10 Songs For Beginner Drummers

Here is a selection of 10 songs to start to play drums. All those drum sheets are available on the website.
To start to play drums, you must find slow songs, between 50 and 120 bpm (Beats per minute) and a drum beat using essentially eight notes.

1/ Lenny Kravitz – I Love The Rain

Tempo: 61 bpm
Signature: 4/4
It’s the first song I play with my students. The pulsation is slow and the song is very understandable even without knowing how to read a score.
Drum Sheet – Lenny Kravitz – I Love The Rain

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2/ Lenny Kravitz – I’ll Be Waiting

Tempo: 73 bpm
Signature: 4/4
The easiest song.
Drum Sheet – Lenny Kravitz – I’ll Be Waiting

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3/ Passenger – Let Her Go

Tempo: 76 bpm
Signature: 4/4
This pop folk song has a very simple structure: 3 measures of beat + 1 measure of fill. The fill is a slight variation of the drum beat.
Drum Sheet – Passenger – Let Her Go

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4/ John Lennon – Imagine

Tempo: 76 bpm
Signature: 4/4
This legendary John Lennon ballad make you play simple beats, silence measures (very important to feel the vacuum and work its inner pulse) and easy fills.
Drum Sheet – John Lennon – Imagine

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5/ Coldplay – The Scientist

Tempo: 72 bpm
Signature: 4/4
This Coldplay’s song is ideal for working eighth notes to the bass drum. The beat is on 2 measures, good to start feeling the cycles.
Drum Sheet – Coldplay – The Scientist

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6/ Kool And The Gang – Fresh

Tempo: 118 bpm
Signature: 4/4
This typical funk song has only one beat and practically no fills. You can work a simple beat at a slightly faster tempo.
Drum Sheet – Kool And The Gang – Fresh

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7/ Eels – That Look You Give That Guy

Tempo: 94 bpm
Signature: 4/4
In this song, we can begin to integrate the rhythmic figure “dotted eight note – sixteenth note”. That is to say that there is a snare drum that does not fall at the same time as the hi-hat.
Drum Sheet – Eels – That Look You Give That Guy

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8/ Avril Lavigne – Let Me Go

Tempo: 55 bpm
Signature: 12/8
This song of Avril Lavigne is in 12/8, so it’s a triplet feeling. As it is slow it is interesting to be able to work on this style of drum beat.
Drum Sheet – Avril Lavigne – Let Me Go

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9/ Green Day – 21 Guns

Tempo: 80 bpm
Signature: 4/4
A typical rock ballad pulling a bit on the metal. Simple rhythmic figures, use of the fla in a beat.
Drum Sheet – Green Day – 21 Guns

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10/ AC/DC – Highway To Hell

Tempo: 120 bpm
Signature: 4/4
This great classic rock song have a drum beat very easy to play. Fills can easily be simplified.
Drum Sheet – AC/DC – Highway To Hell