Value of playing simple beats over and over?

Just wanted to get some input here. I've been playing drums for less than a month now.

My practice routine each day consists of about an hour on the practice pad (Thank you Tommy Igoe's "Great Hands" DVD) followed by about 1-2 hours on my kit, depending on how much time I get to play. I'm 41 with a wife and kids so time is precious.

Anyways, when I get on the kit I tend to just play some of the simple rock grooves I have learned from online or on Tommy's Groove Essentials DVD. I plug my headphones into my metronome and just play.

What I'm not sure of is how long I should do it? I mean is there value in sitting and playing a groove that you are familiar with over and over with a metronome? I do try and mix in a few fills and extra stuff with them while continuing to try and keep time with my metronome. I also play at different tempos. I'm just wondering if this is a good thing to do when I practice?

Do you guys have any suggestions in that department?

Any other extra time I have is usually spent trying to have a little more "fun" by playing along with some songs. Right now it's pretty straight forward stuff. AC/DC, Tom Petty, etc. Sometimes I wonder if the practicing I'm doing is really challenging myself or going to make me progress.

And before anyone mentions it: I do want to find a teacher and take some lessons but that's just NOT in the budget at this time. My plan is to keep going at it alone and then finding a teacher after the first of the year.

Thanks in advance for your replies.

The majority of rock drumming is based around the simple 2 and 4 back beat. So in effect, there is nothing wrong with practising "simple" beats as you will indeed be called on to play them. If you're worried about them too too simple, break it up a bit. Try different hi hat patterns over the simple beats (16ths or even add 5, 7 or 9 stroke rolls on your hats). Displace your kick drum pattern, work on adding 8th and 16th note kick patterns (same with your hi hat foot).....it all aids in adding some spice to a simple 4/4 beat.

Don't be afraid to branch out though. If you've been happy with "Great Hands", check out Igoe's Groove Esentials...it's another valuable too that will aid in giving you some ideas to help break out of the basic, "kick on 1 & 3 and snare on 2 & 4" syndrome. Like Great Hands, it starts out easy, adds things progressively and you can take it whereever you want to.

I don't know if I'd call them "simple beats". But rather, you are working on your groove.

You're right in that you have to find some kind of balance. It can't be all hard snare drum stuff all the time. In fact, all my formative years was spent playing along to records in my parents' house - I still do that to this day. Like the great bassist Anthony Jackson said: when you're learning how to play, playing along to records is probably the ONLY way you'll get really good players to play with you! So I think grooving to records is a good thing.

But if you say you can't afford a teacher, that's fine. Try these two books: Gary Chester's The New Breed, and Ted Reed's "Syncopation". Gary's book is an amalgamation of playing rhythms while "reading" a melody line played by any of your four limbs. The way I was taught to go through 'Syncopation' was to play a jazz ride pattern, and then your snare hand or your bass drum plays the written 'melody' lines. They're all big band jazz figures. Then when I got to the end of Syncopation, I turned the book upside down and played it backwards. I haven't gotten through Gary's book yet (I've owned it for years), it's hard, but it's good for your reading chops! And then make THOSE books groove! Good luck!