Last Updated on July 29, 2021 by Danny
Many people want to learn how to play the drums but don’t know where to start. Drum lessons can be expensive and time-consuming to find. This blog post will give you a rundown of the best online drum lesson options, including free and paid resources. Whether you’re looking for an in-depth lesson program or just want to watch some YouTube videos, this article has something for everyone!
The first thing I would like to mention is that if you are interested in learning drums from your home, it is worth investing in good-quality headphones.
You’ll need these when watching tutorials on YouTube or listening to podcasts/audiobooks while practicing at home (you won’t be able to hear anything with speakers). The next thing I would recommend is a metronome app such as Metronome Beats Per Minute Pro – Musical Practice.
13 Free Online Drum Lessons for Beginners with Paid Options
This is our detailed review of online drum lessons for kids, toddlers, or even intermediate drummers. Either you are living in Australia or UK you can watch all these drum lessons from anywhere.
1. YouTube (Free)
YouTube is a free resource for learning how to play the drums. Learn from the comfort of your own home when you have time. You can find tutorials and lessons from some of the best drummers in the world on YouTube, as well as watch videos about specific techniques or topics that you want to learn more about.
Here is my favorite online drum lessons on youtube:
- 5 Beginner Drumming Techniques You Need To Know
- Your First Drum Lesson | How To Drums | Stephen Taylor Drum Lesson
- How To Play Your First Drum Beat – Beginner Drum Lesson | TheKays
Many beginners start with drums because it’s easy to get started, and there are some fundamentals that you can learn in a short amount of time. YouTube videos allow drummers to practice at their convenience without paying an instructor or driving long distances for free drum lessons.
2. Drumeo (30-Day Free Trial)
Drumeo is the best resource to learn the drums faster from the best teachers in the world. With a 30-day trial and free lessons, it’s the perfect place to start.
Drumeo has over 230+ courses with professionals like Thomas Lang and Benny Greb and world-famous instructors such as Pat Petrillo and more! You can view some free drumming videos on their YouTube channel or check out the Course Catalog for an in-depth lesson program. Drumeo is also compatible with Smart Devices so that you can learn drums anywhere, anytime.
Their Drumeo Edge has so many online drum lessons for beginners, intermediate, and advance that can help any drummer. It takes you step-by-step through the fundamentals of drumming.
- Drumeo Edge costs $29 for the monthly subscription and $240 for the yearly subscription.
- You will also get bonus content like the online edition of Successful drumming by Jared Falk and Drumming System 2.0 by Mike Michalkow.
You even get the P4 practice pad and Vater 5A drumsticks delivered to your home with the annual plan. Drumeo also offers a free trial, so do check that out!.
3. Drum Ambition (Paid)
Drum Ambition is a world-class platform that has been specifically trained for beginners and newbie drummers. The videos are of high quality, with great animations and excellent camera angles. You also get sheet music, audio files, and demonstrations to help supplement your learning.
The curriculum is well throughout, and new drummers will be able to follow it easily. Simar DasGupta designs the site; he has over two years of experience as a drumming instructor.
If you are unsure of buying, the site has 45 minutes worth of free content for you to check out. You can judge the platform based on that.
There are three tiers of plans;
- The Solo Plan costs $27 per month and gives you unlimited access to all the modules.
- The Rockstar Plan costs $199 per year and grants access to the ultimate survival guide for beginner drummers’ ebook in addition to the modules. They also have some of the best drumming books.
- The most premium option is the Concierge, which costs $499 per year. It gives you monthly live lessons for Q&A and setting goals. It also provides you with a personalized practice plan. This is in addition to the features of the rockstar plan.
You can even gift subscriptions to others through Drum Ambition.
4. Drum Lessons at Udemy
If you ever tried to join an online course, you would have come across Udemy. They have classes on almost all topics; this includes a vast collection of drumming courses. Over 150 courses related to drums!
The drum lessons include everything from courses for beginners to ones that teach world percussion instruments like the djembe and the Cajon. However, not all the courses are great. Ensure to read the various student reviews and look at the ratings before you enroll in any course. The best thing is that all courses have a 30-day money-back guarantee!
