this song is very unique, especially for rock n' roll music of that time. It's a great example of a groove that uses flams.
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Learning a simple song is a great way to musically apply the things you learn. One of my favourite beginner drum songs to teach is "Yellow" by Coldplay. This is a very well known song that is a popular choice among guitarists and pianists. It was the first multi-national hit that launched Coldplay into the main stream. In this lesson, I'll show you all of the parts and we'll practice them together.
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Learn to play "Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) on the drums. This is a song from their 1969 album Willie and the Poor Boys. This iconic rock n roll song is high energy and incredibly fun to play.
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David Bowie is one of the most unique artists in modern day music. His mixture of art, costumes as well as a fusion of many styles of music make him...
Let's learn a hit song by Eddie Floyd called "Knock On Wood". This song was released on Stax records in 1966 which was at the height of the Soul era. The "four-on-the-floor" groove pattern makes it an early inspiration for funk music.
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Are you ready to tackle the fastest song we have in the entire song library? Let's learn how to play American Idiot by Green Day on the drums. This...
Let's play a song by James Brown, the godfather of soul. His music shaped what later became known as funk music. This is an incredibly fun style of music for a drummer to study and play because it has everything to do with the groove. Today we'll play James Brown's biggest hit, "I Got You (I Feel Good)".
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Today we will be learning one of his biggest hits to date, "Empire State Of Mind". This song was released on his 2009 album The Blueprint 3 and features Alicia Keys on piano and vocals. It's got such a killer groove that you won't be able to stop jamming.
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Let's play an incredibly high-energy song by American rock band Jimmy Eat World. "The Middle" is their most well known song and the perfect hit to play on the drums. The trick with this song is to memorize the parts before you speed them up.
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Let's learn the song "Communication Breakdown" by Led Zeppelin. It was released in 1969 on their first album; Led Zeppelin I. This is great song to learn that is fun, challenging and will test your endurance, groove and accuracy at a fast tempo.
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Learn to play "Sugar" by Maroon 5 on the drums. This song is from their fifth album V (Five) which was released in 2014. It has a steady groove pattern with changing rhythms on the Hi-Hats. There are also two simple drum fills that I will break down for you. This is a super fun song to play and a relatively easy one for anyone past the basics.
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“Rock With You” by Michael Jackson is a fantastic song that will take your groove playing to a higher level.
Let's learn the song "Lithium" by Nirvana. It is a single from their biggest album Nevermind, which was released in 1992. Lithium is an incredibly fun song to play. The parts in each section of the song are very consistent, meaning that you'll be playing the same thing repeatedly.
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Let’s tackle “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana. This song was released in 1992 as a single from their album Nevermind.
"Big Poppa" is a single from his first studio album called Ready To Die, which was released in 1994. It is widely considered to be among the greatest hip-hop albums of all time. The groove pattern for this song follows a very specific pattern.
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"Sittin' On (The Dock Of The Bay)" is a fun and easy song for any beginner to learn on the drums. It has a very laid back feel and tempo and very simple drum parts to learn. The structure of the song is a repeating Verse/Chorus form with a Bridge Section.
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The Wall is one of the best known records in Pink Floyd's career. Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2 is one of Pink Floyd's most well known songs and a single from The Wall. This song is a perfect song to learn if you're a beginner.
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Let's learn one of Prince's earlier hit songs "I Wanna Be Your Lover". This was the single from his second album Prince which was released in 1979. It is funky, upbeat and relatively easy to play so it's a great choice for any drummer.
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You don't need much to play a simple song on the drums. "Another One Bites The Dust" by Queen is a great song to learn, especially for beginner...
Drum Fill Development
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My 13 year old son has been taking lessons with Kevin for about a year and loves the combination of having an instructor who is well prepared for lessons, with a particular goal in mind for each lesson, and who is willing to work with him to play the music he likes best. My son really wanted to learn a song by a particular band, so Kevin found one that was at the right level and taught the skills my son next needed to learn for the next lesson.
Kevin sends a video of the lesson afterwards so his students can relook at what they are learning in case they forgot or are finding something challenging. My son hadn’t used that perk much until Kevin started teaching him songs from his preferred band. My son did end up rewatching parts of the video after that so that he could get through difficult sections.
You can’t get much better than an instructor who is BOTH engaging and well-organized/goal oriented. I highly recommend SimpleDrummer.
I’m a beginner (never played any music instruments in the past) and Kevin has been phenomenal for my virtual learning process. I’ve taken lessons with couple of other instructors (for about 8 months prior to starting with Kevin) and there are a plenty of times I felt like I’m not seeing the path forward, or come out of the class confused and more frustrated. With Kevin that’s not the case; he has a good structure in place and helps to build on top of each lesson (like building blocks). He also records and sends you videos of the lessons if you take his 60 min class, which helps me with the review process when I practice offline and I can go back to the video to watch and relearn.
Kevin is multiple time zones away from me and yet I have the flexibility to schedule time that works for me and learn when I want to learn. There is NO pressure to meet every week or take x number of lessons or you loose your money etc., When you are ready to take a lesson, you simply schedule with him 48 hours ahead and pay online on his website. Then you Join the online class at the scheduled time. It’s that easy!
I highly recommend Kevin for your drum lessons regardless of your skill level.
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