10 Best Drum Songs to Learn as a Beginner

[Stevie Beginner]

Greetings:

I just got my first drum set 3 days ago. I will begin taking lessons and my new instructor told me to list 10 songs I want to learn. Any tips? I like all kinds of music from pop, rock, classic rock, heavy metal, christian rock, jazz, hip hop, rap, etc. I have a standard 5 piece drum set with 2 cymbals (16" crash and 20" ride). Only a single bass drum pedal. I plan on picking up a double bass pedal next week or so.

Some easy songs, I can learn on my own, but I'd like to learn some songs that require that I master certain cool drumming techniques (e.g. hi hat, snare, rolls, fills, etc).

Which songs do you recommend? Thanks and rock on.

[Pinner]

When I started back in 1988 I found ACDC,Bad Company,Foreigner,Genisis,Great White,Loverboy,Scorpions,The Eagles and ZZ Top had some pretty easy songs then you can go to Y & T, Thin Lizzy, Aerosmith,Van Halen,Slayer,Tesla,Queensryche and maybe Rush.
Listen and have fun.

[aydee]

Originally Posted by Stevie Beginner

I will begin taking lessons and my new instructor told me to list 10 songs I want to learn. Any tips? .

There you go.



...........

[Strangelove]

I'm teaching my stepson to play right now. I have had the best luck with AC/DC.

[Pachikara-Tharakan]

1. Helpless- Neil Young (Slow beat, you never can go wrong, can be creative on chops)
2. Against the wind- Bob Seger- steady tempo
3. Gemme Shelter- Stones, steady but there is straight snare strokes
4. Eminence Front- Kenny Jones, The Who (If Keith were alive,I wouldnt pick this song!!)
4................... AC/DC songs


(well I am a beginner as well) :)

[diosdude]

I'd go for some some songs that have some distinct drum fills in them that everyone can identify by drums alone, stuff like:

Tom Sawyer- Rush
In the Air Tonight- Genesis
Sunday Bloody Sunday- U2
Walk This Way- Aerosmith
Who are You- The Who
50 Ways to Leave your lover- Paul Simon
Warpigs- Black Sabbath
Run to the Hills- Iron Maiden
We're not gonna Take it- Twisted Sister
Higher Love- Peter Gabriel

[masonni]

Some 90's Metallica would be fun too. The Black album is full of songs that are easy and kick ass.

[mattlandry]

ac/dc is pretty good for beginners but you only need to learn one soneg cuz they all sound the same lol. but also walk by pantera is a good one

[wert90]

a bit more modern.....

anything by the white stripes is easy to learn, and also you may know the tune to the songs, which helps!

the first stuff i started to learn was red hot chili peppers - californiacation and various stuff out of books.

hope you get some ideas but as has been said, the most important thing is that you enjoy it and actually want to learn the songs. thats what will keep your attention and keep you practicing.

[Ekim]

Drums are great because of how quickly you come to realize how to play so many great drum beats.

Even with just a basic, beginner drum book like "Drumming for Dummies" you'll be playing songs in no time.

If you don't have a hi-hat stand and cymbals (you didn't list them in your post), get them way before your double bass pedal.

Working on your left foot with the hats is much more important than double-bass.

[DrumGod]

Back in Black - Ac/Dc
Billie Jean - Micheal Jackson

IMO Them Two Songs are great for a number of reasons:
1. A Real Steady Beat
2. Deep in the Pocket
3. Easy to Pick up and learn
4.Great to get you used to keeping time
5. Fun

[Monica McCoy]

Credence Clearwater Revival

[Ferret]

haha tom sawyer is a mean song to throw at a beginner, theres 7 in that and that takes a little thinking about to do right in the early days of playing. I think he just needs the boom-chuck rock thats fun to listen to as long as you distract yourself from how droningly boring the drum parts are.

My favorites to play with back in middle school were:


The Shins.
The White Stripes.
The Strokes.
Easier Led Zeppelin (I learned how to play back dog in 9th grade and apart from the bell/snare/tom grove that would come around, (that took a few days of solid grinding on to get right) it was all nice and easy.

Another fun thing to do is local bands songs. They're usually pretty simple because a lot of the time they're just a couple guys having fun on a stage and they aren't trying to melt your mind with anything insane, just comfy grooving. You make good friends that way too.