5. Stephen Taylor (Paid)
YouTube: https://youtube.com/user/DrummerEtc/videos
Stephen Taylor is one of the most recognized names in the world of online drumming instructors. He was named among “The Drum Stars of Youtube” in a 2013 DRUM! Magazine article.
His website Stephens Drum Shed is viral among drummers. The site is unique compared to other online drum learning platforms. It doesn’t include a single subscription plan that unlocks all the lessons on the site. Instead, you have to purchase specific courses that you want.
This course is simply excellent; it is amazingly structured into small chunks to make learning techniques simpler and easier. You can spend just 24 minutes a day and progress through the course step by step.
The site has over 20 minutes of free content under “Creating Your Drum Fill Vocabulary” for you to judge the site on.
As for pricing, it depends on the course you want. However, a “The Drum Better Daily Experience” membership gives drum students access to hundreds of lessons and weekly live reviews at just $29.99 a month or $259 a year. You can even get personalized lesson plans under this subscription.
Stephens Drum Shed is unique in that it can cater to both beginners and experienced drummers alike. Whether you want to get started with drumming or have a specific advanced technique you want to learn, this site will have lessons for you.
6. Mike Johnston (Paid)
YouTube: https://youtube.com/user/drumteacher76/videos
Mikes Lessons is one of the best-organized websites we have seen on this list. The whole site is well laid out and easily navigable. You can easily browse through its vast collection with a single click; there is even a search bar to simplify things for you.
Mike is an award-winning teacher; he won the 2016 Modern Drummer readers poll award for clinician/educator of the year! Believe us when we say that he beat some heavy competition.
There are six comprehensive courses, which cover
- foot speed
- grooves
- fills
- rudiments and techniques
- hand speed, and
- limb independence
You will also find information about drumming kits and various equipment you might use. This site is not limited to beginners; even advanced drummers will find drumming lessons that will help enhance their techniques.
- The monthly subscription starts at $29.99,
- the half-yearly subscription costs $149.95, and
- the yearly subscription is $269.90
You should check out his youtube channel before you get any of these subscriptions.
7. Austin Burcham (Paid)
YouTube: https://youtube.com/user/abbdrums/videos
Austin Burcham is best known for his excellent “Study the Greats” video series. He analyzes the fills and grooves of legends like Vinnie Colaiuta, Danny Carey, and Tony Williams.
His website does not have that many courses, but each of the courses is well written and will help you immensely. There are seven classes, from guided hand workouts and drum tuning to advanced notation in Logic Pro X and drum mixing masterclasses.
The courses cost $19.99 and give you access to videos and notation. There is even a community you can join and engage with.
8. Drum Channel (Paid)
YouTube: https://youtube.com/user/DrumChannelOfficial
This is a platform with a whole lot of heritage. It was founded by Don Lombardi, the very same Don Lombardi who founded Drum Workshop (DW Drums)!
Before we begin talking about their website, we have to talk about their youtube channel. It is filled with great content. From live performances and interviews to lessons and educational content, the channel has it all. Neil Peart and Sheila E are just some of the many famous drummers you will find on the channel.
Coming to their website, it is filled with premium lessons. There are both video archives and live lessons delivered by over a hundred professional drummers. How fun would it be to video chat with these people?!
However, the courses are not structured great, and it would not be suitable for beginners who need to learn things step by step. However, this website will be a treasure trove of knowledge for intermediate and advanced drummers to take their drumming to the next stage.
You can access the website for $25 a month. The yearly subscription is a much better deal at $197 per year!
9. Drum Lessons on Skillshare
Skillshare is a platform filled with learning materials from various fields, similar to Udemy to some extent. Among those thousands of courses, there are over 200 courses related to drums.
The courses are not strictly limited to drumming; you can also learn about music production and drum programming.
There are a lot of courses, so make sure you read the reviews before you invest your time and money. The first lesson is free on all courses, so do watch those!
If you want a recommendation for which course to get, Larry Crowe has some fantastic lessons. He separates them into beginner and intermediate courses, and they are detailed and easy to follow along to.
