Good Play-along Songs for Beginners

User555

Junior Member
What is the first record you remember playing along with? I started playing in the nineties, so for me it was Metallica, Pearl Jam, R.E.M., Nirvana, etc. Now that I've done some teaching, though, I really like using older bands. The Beatles' Rubber Soul is a great one for beginning players. Any other albums you drum teachers like to use for beginning students? I'm looking for stuff a student can play within the first few lessons. Thanks for your input.
 
AC/DC is the usual answer for this question (Back in Black mainly i think).

Mine were/are "Simple Man" by Lynryd Skynyrd, "Heart Shaped Box" by Nirvana, and "Today" by Smashing Pumpkins.
 
Motown tracks,

A lot of the chorous is 4 on the snare with an occasional kick on the & of 1 and 2. Then 4/4 during the verse. I generalise a fair bit but you you get the idea.
 
Playing with albums is alright, but I prefer drumless tracks. Try the education section of the Vic Firth website for drumless play alongs (as well as drum-included tracks of each song). Free, too!

http://www.vicfirth.com/education/drumset/playalongtrack.php

Also, the Igoe system doctor_benway91 mentioned is great!

-sheldon


Also, if you or your student have any rhythm video games (rock band, guitar hero 4+), you can record drumless tracks from the game by using drum practice mode, and recording the audio output.

+2 on Groove Essentials.
 
Wow, thanks for all the good suggestions. I will check out the groove essentials book. I've used the Fast Track book before, which I assume is similar, but I generally prefer the feel of original recordings over remixes. I really like the motown idea. Any one else have suggestions?
 
I personally started my drumming career by playing along to AC/DC and some KISS tracks. I also second the Motown suggestion. I haven't tried the Groove Essentials books by Tommy Igoe, but I've heard A LOT of good words being put out by the drumming community on those books. But play-along examples for beginners from my own experience includes AC/DC, Audioslave, maybe Earth, Wind and Fire, some Lenny Kravitz, Norah Jones, the Soul record by Seal and maybe even some music by Sting =)
 
Wanted to play metallica and dream theater when I started. I know I won't go anywhere far sooner if I started with their songs (being a trying perfectionist :-D) so I looked for some other bands that I really liked and had songs where the drum parts can "easily be learned" but not a straight 2 & 4 (being a "kid" back then, 2 & 4 is not that cool ;-) ) so I ended up doing 1979 by smashing pumpkins. :)

Personally, I listed down the types of music I enjoy listening to, listed down the bands then I looked for instructional materials focusing on those. I find that if I just practice for practice' sake and not really to make music, I end up getting bored and uninspired then eventually just stopping. But if it's for music's sake, I could stay longer.

The trick is to get something the student likes to listen to, has the passion/determination/drive to study and play it. Learning is really a personal thing. Others like to plan, study a lot, listen a lot of times before going to the kit. Others just want to go directly to the kit. Others prefer reading the notes, other prefer hearing the sound and copying the sound. Others prefer learning the movement and then listening afterwards. I think "personalization" and the non-technical stuff (reaching out to the student, encouragement, connecting, etc..) is what makes a good teacher great


For the materials, +1 on groove essentials. Another is Johnny Rabb's jungle drum and bass book. The exercises in there are great even for slow tempo and mid tempos (will definitely work for other genres aside from dnb). Great (underrated?) book IMHO.
 
First to thought is always AC/DC- most kids overlook Phil's feel during these 'simple' beats- can't go wrong with starting here.

Second I always think of the Rolling Stones- A massive back catalogue with for the most part- simple 4/4 drumming
 
Back
Top