Rhythm is perhaps the earliest form of music, along with singing. The first drummers probably played on their own bodies with their hands, used sticks to beat on hollow trees, tapped and stomped the earth with their feet, and sang vocal percussion, a very early version of beatboxing.

Later, they stretched animal skins over hollow trees or ceramic bowls, or placed a board over a hole in the ground, and beat on that. Drumming was used for accompanying dancing for rituals and to mark occasions of all kinds.

Throughout history, armies used drumming to synchronize marching and the firing of weapons, and to instill fear in the heart of the enemy. Drums were also used for communicating across distances.

Since drumming’s been around for a while, and practiced in every country on earth, there’s a strong legacy of styles and techniques to learn from. Modern session drummers draw inspiration, knowledge, and technique from the entire universe of drums and drumming.

There are drums that are played with your hands, or by using sticks, mallets, and even brushes. According to Guinness World Records, the largest drum in existence is a traditional Korean Cheongo drum. This behemoth is over 18 feet in diameter (5.5 meters), is nearly 20 feet tall, and weighs over seven tons.

Drums are used in just about every kind of music imaginable, whether alone, in drums-only groups, in ensembles, orchestras, and in traditional music from a wide array of indigenous cultures.

Not all percussion instruments are drums. The piano is considered both a stringed and percussion instrument, due to the way the hammer mechanisms strike the strings with small mallets when the keys are depressed.

There are other percussion instruments that are not considered drums, like the marimba, glockenspiel, tubular bells, and so on. Technically, anything you hit or strike to produce a sound is a percussion instrument.

Back to drums, they can be constructed of just about any material: wood, metal, ceramic, acrylic, and of course there are also electronic drums, drum machines (sequencers), and even synthesized drums.

Watch and hear the biggest drum in the world, a traditional Korean Cheongo being beaten:

Whether listening to or playing orchestral drums like the timpani, or Middle Eastern frame drums, Latin or Afro-Cuban styles on congas, bongos, cowbells, woodblocks, and timbales, tablas from South Asia, or the ubiquitous tambourine, drumset players absorb rhythms from everywhere and synthesize them on their instruments.

For example, it’s common for a drumset player to interpret Latin rhythm styles in playing jazz, such as bossa-nova and samba, to name two Brazilian music styles, or to play a rhumba, merengue, tango, or choro as a dance beat for a popular song.

Master drum teacher Mark Kelso explains how to play Brazilian grooves and a Bossa Nova feel using a clave:

If you are wondering what a Choro drum groove sounds like, here’s a Choro drum loop you can play along with:

Most drummers start out playing the styles of music they like to listen to the most, and then branch out into different genres from there. If you’re looking for a teacher, you will find that many drum teachers specialize in either one main style of playing, several styles, or many different styles.

If Metal is your thing, here’s a great hour-long video full of drumming tips from Thrash-Metal living legend and self-taught drummer Gene Hoglan, formerly of the band Testament:

As you listen, you can practice counting the beats in each bar, and counting the bars. Try to hear the various subdivisions of the beat, such as eighth- and sixteenth-notes, triplet feel, and syncopated rhythms (off the beat). These form the building blocks of learning to play different drum patterns.

Drumming presents a unique challenge in physical coordination of the limbs and also in compartmentalizing brain function. To understand what I mean, try this relatively simple experiment: tap your foot four times while clapping your hands three times evenly spaced in the same time period. It’s not as easy as it seems, but it’s also not impossible.

Like other forms of music, drumming is a physical activity that requires complex brain functions and builds neuroplasticity (the ability of the brain to form new connections between neurons, which is how learning happens). Children who play music tend to do better in school, in all subjects. Drumming is good for the body and the brain.

Drumming can help with spatial awareness, physical dexterity and conditioning, brain function, and logical thinking. It’s a challenge that rewards you in many ways when you put in the time and effort to improve.

Drummers are musicians, and playing drums, though challenging, is just plain fun. Many people play drums just for recreation, while for others it can be a lucrative career. Music is fun, and it is also hard work. It could also be your job.

To play the drums at a master level requires many years of training and hard work. To play just for fun, maybe not so much. As long as you can bang out a good beat with kick and snare drum, you could be in a band. I’m of the firm belief that with persistence and practice, anyone can cover the basics. With some training, you might be able to go much further than most.

