Visual Drumet Method

THE VISUAL DRUMSET METHOD

B Y M AT T A D R I A N S O N

CD INCLUDED

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ISBN 978-1-4234-9523-9


DEDICATION CREDITS

I would like to dedicate

this book to

my son Aaron

and my wife Joy.

JOHN FINK — electric guitar tracks

TIM ADRIANSON — bass guitar tracks

MATTHEW ADRIANSON — original

songs, drums/keyboard/percussion

tracks, mixing and mastering

CONTENTS

pREfACE 4

TECHNIQUE 5Right-Hand Grip 5Left-Hand Grip 6Playing Position 7Right Foot and Right Leg Position 8Striking the Snare Drum 9Striking the Hi-Hat 10

CD TRACKS 11

DRUM KEY 11

BEGINNING EXERCISES 12

DRUM BEATS 14

TEACHER’S CHARTS 28

GRApHIC CUTOUTS 31

PAGE

4)

pREfACE

TECHNIQUERight-Hand Grip

The concept behind this book was to use pictures

instead of normal music notation to communicate

how to play basic drum beats. In teaching both piano

and drums privately, I’ve found that students learn in

different ways. You might have to communicate the

same idea multiple ways before one of them clicks

with any given student. In a world of multimedia

including video games, why not make learning drum

beats more visual? In hopes of making learning

less intimidating and more fun, I have constructed

a visual approach using pictures and audio tracks.

If you don’t have a drum set, use the cutout sheet

on page 31 and place the pictures of the hi-hat and

snare drum on a table, and the picture of the bass

drum on the floor. You do not need to cross the right

hand over the left hand if you are using the picture

cutout sheet. Simply place the hi-hat cutout on your

right and the snare drum cutout on your left. Use

the picture cutouts to follow along with the audio

tracks on the CD. On the audio tracks each exercise

and drum beat is played eight times. The beginning

exercises cover striking each instrument separately

and all combinations of instruments used in this

book. Once you can play the exercises you have the

tools you need to play all of the drum beats that

follow. Above each exercise and drum beat you will

see “1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & .” This is a traditional way of

counting and is helpful for keeping track of where

you are. Practice with each track as many times as

needed. Once you feel comfortable playing a given

drum beat, try playing that beat along with any

of the songs on the CD starting on track 49. Each

song first has a track with drums and then a track

without drums. The goal is to get used to playing

with other instruments. The audio tracks for the

beginning exercises are at 30 beats per minute, and

the drum beats are at 52 beats per minute. If you are

wondering what that means, there are 60 seconds

in a minute, so 60 beats per minute is one beat per

second. A metronome and the song tracks will help

you practice these drum beats at tempos other than

52 beats per minute.

(5

TECHNIQUERight-Hand Grip

The right-hand grip is made up of two components.

The first component, shown in illustration A,

consists of your thumb and your pointer finger.

The flat part of your thumb goes on the side of the

stick and points down the stick. Your pointer finger

wraps around the stick, touching it underneath. The

second component, shown in illustration B, consists

of your other three fingers on the underside of the

stick. As you can see in illustration B your middle

finger and ring finger are touching the stick, and

your pinky is tucked right next to your ring finger.

Think of the stick going through the middle of your

hand, which when turned over will create a straight

line from your elbow to the tip of the stick. Your grip

should not be tight. You need to hold onto the stick

just enough that it doesn’t fall out of your hand.

When you strike a cymbal or drum you will tighten

your grip a little more.

ILLUSTRATION A ILLUSTRATION B

ILLUSTRATION C

6)

Left-Hand Grip playing position

The left-hand grip is a mirror image of the right-

hand grip. The first component of the left-hand grip,

shown in illustration A, consists of your thumb and

your pointer finger. The flat part of your thumb goes

on the side of the stick and is pointing down the stick.

Your pointer finger is wrapped around the stick. The

second component of the grip is your other three

fingers on the underside of the stick. As you can see

in illustration B, your middle finger and ring finger

are touching the stick, and your pinky is tucked right

next to your ring finger.

ILLUSTRATION A ILLUSTRATION B

(7

Left-Hand Grip playing position

Playing position on the snare drum is a good place

to get familiar with holding the sticks and striking

the drum. The grip and technique for striking the

snare drum will hold true when moving around the

drumset. In playing position both tips of your sticks

are in the center of the snare drum. They are ap-

proximately at a 45 degree angle. You could think

of playing position as looking like an “A” or an up-

side down “V.” Think of each stick as an extension

of your arm and hand. You should be able to draw

a straight line from each of your elbows to the tips

of your sticks. The tops of your hands should be flat.

Think of holding handlebars on a bike. Your elbows

should be relaxed at your sides, and you should sit

up straight. Good posture is important and will help

you play better.

8)

Right foot and Right Leg position Striking a Snare Drum

Your right foot should be over the bass drum pedal with your

heel off the foot board. The main point of contact should be

the ball of your foot.

When striking the bass drum, the beater will go into the head,

but allow it to come back off the head after impact.

Think of your leg as being straight over the bass drum pedal.

This will allow you to use your leg for both power and speed.

(9

Right foot and Right Leg position Striking a Snare Drum

The basics of striking the snare drum involve a two-

part motion. Starting at playing position, with your

sticks about one inch above the drumhead, the

stroke is up and then down. After striking the drum

your stick should return to playing position. Don’t

leave the stick on the drumhead. Remember to relax,

and the force of striking the drum will naturally bring

the stick back off the head. Two points of focus are

your wrist and the tip of your stick. Your wrist will

bend up during the up motion and bend down dur-

ing the down motion. The tip of your stick also goes

up and down beginning and ending about an inch

off the drumhead. Notice the progression of the tip

of the drumstick and the wrist in the photos above.