[aaajn]

Originally Posted by Stevie Beginner

Greetings:

I just got my first drum set 3 days ago. I will begin taking lessons and my new instructor told me to list 10 songs I want to learn. Any tips? I like all kinds of music from pop, rock, classic rock, heavy metal, christian rock, jazz, hip hop, rap, etc. I have a standard 5 piece drum set with 2 cymbals (16" crash and 20" ride). Only a single bass drum pedal. I plan on picking up a double bass pedal next week or so.

Some easy songs, I can learn on my own, but I'd like to learn some songs that require that I master certain cool drumming techniques (e.g. hi hat, snare, rolls, fills, etc).

Which songs do you recommend? Thanks and rock on.

I would try a Little Green Rosetta off Joe's Garage. Some guy named Viinnie C. Something or other, real steady no frills beat.

Just kidding of course, if this were drumming hell maybe.

I will tell you that anything with Steve Gadd I stay away from, Vinnie C of course.

My drum teachers favorite group of songs to learn for new drummers are the Eagles. Especially The Long Run.

Very fat, solid grooves. I think Don Henley was busy singing so he kept it simple but they still sound great.

[Joe P]

Originally Posted by Stevie Beginner

I just got my first drum set 3 days ago. I will begin taking lessons and my new instructor told me to list 10 songs I want to learn. Any tips? I like all kinds of music from pop, rock, classic rock, heavy metal, christian rock, jazz, hip hop, rap, etc. I have a standard 5 piece drum set with 2 cymbals (16" crash and 20" ride). Only a single bass drum pedal. I plan on picking up a double bass pedal next week or so.

Kind of off topic, but I'd strongly recommend against getting a double bass pedal so soon. Too much on your plate. First get comfortable and relatively good at single pedal before you make the switch. If you introduce it so soon in the game, you might become totally reliant on the double pedal to do fills and such (I've seen it happen to one of my buddies who took up drumming recently). Just, PLEASE take my advice and take it slow.

[drummer girl09]

Originally Posted by Joe P

Kind of off topic, but I'd strongly recommend against getting a double bass pedal so soon. Too much on your plate. First get comfortable and relatively good at single pedal before you make the switch. If you introduce it so soon in the game, you might become totally reliant on the double pedal to do fills and such (I've seen it happen to one of my buddies who took up drumming recently). Just, PLEASE take my advice and take it slow.

Why do n00bs (no offense) want to do the double bass pedal? I never really wanted it, atleast not nearly this early. I've considered it after a year or so, but I realized you could probably learn more technique with the single pedal. It would impress people more if you really good with it too. Like Bonzo =D

I kinda like Bonzo a lot lol.

[Baddstuff]

I think I read a quote somewhere once by Buddy Rich where he said something to the effect that if you're a bitch on the drums one pedal is more than enough. Sounds like something Buddy would say. I agree that getting a double pedal this early in the game may be counter productive. You want to concentrate on getting command of a standard kit. That alone will take enough of your time. I understand the fascination of a double pedal but I would hold off on that for now.

And I agree about AC/DC songs being good to work on. Also stuff by the Rolling Stones, Bad Company, Tom Petty, Fleetwood Mac, etc. And yeah, take your time. You're not going to learn everything in a month. Playing drums is an ongoing learning experience. Build yourself a solid foundation and expand from there. Good luck

[AciD_206]

Originally Posted by drummer girl09

Why do n00bs (no offense) want to do the double bass pedal?

Same reason everytime I tell someone I'm a drummer, they say "Really? Do you have two pedals because those can go so fast!"

[sk8erpnkmt369]

Originally Posted by diosdude

I'd go for some some songs that have some distinct drum fills in them that everyone can identify by drums alone, stuff like:

Tom Sawyer- Rush
In the Air Tonight- Genesis
Sunday Bloody Sunday- U2
Walk This Way- Aerosmith
Who are You- The Who
50 Ways to Leave your lover- Paul Simon
Warpigs- Black Sabbath
Run to the Hills- Iron Maiden
We're not gonna Take it- Twisted Sister
Higher Love- Peter Gabriel

as a beginner? are you serious? Stick to AC/DC. It's very reconizeable, and it's very simple, hardly any fiills, which beginners don't need to get to consumed with at first. It's all about the groove, no matter what genre.

[Vintagedrummer]

I agree, stick to songs with a solid pocket. AC/DC is a great start. Try Kid Rock's "All Summer Long". Christian Rock, hmmmm. Try Third Day's new CD "Revelation". Take your time. Learn the rudiments but above all, have fun!

