Drums Lesson 03: counting and the metronome

Watch the walkthrough of playing to a metronome in the video above, then read the breakdown.

In Lesson 02 you built the basic rock beat. Today you make it solid. A drummer's real job in a band is time, and the two tools that build time are counting out loud and playing to a click.

Start with counting. A bar of 4/4 has four main beats: one, two, three, four. Split each one in half by saying "and" in the gap, and you get eighth notes: one and two and three and four and. Those eight syllables are exactly the hi-hat taps from Lesson 02. Say them out loud, every time you play, until the count runs in the background on its own.

Now the metronome. It is a steady click at a tempo you choose, and it is the most honest bandmate you will ever have. It never rushes when a fill gets exciting and never drags when a part gets hard, so the moment you do either, you hear it. Set one slow to begin, around 60 beats per minute, with one click on each main beat: one, two, three, four.

Play just the hi-hat on those clicks first. Then layer the full beat back in.

|Count    1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
|Click    x   x   x   x
|Hi-hat   x x x x x x x x
|Snare    - - o - - - o -
|Kick     o - - - o - - -

Here is the target, and it is the whole lesson: when your hit lands right on the click, the two sounds fuse into one. If you hear a quick double sound, a flutter like a flam, you are landing just before or just after the click. Slow down until the click seems to disappear underneath your hands, then hold that tempo.

A stick that rebounds cleanly helps you place hits precisely rather than muscle them. The Vic Firth American Classic 5A is the standard first pair for exactly that reason. A metronome can be a free phone app or a dedicated clip-on unit, either works, so long as you can hear it over the kit.

Practice this

Set a metronome to 60 beats per minute. Spend one minute just counting one and two and three and four and out loud with the clicks, no drums. Then play only the hi-hat on the four main clicks for one minute. Then play the full basic beat for three minutes, slow, listening for the click to vanish under your hits. Locked and slow beats fast and rushed every time.

Where you are

Lesson 02: the basic rock beat gave you the groove; counting and the click make it dependable. Ringo Starr is the classic proof that rock-solid, unhurried time is worth more than flash. Grab a rebound-friendly pair from the 5A review if you have not yet. Next, Lesson 04: adding the hi-hat, where you open and close that hi-hat to add color on top of your now steady time.