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Keep shoppingMusic Theory for Drummers - to Improve Your Playing
3 students
Music Theory for Drummers - to Improve Your Playing
Learn the theory specifically relevant to drummers. From beginner level to quite advanced! Step by step and logical.
Created byAndrew Smith
Last updated 9/2025
English
What you'll learn
- Learn all of the music theory you need to know to be an effective drummer, and musician.
- Learn to read music notation to at least Grade 4 level (e.g. AMEB, ABRSM, TCL, RockSchool).
- Learn to read and understand music charts specifically written for drummers, and how to read all drumming instructional books containing notated exercises.
- Learn an effective method for learning songs, so that you can confidently go to your band rehearsal knowing that you have done you homework/preparation.
- Learn the important listening and counting skills used by professional musicians everywhere.
- Understand song structure, form, beats used, fills and band figures.
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Course content
14 sections • 14 lectures • 3h 10m total length
Requirements
- Some drumming experience (preferable, but not essential).
- The desire to learn proper drumming related theory, without having to study chords, scales and harmony.
- The desire to learn drumming related skills to help understand the role of the drummer in any band/ensemble.
- NOTE: Previous music theory experience is NOT required, this course takes you from scratch.
Description
Have you ever been given some drumming sheet music and just found it confusing?
Have you ever been to a drum lesson and not been able to understand what the teacher is talking about because you can't read music?
Are you a drummer who likes to 'play by ear', but realise on some level that you don't really know what is going on a lot of the time? Have you found that sometimes when you are playing, things work out, but sometimes they don't; and let's be honest - you don't know why?
Do you hear professional drummers play and wonder to yourself, "how did they get so good?".
THEN THIS COURSE IS FOR YOU.
This course will give you the skills you need to better understand how to play the drums.
We will start at the very beginning, and take you through a step-by-step program of lessons which introduce each concept in a logical and carefully explained manner.
At the end of each lesson you can do the workbook exercises to confirm that you have understood the content and that you are ready to go to the next level.
We will teach you:
all of the basic music theory that you need - all of it
how to read drum charts/sheet music
what song form is and how to understand the exact structure of any song
how to develop a true appreciation of drumming styles in order to broaden your knowledge of music in general
how to determine the tempo of a song, and to count-in your band - properly
how to learn songs, quickly and effectively
what you need to know to be 'rehearsal ready', and as an extension of that, performance ready.
This course is about learning theory to improve your musicianship and to improve your playing.
For the cost on a ONE HOUR private music lesson, you get the entire course, the workbook, and the knowledge that would otherwise take months, if not years to accumulate.
Who this course is for:
- Drummers who wish to fully understand music theory as it relates to drumming.
- Drummers who 'play by ear' but now wish to improve their playing through a better understanding of music.
- Any beginner/intermediate level musician who wishes to enhance their rhythmic skills and understanding.
- Music students at high school level studying theory between Grades 1 - 4 can benefit from the information in this course.