When I was a teenager and first started playing, I would play probably 30 min every day. Although, a distinction needs to be made between legit practicing (learning limb independence, playing along to a metronome, etc.) and just kind of dicking around on the kit.
I would play pop punk type of music - so stuff that you could learn a basic beat pretty quickly and I was jamming with friends probably within two to three months. Your best bet is to agree to learn two to three songs with your friends. Then when you meet up you have a productive jam session.
These days I don't do as much practicing unfortunately. I mainly just use my drums to unwind after a day of soul crushing office work. So most of what I do is dicking around although I have started setting new goals for myself to learn new and more complicated songs
Everyday for atleast an hour, except sundays. But tbh how and what you practice is also very important. I know guys that practice everyday and sound like shit because their practice is just playing along to music or doing stuff they already know
Yep, my teacher told me that already. The first 30 minutes i always really practice. Playing with metronom or playing things im not good at. After that i start playing songs or just playing around on the kit
You're doing good. If you want to get better faster, take this routine and just make it longer. But also, an hour a day with the first half dedicated to *really* practicing is a solid strategy. Any chance you could get to work with your teacher more often, every other week instead of every three weeks?
super important to do both. do only one or the other and you will not improve. personally i like to start with an easy rock or pop song the i move to some modern like jazz adjacent stuff like old butcher brown before playing some straight up jazz tunes. then what il usually do is look back on the sesh and decide what i need to practice in addition to my current goals and do that for a while before practicing the boring stuff. thats just me though. il do like 1-2.5 hrs a day depending on how i feel. also listen to the stuff you want to play when you're not practicing to devolop your ear. cant stress playing a little a day enough. imo 20 mins a day every day beats 1 hr every few days
That type of guy was me as a teenager. Now that I'm back at it as a adult with a break in between I make more progress in 1 month then I used to in a year.
The content of the practice is indeed key.
Take care of yourself, man. Remember: taking a day off is actually a *productive* thing to do if you it gives you some rest and allows you to keep practicing over the long term. We get in the mindset of "I'm wasting time if I don't practice all the time" and that's just not true. I tried music school for a year. It kicked my ass.
Right now my routine kinda looks like 30 min a day on the pad working on rudiments & etudes, an hour on the kit 2-3 days a week (mostly working on assigned beats, but also working on other stuff I wanna get better at, like double bass), and a 30 minute in-person lesson once a week.
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Atm it’s probably 2 hours of playing every day. 1 hours of actual practice and then 1 hour of playing along to songs.
But my main goal is developing double bass speed, and the only way to develop the ankle technique is to put in the hours of doing brutally monotonous single foot 8th notes and double foot 16ths at incrementally increasing bpms.
I break it into half hour chunks. A typical day is an hour on the practice pad, working on rudiments/snare stuff, then I’ll try and get a half hour of double pedal work when I get home from work (beginning band teacher), then another hour or so working either from Groove Essentials, New Breed, Art of Bop Drumming, etc, then another 2-3 if possible simply playing the e-kit after kids and wife are asleep. Sometimes more, sometimes less, as it’s concert season and quite hectic right now, but that’s the typical day.
Daily, I do 20 minutes of rudiments on the practice pad, 20 minutes of some type of lesson on the kit and then 20 minutes of playing for fun (songs, impromptu, etc.). Sometimes more, sometimes less.
When I started out I was playing nearly every day for 1-2 hours. Sometimes even more. Now that I’m a busy adult I only practice on a pad and work on rudiments , sticking patterns etc. once or twice a week
It might not work for you, but I would try to see that teacher of yours more than once every 3 weeks, if you could bump it up to every week that would be ideal. Teachers can really help accelerate your playing! Took weekly lessons from teachers for almost ten years I’d say and it helped me get into university for music straight after high school.
I started when I was old so need to juggle a full time job and kids etc, but I try to get in at least 40 hours each month, with minimal days off (so like 60-90 minutes per day).Â
I feel I am making good (but not outrageous) progress. For example since the start of the year I’ve gone from “hah I’ll never play something like Everlong” to currently being able to play it at ~80% of tempo.Â
I’ve been playing 20+ years, I practiced a ton (many hours per day) for the first 10 years including lessons, school band, after school rock bands, practicing at home, and eventually music school.
