The Beginner's Guide To Jazz Drumming

Name: The Beginner's Guide To Jazz Drumming
Rating: 4.2 (4 reviews)

We will be covering the fundamentals of swing, solos, songs, snare drum, technique, listening, and more!

Created byEric Ching

Last updated 3/2025

English

What you'll learn

Understand the fundamentals of jazz drumming as well as counting and listening to music
Play I'm Beginning To See The Light, The Double Up, Blue Train, and Don't Get Around Much Anymore
Comp with the ride cymbal pattern and snare drum while feathering the bass drum and playing the hi hat on 2 and 4
Solo with quarter notes, eighth notes, and triplets both on the snare drum and around the drums

Course content

5 sections • 23 lectures • 41m total length

Introduction0:52
Please download and possibly print out this PDF. We will be using it throughout the course.

Holding The Drum Sticks0:45
Counting Triplets and Swung Rhythms1:35
Soloing on the Snare Drum with Quarter Notes and Eighth Notes3:35
Learn a thorough bar-by-bar approach to soloing on the snare drum using quarter notes and eighth notes, with counting, pausing, stitching bars, and running the whole piece.
Jazz Ride Cymbal Pattern1:09
Discover the jazz ride cymbal pattern and practice the rhythm with palm-down or thumb-up grip. Focus on equal stick heights and identical tones for every note.
Counting 8 Measure Phrases1:09
Listening to I'm Beginning To See The Light - Frank Sinatra
Playing along with I'm Beginning To See The Light - Frank Sinatra1:33

Soloing Around The Drums with Quarter Notes and Eighth Notes4:49
Comping Part One1:08
Listening to The Double Up - Lee Morgan
Comping and Playing Along with The Double Up - Lee Morgan0:28
Learn comping techniques and how to play along with the double up by Lee Morgan, designed for beginner jazz drumming.
Feathering The Bass Drum and Left Foot Hi Hat1:08
Soloing on the Snare Drum with Quarter Notes, Eighth Notes, and Triplets3:05

How To Resolve A Phrase2:15
Learn to resolve a phrase in jazz drumming. Use a crash on beat one or at the end of four with cymbal and bass drum to cue the next phrase.
Listening to Blue Train - John Coltrane
Playing the Figures on Blue Train - John Coltrane0:41
Practice the figures on the head to Blue Train, repeat them two times each, and count one, two, three to build jazz drumming technique.
Playing Along with the Head to Blue Train - John Coltrane0:57
More Comping1:56
Explore additional comping rhythms for jazz drumming by adding snare patterns on the end of two and four, accents on offbeats, and coordinated 1-2-3-4 feels.
Soloing Around The Drums with Quarter Notes, Eighth Notes, and Triplets2:00
More Resolves1:35

Comping Behind John Coltrane on Blue Train1:03
Explore comping behind John Coltrane on Blue Train in the beginner's guide to jazz drumming by practicing sample courses and the first two courses of Coltrane's solo.
Improvising with Comping Rhythms
Playing Along with John Coltrane - Blue Train
The Closed Hi Hat and Open/Closed Hi Hat Beats2:00
Listening to Don't Get Around Much Anymore - Nat King Cole
Playing Along with the Head to Don't Get Around Much Anymore - Nat King Cole2:03
Practice playing along with don't get around much anymore by Nat King Cole, counting the eighth-note bar and marking beat one of the first two a sections with both feet.
Finale Solo Around The Drums5:07
Perform a finale solo around the drums that weaves together learned techniques. Follow counts from one to four and progress from four bars to eight, then the full beat.
Bonus Material0:15

Requirements

No prior drumming experience is necessary, but prior music experience is helpful

Description

Welcome to The Beginner's Guide To Jazz Drumming. Starting from the top, we will go step-by-step and bar-by-bar through various swing beats, comping, and solos. We will learn real songs including I'm Beginning To See The Light, The Double Up, Blue Train, and Don't Get Around Much Anymore.

Ever lecture provides a bite sized and digestible new piece of content so you can work on a few at a time until you feel comfortable enough to move onto the next thing. By the end of the course, I hope that you will feel comfortable with the material and inspired to continue learning about jazz drumming beyond our time together.

There are no prerequisites. Whether you've played other instruments before and have always wanted to try the drums or if you're brand new to music, this course is for you.

If you have any questions, please feel free to send me a message at any time!

I studied Music Education at New York University, and have been playing and teaching professionally for the past 10 years. I am offering this information for a fraction of the cost of a lesson ($60/hr) so that it's accessible and I think anyone can get value out of it.

Who this course is for:

Anyone who is interested in learning about jazz drums and has no/little prior experience

The Beginner's Guide To Jazz Drumming

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Introduction1 lecture • 1min

Part Two6 lectures • 10min

Part Three5 lectures • 11min

Part Three6 lectures • 9min

Part Four5 lectures • 10min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: