Free lesson
How to practise drums on a pad
Ten minutes a day on a practice pad builds the control every drummer needs. Warm up with single strokes, then doubles, then loud and soft notes, and finish by playing a real beat with your foot keeping time. Use a click, start slow, and stop before your hands get tense.
What you need
- A pad. Any 10 to 12 inch rubber or mesh pad. Rubber is quieter; mesh bounces more like a drum.
- Sticks. A pair of 5A sticks suits most hands.
- Somewhere to put it. A pad stand or a table, with the pad at about waist height when you sit.
- A click. The player on this page, a metronome, or Badum.
The 10-minute routine
Two minutes on each. If a tempo feels hard, slow it down. Speed comes by itself after a few weeks.
1. Single strokes (2 minutes)
Right, left, right, left, one note on every eighth. Tap your right foot on each beat. Let each stick bounce back up from the pad; don't push it into the rubber.
2. Double strokes (2 minutes)
Right right, left left. Two even notes from each hand, using the same eighth notes as above. The second note of each pair is usually quieter; make it match the first.
3. Loud and soft (2 minutes)
Play two bars loud, then two bars soft, without changing speed. Loud notes start with the stick high; soft notes start low, an inch or two above the pad. Control over how loud you play is what makes a beat sound like music.
4. A beat on the pad (2 minutes)
The right hand plays eighth notes on the near edge of the pad (that's your hi-hat), the left hand plays 2 and 4 in the middle (your snare), and your right foot taps 1 and 3 on the floor (your kick).
5. Play along (2 minutes)
Put on a song you like and play the beat from step 4 with it. If it's too fast, keep the hi-hat hand going and leave the rest out until it fits.
Common mistakes
- Gripping too tight. Hold the stick between thumb and first finger, a third of the way up, with the other fingers loose around it.
- Practising only fast. Most of the routine should feel easy. If your shoulders rise, slow down.
- No click. Without one, everyone speeds up. A click shows you where.
- Long sessions once a week. Ten minutes every day beats an hour on Sunday.
Can an app hear a pad?
Badum can. Put your phone near the pad and pick Practice pad. It counts you in, then listens through the microphone and tells you which hits were early or late. Your hands are checked; your foot keeps time with the band but isn't heard. Nothing is recorded.