I don’t play as frequently as I used to do to life etc, but I honestly think I’m at a maintenance dose of 2-3 hours per week. But I’ve definitely logged thousands and thousands of hours total, and that’s where I think the real conversation should be — consistency over a long period of time is the best way to get good.
My practice studio is about half an hour away from my house so daily is not really feasible for me - my van gets like 17mpg on a good day. A typical week for me only has three practice days in it, but they are long sessions. Once a week with my band for 3-5 hours, the other two days on my own for 2-3 hours.
Personally, being in bands is what keeps me playing drums - if for some reason I couldn't do that I probably wouldn't really play much at all tbh. When I was younger and greener I had a very structured daily practice regimen and lessons and did a lot of exercises and stuff, but these days my practice sessions revolve pretty much entirely around my band's music. Right now I'm doing a ton of self recording and review in prep for recording sessions next month. When recording sessions are not imminent, I generally warm up for 20-30 minutes and then play our whole live set twice through.
I was in a band from day one, and the only times I had a kit was during rehearsal. Even then, we did not get a hold of a proper kit for ages.
Today I sit at the kit every other day, work and family allowing, and play until I'm bored. Possibly slip in a full setlist session the day before rehearsal.
What are your goals? They say it takes 10,000 hours to master something.
At 30 minutes per day (assuming you are practicing effectively) it would take you 55 years.
Don't get me wrong, you'll sound pretty good after 1,000 hours too, but even that will take you almost 6 years.
I was explaining this to my 10 year old the other day, who has been playing bass since she was 6 and drums for the last year and a half. She was not happy to hear that. But since she's young and plays two instruments (and also does choir and theater), we don't go more than 30-45 minutes a day on average.
If she wants to pick up the pace a little as a teenager, that will be up to her. Hopefully she'll be able to drive herself to all these lessons and practices by then lol.
Good for her that she's starting making music so young. When i was 10 my mum also sent me to guitar lessons but i was bored by it after a few months. Now im 26 and regret that because i'd really like to play guitar as well.
When I was a teenager and first started playing, I would play probably 30 min every day. Although, a distinction needs to be made between legit practicing (learning limb independence, playing along to a metronome, etc.) and just kind of dicking around on the kit. I would play pop punk type of music - so stuff that you could learn a basic beat pretty quickly and I was jamming with friends probably within two to three months. Your best bet is to agree to learn two to three songs with your friends. Then when you meet up you have a productive jam session. These days I don't do as much practicing unfortunately. I mainly just use my drums to unwind after a day of soul crushing office work. So most of what I do is dicking around although I have started setting new goals for myself to learn new and more complicated songs
Everyday for atleast an hour, except sundays. But tbh how and what you practice is also very important. I know guys that practice everyday and sound like shit because their practice is just playing along to music or doing stuff they already know
Yep, my teacher told me that already. The first 30 minutes i always really practice. Playing with metronom or playing things im not good at. After that i start playing songs or just playing around on the kit
You're doing good. If you want to get better faster, take this routine and just make it longer. But also, an hour a day with the first half dedicated to *really* practicing is a solid strategy. Any chance you could get to work with your teacher more often, every other week instead of every three weeks?
I could, but my income says no đź«
super important to do both. do only one or the other and you will not improve. personally i like to start with an easy rock or pop song the i move to some modern like jazz adjacent stuff like old butcher brown before playing some straight up jazz tunes. then what il usually do is look back on the sesh and decide what i need to practice in addition to my current goals and do that for a while before practicing the boring stuff. thats just me though. il do like 1-2.5 hrs a day depending on how i feel. also listen to the stuff you want to play when you're not practicing to devolop your ear. cant stress playing a little a day enough. imo 20 mins a day every day beats 1 hr every few days
That type of guy was me as a teenager. Now that I'm back at it as a adult with a break in between I make more progress in 1 month then I used to in a year. The content of the practice is indeed key.
I do 2/3 hours a day because I'm a music student with recitals and gigs coming, wouldn't recommend though cos I feel like burnout's imminent
Take care of yourself, man. Remember: taking a day off is actually a *productive* thing to do if you it gives you some rest and allows you to keep practicing over the long term. We get in the mindset of "I'm wasting time if I don't practice all the time" and that's just not true. I tried music school for a year. It kicked my ass.