Peace

[drumguyfromWI]

the best song to learn first is Blitzkrieg Bop by the Ramones. if you can't learn to play this song, kindly put down the drumsticks and step away from the drumkit, as there is no hope for you.

easiest song ever. one beat through the entire song. and all you use is snare, bass, open hi-hat, and a few crashes, except for during the Hey! Ho! Let's Go! part, you play the floor tom instead of the open hi-hat.

[CaptainSticks]

i started on

AC/DC(you shook me allnight long)
Ramones(blitzkrieg bop)
black sabbath(iron man and paranoid)
metallica(black album)
white stripes(seven nation army)
cream(sunshine of your love)
nirvana(smells like teen spirit)

there was more but i cant really think, back in the day i was in a "after school rock" program with some buddies and those really started my chops. but a lot of the songs were simplified, but as i went along i added to the songs and really helped me in my development.

[Marcodrumsrock]

Yo some great bands for begginers are:

acdc
kiss
SOME Metallica (DONT do shit like One, do a song like Nothing Else Matters)
Some Offspring
Some Beatles
Rolling Stones
Some Alice in chains
Cheap Trick
Bon Jovi

And ya there u go xD

[larryace]

When I was just getting started, I didn't have to ask anybody what was good to play, I had my own agenda. I absolutely couldn't wait to play to my Alice Cooper and Grand Funk records. Where is the burning desire? Is that not a requirement anymore?

[Vipercussionist]

Originally Posted by diosdude

I'd go for some some songs that have some distinct drum fills in them that everyone can identify by drums alone, stuff like:

Tom Sawyer- Rush
In the Air Tonight- Genesis
Sunday Bloody Sunday- U2
Walk This Way- Aerosmith
Who are You- The Who
50 Ways to Leave your lover- Paul Simon
Warpigs- Black Sabbath
Run to the Hills- Iron Maiden
We're not gonna Take it- Twisted Sister
Higher Love- Peter Gabriel

L0L0L0L0L!!! There's not a song in that list that a BEGINNER could get right off!!!!!

HA HA!!! 50 ways!! HA HA !! That's something alot of GOOD and SEASONED drummers can't master!!
It's GADD man!!!!

[Cozmo]

Forget trying to play stuff like Rush and all that. You'll just get frustrated and be tempted to quit. When I started playing, I listened to a lot of older music, some of which has already been mentioned here. Here are some great tunes that rock, but feature relatively simple drum beats (yet they're drum beats that totally help the song have its feel):

1. "Green River" by CCR.
2. "The End Has No End" by The Strokes
3. "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" by AC/DC
4. "Seven Nation Army" by The White Stripes
5. "The Weight" by The Band
6. "I Need You" by The Beatles
7. "Heart of Gold" by Neil Young
8. "Sing Sing Sing" by the Benny Goodman Orchestra (featuring Gene Krupa on drums)
9. "Thank You (Falettin' Me Bee Mice Elf Again) by Sly and the Family Stone
10. "Aja" by Steely Dan. That's probably the easiest drum part I could think of. ;)

I'd encourage you to start with early rock and roll like Elvis and Buddy Holly, and even some early country like Hank Williams and Johnny Cash. Also listen to old blues, or even some newer blues. Don't shy away from the slow, "boring" stuff...learning how to play the boring stuff will help your chops grow. Listen to the British Invasion, and the stuff that came out before and after it, like surf music...lots of rockin' tunes with good, basic drum parts all around that time. Listen to funk...James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone, stuff like that. If you dig jazz, I'd encourage you to listen to the early big-band stuff from the 30s and 40s. A lot of the drum parts to those songs are fairly straight-forward (and sometimes not as easy as they sound) and will give you lots of opportunity to learn how to swing.

Also, read about drummers that you admire and find out what their influences were, or even just songs that they like. Then listen to those artists and learn new things from them.

Nickelback - how you remind me works pretty good for most beginners, except for the start of the song (little lick involving a 5 stroke roll on the snare) and some fills he plays, other than that most beginners should be able to master it.

[JackDrum]

personally id try starlight by muse, very easy to play and sounds awesome

[mrchattr]

Be careful...there are a lot of bad teachers out there. I find it shocking that your teacher asked you this. Most well-established teachers have a selection of songs that they know are good to teach to beginners, and start you off with that. Also, if your teacher is only focused on drum set, and doesn't start talking about rudiments, etc, then you may have found a bad teacher. Most drummers, when taking lessons, don't start off on full kit, but start off on a snare drum or practice pad, learning from books like Breeze-Easy Method or whatever.

