Drum Set Lessons: On the Beaten Path

Course details

Learn how to play the drums using popular drum beats and fills played by some of the best drummers on some of the world's most famous songs. This collection combines the entire three-level series On the Beaten Path—the acclaimed method that teaches you how to play drums using carefully selected legendary beats from the songs that shaped modern music. The initial chapters start you off with a wide selection of basic rock beats and fills by drummers including John Bonham (Led Zeppelin), Tré Cool (Green Day), Dave Grohl (Nirvana), and many more. Next, expand your drum vocabulary with dozens of blues and jazz beats and fills by drummers—including Chris Layton (Stevie Ray Vaughan), Max Roach (Miles Davis), Buddy Rich, and many more—to unlock the coordination and syncopation skills that you need to master. Then fortify your drumming knowledge with reggae, country, funk, and Latin beats by legendary drummers including Carlton Barrett (Bob Marley), Joseph "Zigaboo" Modeliste (The Meters), and many more. Award-winning instructor Rich Lackowski weaves in concepts like time and tempo manipulation, time signature, and a ton of key drumming tools.

By the time you complete this course, you'll understand all the essentials of being a good drummer: from reading and writing music to playing with healthy technique to keep you drumming for a lifetime—along with a well-rounded vocabulary of over 140 famous beats and fills that you can use to create your own music and start playing in bands.

Learning objectives
Setting up your drums
Basic hand and foot technique
Reading music
Playing basic beat and fills in a variety of styles
Playing in 3/4, 5/4, and 7/8 time and more

Concepts

0. Introduction

01 - Introduction to level 1

1. Getting Started

02 - Organizing your drums
03 - Setting up your drums
04 - Setting up the hi-hats and cymbals
05 - Basic hand technique
06 - Basic foot technique
07 - Reading music notation

2. Basic Rock Beats

08 - Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground by The White Stripes
09 - Runnin' Down a Dream by Tom Petty
10 - Back in Black by AC DC
11 - I Won't Back Down by Tom Petty
12 - The flam
13 - You Shook Me All Night Long by AC DC
14 - Free Fallin' by Tom Petty
15 - Come As You Are by Nirvana
16 - Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple
17 - Kashmir by Led Zeppelin
18 - When the Levee Breaks by Led Zeppelin
19 - Sweet Emotion by Aerosmith
20 - Walk This Way by Aerosmith

3. Basic Rock Fills

21 - Drum fill from Come As You Are
22 - Drum fill from Free Fallin'
23 - Drum fill from I Won't Back Down
24 - Drum fill from Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day
25 - The drag from Boulevard of Broken Dreams
26 - Drum fill from Livin' on the Edge by Aerosmith
27 - Drum fill from Back in Black
28 - Drum fill from D'yer Mak'er by Led Zeppelin

4. About the Drums and Sticks

29 - Parts of a drum
30 - Drumhead selection
31 - Tuning the drums and replacing a drumhead
32 - Drumstick selection
33 - Conclusion & credits for level 1

5. Basic Blues and Shuffle Beats

34 - Introduction to level 2
35 - The 12 8 time signature
36 - You Shook Me by Led Zeppelin
37 - Paying the Cost to Be the Boss by B.B. King
38 - Revolution by The Beatles
39 - Who Do You Love by George Thorogood & the Destroyers
40 - Boom Boom by John Lee Hooker
41 - I Want to be Loved #2 by Muddy Waters
42 - Manish Boy by Muddy Waters
43 - Green Onions by Booker T. and the MGs
44 - At Last by Etta James, example 1
45 - At Last by Etta James, example 2
46 - Texas Flood by Stevie Ray Vaughan
47 - Pride and Joy by Stevie Ray Vaughan
48 - Move It on Over by George Thorogood & the Destroyers

6. Basic Blues and Shuffle Fills

49 - Fills from You Shook Me and Bad to the Bone
50 - Texas Flood
51 - 12-bar blues and turnaround fills
52 - Double-stroke roll and the 9-stroke roll
53 - Stop time
54 - Fermata and improvisation

7. Basic Jazz Beats

55 - The rim click
56 - Swing notation
57 - Straight, No Chaser by Miles Davis
58 - Chelsea Bridge by Buddy Rich
59 - Syncopation
60 - Ghost notes
61 - Syncopation with the bass drum
62 - Jeru by Miles Davis

8. Basic Jazz Fills

63 - In Walked Bud by Thelonius Monk
64 - I've Got You Under My Skin by Michael Bubl
65 - Consecutive triplets
66 - Straight eighth notes
67 - Skip pattern
68 - Conclusion and credits for level 2

9. Basic Country Beats

69 - Introduction to level 3
70 - The train beat
71 - First and second endings

10. Basic Funk Beats

72 - Groovy Lady by The Meters
73 - Doodle Loop by The Meters
74 - Unkfunky UFO by Parliament
75 - You Can Make It If You Try by Sly & the Family Stone
76 - Tippi-Toes by The Meters
77 - Brick House by The Commodores
78 - Chameleon by Herbie Hancock
79 - Thinking by The Meters
80 - Super Bad (Part 1) by James Brown

11. Basic Reggae Beats

81 - One drop
82 - One measure repeat
83 - Rootsman Skanking by Bunny Wailer

12. Basic Latin Beats

84 - Bossa nova
85 - Latin beats in rock songs
86 - Up-tempo bossa nova

13. More Jazz Beats and Fills

87 - Dropping bombs
88 - Polyrhythms
89 - Rim shot
90 - Open hi-hat foot splash
91 - Stick shot
92 - The 5-stroke roll
93 - Stringing together stick shots
94 - Buzz strokes

14. More Time Signatures

95 - Playing in 7 4
96 - Playing in 3 4
97 - Playing in 5 4
98 - Playing in 9 8
99 - Playing in 7 8

15. Time Meter Tempo Manipulation

100 - Double time
101 - Half time
102 - Accelerando and ritardando

Goodbye

103 - Conclusion and credits for level 3