Learn a few Rhythm Letters and apply them in rhythms, grooves and fills.

Learn to play any song, quickly and easily

Learn songs with the Letter Method. Start with rhythm letters using a practice pad and drumsticks; a snare drum is optional. Later, apply the rhythms to grooves, fills and songs on a drum kit.

1 · The basics: hands and the pulse

Hold the sticks the right way, play with the pulse, and count bars.

  1. 1.1 · Holding the sticks
  2. 1.2 · Right, left, right, left
  3. 1.3 · Playing with the pulse
  4. 1.4 · A bar: a group of 4 beats

2 · A to D: quarter notes and eighth notes

By the end of this chapter, you'll read any bar made of quarter notes and eighth notes.

  1. 2.1 · A · A stroke on the number
  2. 2.2 · B · A beat of silence
  3. 2.3 · A and B in bars
  4. 2.4 · C · Two eighth notes
  5. 2.5 · D · A stroke only on the “and”
  6. 2.6 · Reading challenge: A to D

3 · E to P: sixteenth notes

By the end of this chapter, you'll know all 16 letters and read any beat of sixteenth notes.

  1. 3.1 · 4 spots in a beat
  2. 3.2 · E · 4 even strokes
  3. 3.3 · F · 3 strokes and a silence
  4. 3.4 · G · Silence on the “e”
  5. 3.5 · A to G together
  6. 3.6 · H · Silence on the “and”
  7. 3.7 · I · Silence on the number
  8. 3.8 · J · 2 strokes at the start
  9. 3.9 · K · A stroke at the start and end
  10. 3.10 · L · 2 strokes in the middle
  11. 3.11 · A to L together
  12. 3.12 · M · 2 strokes at the end
  13. 3.13 · N · Left, left
  14. 3.14 · O · Only the “a”
  15. 3.15 · P · Only the “e”
  16. 3.16 · Reading challenge: A to P

4 · Reading straight through, even without letters

Read whole phrases on one drum, and by the end, without the letters to help.

  1. 4.1 · Repeating letters, changing letters
  2. 4.2 · Eighth and sixteenth notes together
  3. 4.3 · Coming in after silence
  4. 4.4 · Phrases of 2 and 4 bars
  5. 4.5 · Quarter, half and whole notes
  6. 4.6 · Dots and ties
  7. 4.7 · Reading without the letters
  8. 4.8 · Challenge: a new phrase without letters

5 · Meet the drum kit

By the end of the chapter, you'll read in the notes which instrument plays, and with which hand or foot.

  1. 5.1 · Map of the kit
  2. 5.2 · Two hands and a foot
  3. 5.3 · Same letter, different hands
  4. 5.4 · Letters with your foot
  5. 5.5 · Hand and foot together
  6. 5.6 · Both hands together
  7. 5.7 · Reading several instruments at once
  8. 5.8 · Challenge: who plays when

6 · The first groove

Play the groove you hear in most songs: hi-hat, snare and bass drum.

  1. 6.1 · Hi-hat on every beat
  2. 6.2 · Hi-hat and snare
  3. 6.3 · Hi-hat and bass drum
  4. 6.4 · Snare and bass drum
  5. 6.5 · Your first groove
  6. 6.6 · Hi-hat in eighth notes
  7. 6.7 · One instrument rests
  8. 6.8 · Challenge: new grooves

7 · First spread: snare and tom

By the end of this chapter, you'll play a groove, a short spread on snare and tom, and get back to the groove on time.

  1. 7.1 · Meet tom 1
  2. 7.2 · A whole letter on each drum
  3. 7.3 · A different drum on each beat
  4. 7.4 · Splitting C
  5. 7.5 · Splitting more letters
  6. 7.6 · Reading a new spread
  7. 7.7 · Groove, spread, groove again

8 · Changing one part of the groove

Change the bass drum or the snare, while everything else keeps going without moving.

  1. 8.1 · The bass moves on the numbers
  2. 8.2 · Bass in the middle of the beat
  3. 8.3 · One or two bass strokes
  4. 8.4 · The snare changes places
  5. 8.5 · Together, alone and silent
  6. 8.6 · Joining familiar changes
  7. 8.7 · Reading a 2-bar groove

9 · The whole kit: three toms, crash and ride

By the end of this chapter, you'll play the whole kit: a spread over three toms, and a groove with crash and ride.