I'm not saying the guy isn't a good teacher, as I clearly have no way of knowing. But I would ask around about him, see what his teaching methods are, and ask if he is going to teach you rudimental playing and how to read...if you are paying for lessons, you should pay for the FULL experience, not just get what you can basically self-teach.

[zafrothunder]

i would look at some Nirvana...

"come as you are"
"about a girl"
"aneurysm"
"smells like teen spirit"
"dive"
"breed"
"territorial pissings" (great for developing your pedal technique)

[Boomka]

Originally Posted by mrchattr

Be careful...there are a lot of bad teachers out there. I find it shocking that your teacher asked you this. Most well-established teachers have a selection of songs that they know are good to teach to beginners, and start you off with that. Also, if your teacher is only focused on drum set, and doesn't start talking about rudiments, etc, then you may have found a bad teacher. Most drummers, when taking lessons, don't start off on full kit, but start off on a snare drum or practice pad, learning from books like Breeze-Easy Method or whatever.

I'm not saying the guy isn't a good teacher, as I clearly have no way of knowing. But I would ask around about him, see what his teaching methods are, and ask if he is going to teach you rudimental playing and how to read...if you are paying for lessons, you should pay for the FULL experience, not just get what you can basically self-teach.

As a teacher who teaches rudiments and reading (among other things) I do have a list of tunes that I know will help students realise certain skills. However, I also ask my students what songs they would like to learn as a method of keeping them motivated toward goals they've set for themselves. Granted, if a student comes in and says "I want to be able to play The Black Page by next month!" I'd probably steer them in another direction. But if there is a song that inspires and excites a student, and it's from a genre that they enjoy listening to, all the better. I can't know every tune on the planet, and the exercise also gets the student listening to music critically, asking questions like "what techniques is the drummer using?" and "what would I need to learn to play like that?" Those questions are key to developing any kind of self-directed learning. Setting out to learn to play a tune that is too difficult can be a great challenge, and provides an entry point to learning new skills required to play the piece. Can't play Smells Like Teen Spirit? Better learn some LH/RF coordination in 16ths against 1/4 note ostinatos (I'd pull out pg. 5 of Stick Control and apply that). Can't play Run to the Hills by Iron Maiden? Guess we better polish up those single strokes and your endurance (Stone Killer anyone?).

As someone up above said, there needs to be some "burning desire" in the student. I don't think it's my job to spoon feed my students every aspect of their drumming/musical taste. If choosing to play a particular tune gets a student excited and motivated to learn, practice and play I can adjust the material we're working on to fit that end, and they'll still come out an improved musician if I'm clever as a teacher.

Originally Posted by Boomka

As a teacher who teaches rudiments and reading (among other things) I do have a list of tunes that I know will help students realise certain skills. However, I also ask my students what songs they would like to learn as a method of keeping them motivated toward goals they've set for themselves. Granted, if a student comes in and says "I want to be able to play The Black Page by next month!" I'd probably steer them in another direction. But if there is a song that inspires and excites a student, and it's from a genre that they enjoy listening to, all the better. I can't know every tune on the planet, and the exercise also gets the student listening to music. Setting out to learn to play a tune that is too difficult can be a great challenge, and provides an entry point to learning new skills required to play the piece. Can't play Smells Like Teen Spirit? Better learn some LH/RF coordination in 16ths against 1/4 note ostinatos. Can't play Run to the Hills by Iron Maiden? Guess we better polish up those single strokes.

There is nothing wrong with this teacher's approach at all, IMO.

I second this, but am not yet sure about the teacher. Sure you can ask your pupil to choose a song they like, but you also have to be realistic: if you know your pupil can't pull it off within a reasonable amount of time, tell them no. Their motivation will go down when they have to practise a song for weeks on end. To me, that is common sense so I assume the OP's teacher will know this too.

When I let my pupils play a song, I will ask that they can hold the groove(s) throughout the song for the next lesson we have after choosing a specific song. After that, depending on the pupil and the song, I will take two to 4 more lessons to polish up the fills and chops (I only take 15 to 20 minutes out of every lesson for this, the rest of the time being spent on technique). Or I will pause the whole thing and teach them certain parts of the song on a more rudimentary level. Of course how fast it all goes depends on how much the pupil practises.