If you are starting out you should be paying attention to the basics, such as setting up the kit properly, tuning your drums, stick control, learning simple beats, keeping the tempo, and playing some fills.

As you advance, you will learn rudiments, which are basic alternating stick patterns played by the hands which become the building blocks of more complex beats, rhythms, and fills.

The “four Ps” come to mind: Persistent Practice leads to Perfect Performance. While there’s no such thing as perfection, regular and focused practicing can get you close. In the beginning, you might not be able to do much, but over time you will become more and more proficient.

At first, get familiar with all the components of the drumset and try out the many kinds of drumsticks to see which ones are most comfortable for your grip. Understand the function of each drum, especially the kick and snare, and the different kinds of cymbals, such as the Hi-Hat, Crash, and Ride cymbals.

You should be certain to wear hearing protection from the start, or you my end up with a constant ringing in your ears (tinnitus), or worse, permanent hearing loss. There are specially made musicians’ earplugs (that’s what they’re called) that are well-worth the small investment. It’s also a good idea to have your hearing tested at least once a year by an audiologist, to catch any hearing issues if they develop.

Here’s an important breakdown on the best earplugs for musicians and why you need them:

Other things to aim for as you begin your journey of learning are developing a practice routine, keeping good posture, playing with a metronome or click track, learning easy songs, relaxing your body while you play (avoiding tension), learning how to warm up or practice with a pad, and being creative with your playing. These things are all foundational.

Here’s some info on how to use a practice pad:

Here are four basic warm-ups suitable for beginners:

There is definitely a learning curve, as you also need to learn how to count rhythms, since drummers are the timekeepers of the group. You should also know how to count off a song properly.

More intermediate and advanced topics include developing independence of the limbs, playing more complex rhythms and syncopated grooves, learning drum notation, and learning rudiments, or sticking patterns. Many beginners also focus on playing rudiments with a teacher.

One great place to start for any aspiring drummer is drumeo.com. You can start for free and there are terrific resources to get you playing right away. There are free video lessons, courses, songs to play along with, and a huge community of students and teachers.

The videos walk you through how to select a drumset, how to set it up properly, and offer plenty of advice on getting up and running. There are intermediate and advanced lessons on how to play different styles of music, create a groove, play fills, and learn the sticking rudiments.

You can get suggestions for books and advice on how to choose a teacher. One nice thing about Drumeo is that they have content for drummers of all levels and styles, so as you improve your playing there’s always more there for you. It’s a terrific resource for drummers.

I’ve included some of Drumeo’s videos for beginners in this article you can check out.

Here’s an example of a free first lesson with Jared Falk from Drumeo with some definitions and clear explanations of important topics for beginning drummers:

This really depends on how you learn, what you want to learn, how quickly you learn, and your access to resources to support your learning. You can always get started on your own, learning what you need as you go, and in your own time, but there will likely come a time where you find yourself stuck, unable to go further on your own. Teachers exist for a reason.

For anyone dreaming of a career behind the drums, serious study is required, and a good teacher can guide you, help you avoid bad habits, and clue you into what’s really needed to enter a competitive profession.

There are some very successful self-taught drummers and musicians, but it’s relatively rare. It used to be more common, but fortunately nowadays there are so many great teachers and schools where you can study and learn, and most aspiring musicians take advantage of them.

Additionally, there are some good college and university contemporary drum performance programs that train musicians for a career as a drummer.

In short, and not in any order of importance, you need determination, hard work, patience, coordination, time, intention, motivation, enthusiasm, grit, energy, consistency, good posture, a practice routine, musicality, and the ability to learn songs and to stick with playing. This applies if you want to learn to play the drums or any other musical instrument.

Having a little or a lot of talent will help, but those who work at it will always go further than those with talent who don’t do the work. Use some of the tips and videos in this article to get started, and you are certain to see solid results.

Here’s a popular beginner drum lesson from Alejandro Sifuentes that covers the basics and teaches some drum beats:

WikiHow: How To Play Drums (very short, leads to article)

Tony Royster Jr. – The Biggest Mistake Beginner Drummers Make (Masterclass Preview)