  1. 9.1 · Meet tom 2
  2. 9.2 · Meet the floor tom
  3. 9.3 · A letter on each drum
  4. 9.4 · Changing drums inside the beat
  5. 9.5 · Going down and up
  6. 9.6 · Which hand starts
  7. 9.7 · Crash: landing with the bass
  8. 9.8 · Meet the ride
  9. 9.9 · From hi-hat to ride
  10. 9.10 · Challenge: the whole kit

10 · Sixteenth notes in the groove

By the end of this chapter, you'll play busy grooves like in funk and pop.

  1. 10.1 · The letters move to your foot
  2. 10.2 · Bass between hi-hat strokes
  3. 10.3 · Adding snare on 2 and 4
  4. 10.4 · Snare between hi-hat strokes
  5. 10.5 · Snare and bass change together
  6. 10.6 · Hi-hat in sixteenth notes
  7. 10.7 · Challenge: sixteenth-note grooves

11 · Groove, fill, groove

Play like in a real song: groove, fill and back, without stopping, even after a mistake.

  1. 11.1 · A one-beat fill
  2. 11.2 · A two-beat fill
  3. 11.3 · A whole-bar fill
  4. 11.4 · Bass under the fill
  5. 11.5 · Landing after the fill
  6. 11.6 · From one groove to another
  7. 11.7 · Phrases of 4 and 8 bars
  8. 11.8 · Made a mistake? Keep playing

12 · How a stroke sounds

Play loud and soft strokes, and meet the special strokes drummers use.

  1. 12.1 · Loud strokes and soft strokes
  2. 12.2 · The accent moves inside E
  3. 12.3 · Accents on all the drums
  4. 12.4 · Ghost notes in a groove
  5. 12.5 · Slowly louder, slowly softer
  6. 12.6 · Double strokes and the paradiddle
  7. 12.7 · Doubles and paradiddles on the drums
  8. 12.8 · Flam and drag
  9. 12.9 · Challenge: every kind of stroke

13 · Left foot joins in: four limbs

Play with both hands and both feet, each one doing its own job.

  1. 13.1 · Left foot on the hi-hat pedal
  2. 13.2 · Opening and closing the hi-hat
  3. 13.3 · Open hi-hat in a groove
  4. 13.4 · Steady left foot, moving hands
  5. 13.5 · Ride, snare, bass and left foot
  6. 13.6 · Challenge: four limbs

14 · Triplets, shuffle and new time signatures

Split a beat into three, play a shuffle, and count bars of new lengths.

  1. 14.1 · Triplets: three in a beat
  2. 14.2 · Silence inside the triplet
  3. 14.3 · Triplets on the drums
  4. 14.4 · Shuffle: the skipping groove
  5. 14.5 · Shuffle and triplets on the drums
  6. 14.6 · Bars of 3 and of 2
  7. 14.7 · 6/8 and 12/8: groups of three
  8. 14.8 · From two to three
  9. 14.9 · 5/4 and 7/8: counting in groups
  10. 14.10 · Challenge: triplets in 3/4

15 · Reading real drum sheets

Read a whole drum sheet, with repeats and jumps, without getting lost.

  1. 15.1 · The legend: which mark is which drum
  2. 15.2 · Hands on top, feet below
  3. 15.3 · Repeat signs
  4. 15.4 · Endings and jumps on the page
  5. 15.5 · Pickups and long silences
  6. 15.6 · Eyes run ahead
  7. 15.7 · Challenge: 16 bars in a row
  8. 15.8 · Challenge: a page from somewhere else

16 · Playing on your own

Play new pieces on your own, and know what to do when a bar is hard.

  1. 16.1 · New piece: grooves
  2. 16.2 · New piece: on all the drums
  3. 16.3 · New piece with jumps
  4. 16.4 · What exactly is hard?
  5. 16.5 · Making a warm-up from a hard bar
  6. 16.6 · The end: on to songs