[Boomka]

Originally Posted by Big_Philly

I second this, but am not yet sure about the teacher.

Neither am I. I edited that out on second thought.

[mrchattr]

Originally Posted by Boomka

As a teacher who teaches rudiments and reading (among other things) I do have a list of tunes that I know will help students realise certain skills. However, I also ask my students what songs they would like to learn as a method of keeping them motivated toward goals they've set for themselves. Granted, if a student comes in and says "I want to be able to play The Black Page by next month!" I'd probably steer them in another direction. But if there is a song that inspires and excites a student, and it's from a genre that they enjoy listening to, all the better. I can't know every tune on the planet, and the exercise also gets the student listening to music critically, asking questions like "what techniques is the drummer using?" and "what would I need to learn to play like that?" Those questions are key to developing any kind of self-directed learning. Setting out to learn to play a tune that is too difficult can be a great challenge, and provides an entry point to learning new skills required to play the piece. Can't play Smells Like Teen Spirit? Better learn some LH/RF coordination in 16ths against 1/4 note ostinatos (I'd pull out pg. 5 of Stick Control and apply that). Can't play Run to the Hills by Iron Maiden? Guess we better polish up those single strokes and your endurance (Stone Killer anyone?).

As someone up above said, there needs to be some "burning desire" in the student. I don't think it's my job to spoon feed my students every aspect of their drumming/musical taste. If choosing to play a particular tune gets a student excited and motivated to learn, practice and play I can adjust the material we're working on to fit that end, and they'll still come out an improved musician if I'm clever as a teacher.

Oh, I agree that when a student asks to play a song, I will (assuming it's realistic) teach it to him. That is different than basically having a student plan their own cirriculum, though. And I also think that, as a very beginner (the OP has had drums for three days and hasn't even had his first lesson yet), this is a very odd question. Seems like the teacher has NO plan at all, though it's possible that it's just a long term plan or something, and we don't know it.

[MaritLage227]

I am a beginner too, the first songs I learned so far

-ACDC, Highway to hell
-White Stripes, Seven nation army
I'm working on
-ACDC, You shook me all night long
-Bon Jovi, Livin' on a prayer

you can usually tell if a song is easy by just listening to it, so if you think you found one, search for the sheet music.

[GRUNTERSDAD]

Lots of help here, but pick ten you like not us. And hold off on the double pedal. They may be too advanced for now and you can always start them later. You can be a rock star without a double pedal.

[mcbike]

everybody covered all the rock stuff, so I'll hit up the jazz stuff. some of this stuff might be a little much for beginners, but I put them in order of easy to harder

freddie the freeloader - miles davis
in the mood - glenn miller
take the a train - duke ellington
sing sing sing - benny goodman (gene krupa)
birdland - weather report
cameleon - herbie hancock
night in tunisia - art blakey & the jazz messengers

go to http://drummerworld.com/drummergroove.html
and listen to all the songs pick out a few you like. all really great stuff here.

[Duracell]

As a beginner I'd suggest

1) ACDC - Highway to hell
2) Tom Petty - Learning to Fly
3) RHCP - Scar Tissue
4) Rolling Stones - Jumping Jack Flash
5) The Strokes - Reptilia
6) The Police - every breath you take
7) Herby Hancock - Chameleon (watch out here though, focus on the main groove)
8) Booker T and the MG's - Green Onions
9) Led zeppelin - Kasmir (again, watch out. Some crazy fills in there, substitute those)
10) Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet home Alabama
11) Sixpense none the Richer - Kiss me

Enjoy!

[mrbling]

7na is a good one but the first song i learnt was by the way RHCP

[brownie1969]

Originally Posted by diosdude

I'd go for some some songs that have some distinct drum fills in them that everyone can identify by drums alone, stuff like:

Tom Sawyer- Rush
In the Air Tonight- Genesis
Sunday Bloody Sunday- U2
Walk This Way- Aerosmith
Who are You- The Who
50 Ways to Leave your lover- Paul Simon
Warpigs- Black Sabbath
Run to the Hills- Iron Maiden
We're not gonna Take it- Twisted Sister
Higher Love- Peter Gabriel

Tom Sawyer...lol, I think I owned my kit for about 4 days, when I tried that song.......then I started thinking about how long it was going to take the neighbors to call the cops....stick to basics.....learn to play quitely, and try to keep it smooth...you have to walk before you can run brutha......and when you can jog.....I'd try some ol' James Brown tunes......