Seven days of Skillshare Premium is free for new users, so do take advantage of that! It gives access to all the online lessons!
10. OnlineDrummer.com (Free)
Online drumming is one of the largest collections of free online drum lessons (bar youtube, of course). There are over 500 video lessons and sheet music lessons on the site. From beginner to advanced drummers, there will be something to learn on this site.
Our only gripe with this channel is its user interface. It is so outdated and can be a nightmare to browse at times. That said, the lessons all have great content, and you can download PDFs to study them by yourself. Their youtube channel also has a great reserve of amazing video drum lessons!
While most of the lessons are free, there is also a good collection of great paid content. You can find sheet music, ebooks, and even paperback books that you can purchase.
11. Virtual Drumming (Free)
This is another website with an outdated and very 2010 aesthetic. That said, it is pretty easy to use, and everything is relatively easy to find and is somewhat well organized. If you want to find free drum lessons online, this is one of the best sites.
The site integrates a virtual drum set with audio samples and music notations to make it a more accessible and intuitive way to learn various rudiments and beats. An audio clip will play, and you should play along using music notation.
Or you can watch a pair of sticks play the beat on a virtual drum set and follow along. This is seriously an innovative approach to playing the drums. If you do not know drum notations, do not fear, there are a couple of lessons that teach you on the site.
The site is helpful for all drummers, irrespective of genre and experience. There are dozens and dozens of lessons for you to check out. There are even a couple of lessons that teach you some classic songs like Hold The Line, Smoke on the Water, and Roxanne.
12. 180 Drums (Paid)
180 drums include over 500 drum lessons from some top-rated drumming teachers. You can learn from the likes of Mark Schulman and Rich Redmond and gain invaluable knowledge.
Not only are the teachers excellent, but the user interface is also among the best on the list (it is beautiful too.) You can find your favorite online drumming lesson with just a few clicks. These lessons cover a wide variety of topics, and each lesson is accompanied by sheet music.
There is some free content, but you will have to pay for premium access if you want most of the courses. While you do not get any personalized plans or live one-on-one sessions, it is still one of the best video tutorials. It costs $199 per year and is an excellent value at that price. This is one of the most affordable online lessons available!
Also, if you upgrade to the premium 180 drums plan, you get access to a private Facebook group for asking questions and resolving any technical issues. The community is also quite active, and you can even learn what new lessons are about to come.
13. ArtistWorks (Paid)
ArtistWorks employs a curated roster of the best online drum teachers. Each one is hand-picked, ensuring that the student gets the best possible lessons.
If you want to learn Jazz, you should enroll in ArtistWorks. Peter Erskine, a two-time Grammy Award winner and an Honorary Doctorate from the Berklee College of Music, teaches jazz drumming on the platform! Can you possibly get a more prolific drum teacher for this genre!!! His accolades do not end; he has worked with well-known artists like Joni Mitchell, Chick Corea, and Steely Dan.
His course has hundreds of video lessons, from beginner to advanced ones. You can learn the odd time signatures, complex patterns, and how to use tools like mallets and brushes. The videos are excellent; there are multiple camera angles so that the object(hand or leg or anything) of importance is always in focus. The best part is that you can submit videos of your playing to Peter Erskine and get feedback and reviews from him!
The cheapest plan starts at $105 for three months, although some features are not unlocked. With the $279 12 month plan, you get access to almost all the features; you even get unlimited video submissions to Peter!
Conclusion
The best online drum lessons we’ve found are on Drumeo.com. With a library of over 230+ different individual video lessons, you can learn the drums faster, anytime from anywhere, and at your own pace with the help of some of the top teachers in their field.
These lessons include how-to videos and interviews with professional musicians who share their personal stories about what got them started playing music. Suppose you want more than just access to free instructional content. In that case, there is an affordable monthly membership option that includes personalized coaching sessions with top teaching professionals in addition to the video instruction available on any device, including desktop computers, smartphones, or tablets!
Why wait? Start learning today by visiting www.drumeo.com/trial for your FREE TRIAL now!