When playing more aggressively you may also bend

at your elbow and use your arm. For the first time

through the drum beats in this book, we will focus

on bending at the wrist. Exaggerate the motion to

make sure that you are really bending your wrist.

2

5

8

3

6

9

1

4

7

10)

Striking the Hi-Hat CD TRACKS

As with the snare drum, striking the hi-hat is a two-

part motion. While maintaining playing position

with your left hand, move your right hand/stick over

to the hi-hat as shown above. Don’t leave the stick

on the hi-hat. Remember to relax, and the force of

striking the hi-hat will naturally bring the stick back

off the hi-hat. Two points of focus are your wrist and

the tip of your stick. Your wrist will bend up during

the up motion and bend down during the down mo-

tion. The tip of your stick also goes up and down

beginning and ending about an inch off the hi-hat.

Notice the progression of the tip of the drumstick

and the wrist in the photos above. When playing

more aggressively you may also bend at your elbow

and use your arm. While learning the drum beats in

this book, we will focus on bending at the wrist. Ex-

aggerate the motion to make sure that you are really

bending your wrist.

2

5

8

3

6

9

1

4

7

(11

Striking the Hi-Hat

DRUM KEY

CD TRACKS

HI-HAT / RIGHT HAND

SNARE DRUM / LEfT HAND

BASS DRUM / RIGHT fOOT

Your right hand/stick plays the hi-hat, your left hand/stick

plays the snare drum, and your right foot plays the bass drum.

BEGINNING EXERCISES TRACK

Hi-Hat Only 1

Snare Drum Only 2

Bass Drum Only 3

Hi-Hat and Snare Drum 4

Hi-Hat and Bass Drum 5

Hi-Hat, Snare Drum, and Bass Drum 6

Drum Beats 7–48

Song Tracks 49–58

12)

BEGINNING EXERCISESHI-HAT ONLY

SNARE DRUM ONLY

BASS DRUM ONLY

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

TRACK1

TRACK2

TRACK3

(13

HI-HAT ANDSNARE DRUM

HI-HAT ANDBASS DRUM

HI-HAT,SNARE DRUM, AND BASS DRUM

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

TRACK4

TRACK5

TRACK6

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

14)

DRUM BEATS

1)

TRACK7

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

3)

TRACK9

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

2)

TRACK8

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

Try practicing beats 1 through 6 with song tracks 49 and 50 on the CD.

(15

4)

5)

6)

TRACK10

TRACK11

TRACK12

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

16)

7)

9)

8)

TRACK13

TRACK15

TRACK14

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &


(17

10)

11)

12)

TRACK16

TRACK17

TRACK18

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

18)

13)

15)

14)

TRACK19

TRACK21

TRACK20

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

(19

16)

17)

18)

TRACK22

TRACK23

TRACK24

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

20)

19)

21)

20)

TRACK25

TRACK27

TRACK26

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

(21

22)

23)

24)

TRACK28

TRACK29

TRACK30

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &


22)

25)

27)

26)

TRACK31

TRACK33

TRACK32

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

(23

28)

29)

30)

TRACK34

TRACK35

TRACK36

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

24)

31)

33)

32)

TRACK37

TRACK39

TRACK38

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &


(25

34)

35)

36)

TRACK40

TRACK41

TRACK42

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

26)

37)

39)

38)

TRACK43

TRACK45

TRACK44

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &


(27

40)

41)

42)

TRACK46

TRACK47

TRACK48

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

28)

TEACHER’S CHARTS

1) 8)

2) 9)

3) 10)

4) 11)

5) 12)

6) 13)

7) 14)

(29

15) 22)

16) 23)

17) 24)

18) 25)

19) 26)

20) 27)

21) 28)

30)

29) 36)

30) 37)

31) 38)

32) 39)

33) 40)

34) 41)

35) 42)

HI-HAT

RIGHT HAND

SNARE DRUM

LEfT HAND

BASS DRUM

RIGHT fOOT

GRApHIC CUTOUTS✁cu

t here

about the author

Matt Adrianson graduated from Grand Valley State

University in Allendale, Michigan in 1992 with a bachelor’s

degree in music with an emphasis on percussion

performance. While at Grand Valley, Matt played drumset

in the big band, mallet percussion in a ragtime band,

mallet percussion in percussion ensemble, snare drum

in marching band, and percussion in the orchestra and

concert band. Since college he has taught privately

and is currently working in the music retail industry.

He has played drumset at Resurrection Life Church in

Grandville, Michigan since 1997 and has played drumset

and percussion on five albums, which have all had global

distribution. He started playing drumset at age 12. Both

of his parents were school teachers, and his mother—a

private piano teacher—firmly believed in private lessons.

He attributes much of his success as a musician to receiving quality instruction from the very beginning.

In an effort to simplify what might seem intimidating or out of reach to the average person, Matt has put

together a simple pictorial method for learning how to play basic drum beats.


The concept behind THE VISUAL DRUMSET METHOD is to use pictures

instead of normal music notation to illustrate how to play basic drum

beats using snare, bass drum, and hi-hat. Practice along with the

individual drum beats on the CD, then move on to the song tracks later

on the CD, and play any of the drum beats with these songs. Hand grip,

hand and foot positioning, and technique instructions are also included.

TH

E V

ISU

AL

DR

UM

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T M

ET

HO

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Book $4.99, CD $5.00 = Pkg U.S. $9.99Parts not sold separately

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