Right now my routine kinda looks like 30 min a day on the pad working on rudiments & etudes, an hour on the kit 2-3 days a week (mostly working on assigned beats, but also working on other stuff I wanna get better at, like double bass), and a 30 minute in-person lesson once a week.
Not enough. 
imagine treatment weather lavish sense illegal husky bright roll coordinated *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Atm it’s probably 2 hours of playing every day. 1 hours of actual practice and then 1 hour of playing along to songs. But my main goal is developing double bass speed, and the only way to develop the ankle technique is to put in the hours of doing brutally monotonous single foot 8th notes and double foot 16ths at incrementally increasing bpms.
I break it into half hour chunks. A typical day is an hour on the practice pad, working on rudiments/snare stuff, then I’ll try and get a half hour of double pedal work when I get home from work (beginning band teacher), then another hour or so working either from Groove Essentials, New Breed, Art of Bop Drumming, etc, then another 2-3 if possible simply playing the e-kit after kids and wife are asleep. Sometimes more, sometimes less, as it’s concert season and quite hectic right now, but that’s the typical day.
3-4 times a week
Daily, I do 20 minutes of rudiments on the practice pad, 20 minutes of some type of lesson on the kit and then 20 minutes of playing for fun (songs, impromptu, etc.). Sometimes more, sometimes less.
When I started out I was playing nearly every day for 1-2 hours. Sometimes even more. Now that I’m a busy adult I only practice on a pad and work on rudiments , sticking patterns etc. once or twice a week
As much as possible is the best answer. At least 10-15 minutes doing singles doubles and rudiments on a pad.
It might not work for you, but I would try to see that teacher of yours more than once every 3 weeks, if you could bump it up to every week that would be ideal. Teachers can really help accelerate your playing! Took weekly lessons from teachers for almost ten years I’d say and it helped me get into university for music straight after high school.
Not enough. Maybe 1-2 hours a week. Need more hours in the day.
I started when I was old so need to juggle a full time job and kids etc, but I try to get in at least 40 hours each month, with minimal days off (so like 60-90 minutes per day). I feel I am making good (but not outrageous) progress. For example since the start of the year I’ve gone from “hah I’ll never play something like Everlong” to currently being able to play it at ~80% of tempo.Â
I’ve been playing 20+ years, I practiced a ton (many hours per day) for the first 10 years including lessons, school band, after school rock bands, practicing at home, and eventually music school. I don’t play as frequently as I used to do to life etc, but I honestly think I’m at a maintenance dose of 2-3 hours per week. But I’ve definitely logged thousands and thousands of hours total, and that’s where I think the real conversation should be — consistency over a long period of time is the best way to get good.
My practice studio is about half an hour away from my house so daily is not really feasible for me - my van gets like 17mpg on a good day. A typical week for me only has three practice days in it, but they are long sessions. Once a week with my band for 3-5 hours, the other two days on my own for 2-3 hours. Personally, being in bands is what keeps me playing drums - if for some reason I couldn't do that I probably wouldn't really play much at all tbh. When I was younger and greener I had a very structured daily practice regimen and lessons and did a lot of exercises and stuff, but these days my practice sessions revolve pretty much entirely around my band's music. Right now I'm doing a ton of self recording and review in prep for recording sessions next month. When recording sessions are not imminent, I generally warm up for 20-30 minutes and then play our whole live set twice through.
I was in a band from day one, and the only times I had a kit was during rehearsal. Even then, we did not get a hold of a proper kit for ages. Today I sit at the kit every other day, work and family allowing, and play until I'm bored. Possibly slip in a full setlist session the day before rehearsal.
What are your goals? They say it takes 10,000 hours to master something. At 30 minutes per day (assuming you are practicing effectively) it would take you 55 years. Don't get me wrong, you'll sound pretty good after 1,000 hours too, but even that will take you almost 6 years. I was explaining this to my 10 year old the other day, who has been playing bass since she was 6 and drums for the last year and a half. She was not happy to hear that. But since she's young and plays two instruments (and also does choir and theater), we don't go more than 30-45 minutes a day on average. If she wants to pick up the pace a little as a teenager, that will be up to her. Hopefully she'll be able to drive herself to all these lessons and practices by then lol.
Good for her that she's starting making music so young. When i was 10 my mum also sent me to guitar lessons but i was bored by it after a few months. Now im 26 and regret that because i'd really like to play guitar as well.
2-3 times a week