easy rock songs for a starting drummer

manwithnoname311

Junior Member
Hi everyone,

My six year old started drum lessons last September, and he has become quite good at holding down the basic drum progressions his instructor works with him on. One thing he suggested was to have my son play along with different songs. I was wondering if anybody could give some suggestions on easier slower tempo rock songs he could practice to. I play guitar but I am having a tough picking out stuff for him. He likes alot of heavier stuff but most of it is too fast and too technical for him.Also, he does like bands like Muse and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Any suggestions, old or newer stuff, would be very helpful. Thanks.
 
perhaps some bands like nickelback? maybe the foo fighters?
 
maybe the foo fighters?

A lot of Foo Fighter's drum parts are fairly technical. Weird time signatures tend to sit in there. Not as weird as Tool, but still challenging to play for a newbie.
 
A lot of Foo Fighter's drum parts are fairly technical. Weird time signatures tend to sit in there. Not as weird as Tool, but still challenging to play for a newbie.

I've been playing for 10 years and find them challenging. I would recommend some AC/DC.
 
A lot of Foo Fighter's drum parts are fairly technical. Weird time signatures tend to sit in there. Not as weird as Tool, but still challenging to play for a newbie.

yeah, but i mean just as songs to play along to :) not nescescarily to play perfectly (he is six after all haha).

edit: how about something like these manwithnoname - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAME8GDRTfI , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx3m4e45bTo , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9kdHXrJYF8 . if he doesn't mind listening to british music then 'brit pop' might be useful, quite a few of the songs are slow. the verve, oasis, coldplay, etc etc. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FML9vEubYKY
 
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Fleetwood Mac - dreams.
Sonata Arctica - sing in silence
Lacuna Coil - enjoy the silence (this one's a little trickier)
Nickelback - How you remind me

Those are some songs I give to beginners. I also have different criteria for beginners than for advanced pupils - I don't expect beginners to perfectly lay down all the fills and copy every dynamic detail. For beginners I am satisfied if they can keep a groove throughout the song and maybe do some rudimentary fills. I do ask my more advanced students to be more dynamic, more accurate and playing fills where needed (they can either copy the original or invent their own).

As they get more advanced you can let them try songs like Sweet Disposition by the Temper trap, New Born by Muse, The Great Disappointment by AFI (this one is particularly tricky as it switches from 4/4 to 12/8, keeping the eighth notes at the same tempo), and maybe some faster stuff.
 
Rolling Stones, Gimme Shelter.

One of the best songs ever in my view and very simple to play, basically just the basic money beat and a few simple fills. Lots of fun.

Well, actually a lot of their songs would be perfect for these purposes.

I would also recommend you pick up Tommy Igoe's Groove Essentials. You can work with him to learn a bit of notation and they provide a ton of drum-less tracks that are hella fun to play to.
 
I'm within my first month of drumming and the two songs I've been working on are Simple Man (Lynyrd Skynyrd) and Heart-Shaped Box (Nirvana) (using drummless versions of both).

Simple Man was first, its fun and low tempo (60bpm) and all 4/4, basically the same beat through the whole song with changing fills.

The Nirvana song is relatively easy too, bit more up-tempo (100bpm), but all 4/4. Each of the sections of the song are pretty easy on their own but keeping it all together is challenging because of the drastically changing dynamics.

I also got Groove Essentials 1.0 (just book and CD) last week, that's fun too, but I find the songs above more challenging and realistic (just talking about the slow rock grooves); the GE songs have very strong bass-lines/grooves (its almost like playing with a 80bpm metronome), so it's very easy to lock into the pulse whereas the songs above have less prominent bass and distracting vocals so it's tougher to lock in (I wish GE had some songs with vocals so you could learn to NOT focus on the singing which would probably be most people's natural inclination).
 
Rolling Stones, Gimme Shelter.

One of the best songs ever in my view and very simple to play, basically just the basic money beat and a few simple fills. Lots of fun.

Well, actually a lot of their songs would be perfect for these purposes.

I would also recommend you pick up Tommy Igoe's Groove Essentials. You can work with him to learn a bit of notation and they provide a ton of drum-less tracks that are hella fun to play to.

+1 on the Stones
Almost everything they've ever done.
 
Thanks everybody. This has been really helpful. Is there any metal old or new that a little guy could play along with? He likes Slipknot and Iron Maiden but I know that isn't going to happen right now. Again, thanks for all the suggestions. If you have any more, I would love to hear them. He is so into drumming, I want to keep his interest up there.
 
i'm just about to play man, but i'll message you with a lot of metal/heavy rock tomorrow. do you mind if the songs have a little screaming in them? (i'm not sure if you want your six year old to hear it!).
 
i'm just about to play man, but i'll message you with a lot of metal/heavy rock tomorrow. do you mind if the songs have a little screaming in them? (i'm not sure if you want your six year old to hear it!).

That's fine, one of his favourite songs is Bleed by Meshuggah. For a six year old, he likes to rock and this isn't all my influence. He seeks out lots of different music.
 
holy crap. that's pretty cool. your son will be an amazing drummer if he's into that stuff. ok sweet i'll get back to you with a list of stuff between 80-100 bpm. do you know how to use audacity? you could slow down songs for him to play along to (e.g. if it's 120 bpm then change it to 100). if you don't then i can easily post you a quick tutorial anyway, it's pretty easy to use/is free.
 
Was thinking ACDC too. Sweet Home Alabama and Gmme Three Steps, November Rain and dont cry by GnR also come to mind
 
That's fine, one of his favourite songs is Bleed by Meshuggah. For a six year old, he likes to rock and this isn't all my influence. He seeks out lots of different music.

LOL, make that a long term goal. Even poor Thomas Haake needed six months to prepare for that monster. But it's awesome as hell that he loves that song.
 
holy crap. that's pretty cool. your son will be an amazing drummer if he's into that stuff. ok sweet i'll get back to you with a list of stuff between 80-100 bpm. do you know how to use audacity? you could slow down songs for him to play along to (e.g. if it's 120 bpm then change it to 100). if you don't then i can easily post you a quick tutorial anyway, it's pretty easy to use/is free.

No, I don't know how to use audacity so a tutorial would be a great help. Thanks again.
 
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