Latest Drum Lessons | Total Drummer

Tom Tom Drum Grooves

Tom Tom Drum Grooves Master Classic Tom Tom Drum Grooves with This Unique Drum CourseIf you’re looking to improve your creativity, power, and groove behind the kit, learning classic tom tom drum grooves is one of the best ways to expand your drumming vocabulary. From rock and funk to swing and alternative metal, tom-driven beats have shaped some of the most iconic songs in music history. This new drum course from Total Drummer breaks down legendary grooves from artists including Red Hot Chili Peppers, System of a Down, Bo Diddley, and Gene Krupa.The course focuses entirely on developing authentic tom…

How to Improvise Over a Baião Foot Ostinato on Drums (With Video Lesson)

How to Improvise Over a Baião Foot Ostinato on Drums (With Video Lesson) Learn how to play freely over a Baião Foot OstinatoIf you’re looking to expand your drumming vocabulary with exciting Brazilian rhythms, the baião is an essential groove to explore. Originating in Northeast Brazil, baião is one of the most influential styles in modern Brazilian music, forming the rhythmic foundation for countless songs and inspiring generations of drummers around the world. In this lesson, we’ll dive into how you can improvise creatively over a baião foot ostinato, giving you the tools to combine solid independence with freedom on…

Drum Solo Over Samba Foot Ostinato

Drum Solo Over Samba Foot Ostinato Learn how to improvise over a samba foot patternThere's something undeniably magnetic about locking into a pulse and letting your hands paint the rhythm above it. That’s exactly what you’ll discover in “Drum Solo Over Samba Foot Ostinato”- a vivid lesson that layers explosive fills and dynamic textures over a deeply rooted Brazilian samba foot pattern.In this video, we lay down a driving samba foot ostinato - steady and persistent - using the bass drum and hi-hat pedal to carry the groove through. With the foundation locked in, the hands are unleashed to explore…

Improvise Over 8th Note Foot Ostinato

Improvise Over 8th Note Foot Ostinato Unlocking Creative Freedom on the DrumsImprovisation is one of the most rewarding skills a drummer can develop, but it often requires a solid foundation of coordination and control. One of the most effective ways to build that foundation is by practicing over a steady ostinato, a repeating rhythmic pattern, with your feet. In this lesson, we focus on improvising over an 8th note foot ostinato, a powerful exercise to help you build independence, timing, and creative expression on the drum set.What Is a Foot Ostinato?A foot ostinato refers to a repeating pattern played with…

How to Play Cascara Rock Drum Beats – Add Latin Spice to Your Rock Grooves

How to Play Cascara Rock Drum Beats – Add Latin Spice to Your Rock Grooves Are you ready to spice up your drumming with something unique, musical, and seriously fun to play?In this free drum lesson, we dive into cascara rock drum beats – a creative fusion of Latin rhythm and solid rock drumming that will stretch your coordination and transform your grooves.What Are Cascara Rock Drum Beats?The cascara is a rhythmic pattern traditionally played on the side of a timbale in Afro-Cuban music. It’s syncopated, flowing, and instantly infectious. But what happens when we bring that into the world…

Unlock the Groove: Learn Mambo Rock Drum Beats with This Free Video Lesson

Learn Mambo Rock Drum Beats Learn how to add a mambo flavour to your rock drum beatsIf you’re looking to spice up your drumming vocabulary and dive into some Latin-infused grooves, mambo rock drum beats are the perfect gateway. This hybrid style fuses the energy of rock with the rhythmic sophistication of Afro-Cuban music, resulting in grooves that are both dynamic and infectious. In this free video lesson from Total Drummer, we break down mambo rock drum beats step-by-step so you can start incorporating this exciting style into your own playing right away.What Are Mambo Rock Drum Beats?Mambo rock is…

Unlock Bembé Rock Drum Beats in 6/8

Unlock Bembé Rock Drum Beats in 6/8 Free Afro-Cuban Drumming Lesson This Is The Beginner Funk Drums Course Looking to supercharge your drumming with powerful, world-influenced grooves? This free Bembé rock drum lesson dives deep into Afro-Cuban-inspired rhythms in a 6/8 time signature - a must-learn for any drummer seeking to inject new life into their playing.Bembé is a traditional Afro-Cuban rhythm deeply rooted in African music. Known for its hypnotic, syncopated pulse, Bembé grooves traditionally use 12/8 or 6/8 feel and are commonly heard in conga or batá drum patterns. In this lesson, we take those core elements and…

Samba Rock Drum Lesson #2: Advanced Ride Cymbal Grooves

Samba Rock Drum Lesson #2: Advanced Ride Cymbal Grooves Take your Samba Rock drumming to the next level.If you’ve been digging into Brazilian rhythms, you’ve probably already checked out our first Samba Rock drum lesson. That introductory video broke down the foundational beat for this infectious fusion of samba and rock, giving you a solid base to build on. Now it’s time to step it up a notch.In this second installment, we’re developing the groove further by introducing a more complex ride cymbal pattern. This layer adds extra texture and forward momentum to the beat, transforming a solid rhythm into…

Spice Up Your Playing with Samba Rock – A Drum Beat You’ll Actually Use

Spice Up Your Playing with Samba Rock – A Drum Beat You’ll Actually Use Learn how to play exciting samba rock drum beatsAt Total Drummer, we're all about giving drummers the tools to sound exciting, creative, and confident behind the kit. In our latest drum lesson, we dive into a killer groove that brings the heat of Brazil and fuses it with solid rock power – Samba Rock.Samba is known for its infectious rhythms and energetic flow, but it's often seen as something reserved for Latin gigs or percussion ensembles. That’s where samba rock flips the script. It takes those vibrant…

Mastering 9/8 Drum Fills: How to Create Flow and Groove in Odd Time

Mastering 9/8 Drum Fills: How to Create Flow and Groove in Odd Time Learn how to play nine eight drum fillsWhen it comes to playing in odd time signatures, many drummers find 9/8 to be one of the more intriguing and expressive grooves. While the time signature might seem complex at first glance, with the right approach, it opens the door to a world of creativity—especially when it comes to crafting drum fills. In this lesson, we’ll break down how to feel 9/8 time and how to confidently play fills that support the groove instead of disrupting it.What Is 9/8…