The Drum Play-Alongs section of DrumLessons.com is undoubtedly the one you'll have the most fun with. The free drum lessons from this section give you access to free professional band and jam tracks in a variety of musical styles. The drum parts from these tracks have been removed so you can put yourself in the drummer's seat! Each lesson includes two to three MP3s that you can download and use to play along or study with - one with the drum tracks removed, an alternate version with a metronome added in, and a full band track - and a video where the original drummer plays the drum parts he wrote especially for the song. This enables you to watch examples of drum beats and fills that work very well within the framework of a song. You can play them exactly like they're demoed or use them as inspiration for coming up with new variations of your own. These free drum play-alongs can also be used to practice drum beats and drum fills you've learned how to play with DrumLessons.com or any other drumming resource, book or DVD.
Being able to play along to music expressively and musically is the main goal behind all the hours, days, months and years we spend behind a drum set or practice pad improving on our technique, independence and pattern library. Hence, it's essential that you practice playing along to music. This collection of free drum play-alongs gives you the incredible opportunity of performing side-by-side with great musicians and bands in the comfort of your own practice space. This comes well in handy if you've never played with a band or plan on getting ready to audition for one. Don't be afraid of making mistakes and trying out all kinds of cool beats and fills. Doing so is a great way of improving on your overall drumming and ability to write original material. Playing along to these free drum play-alongs is not only a blast to do so, but also a great way of working on your musicianship as well.
If you've been craving for some great sounding rock drum play-alongs to jam along to, look no further. In this section you'll find some very cool rock play-alongs that you can use to practice all kinds of rock and double bass drum beats and fills. The punk rock play-along and "Calling" by Dying Hearts Desire are good examples of just that. For instance, you can use the punk play-along for practicing tom-tom drum beats, fast paced 8th note and 16th note grooves, and nasty sounding rock drum fills, and "Calling" for working on linear drum fills and double bass drum beats and fills.
For drummers with an appetite for something different, we've put together some very tasty treats for you in the form of videos like 7/4 fusion play-along and half-time shuffle play-along. The 7/4 fusion play-along is a challenging musical piece that will have you messing around with an odd-time signature while learning how to transition between common time (4/4) and 7/4. This is a very cool song with some slick sounding drum beats. The half-time shuffle play-along is an exquisite sounding song in 4/4 time signature. This drum play-along is a heaven for practicing all kinds of half-time shuffles like the famous Porcaro, Purdie, and Bonham shuffles.
