How Often Should You Practice Drums?

Improving your skills as a drummer requires a lot of practice. You should try to practice at least 20 minutes per session as many days per week as you can, but this is only a rough guide. You should focus your practice sessions on particular areas, such as all of those involved in playing drums (rudiments, foot patterns), practice music theory, and practice your creativity (playing by ear, jamming, etc.)

We can only do a certain amount of things in a certain amount of time, and practicing any musical instrument requires a lot of attention and concentration. The first thing you need to do is train your concentration. If you’re not in the right mindset or lose interest fast, practicing long hours every day is not effective.

So, the best way to figure out how often you should practice is based on how much concentration you have. Start small, and you can see your concentration improving, and so will your practice hours during the day. 

How Many Hours Should I Practice Each Day?

Start with 30 minutes on your first day, and try to extend that period each subsequent day. There will be a practice session when you hit your limit, so you know that that is how you figure out how many hours you should play in each practice session.

How do you know your limit? Well, if you lose focus and concentration, for example, you start thinking of something else, then it’s time to put down the drumsticks. The most important thing is to practice efficiently, and if you’re not 100% focused on drums, you’ve hit your limit for the day.

I like to compare practicing drums with going to the gym. They are completely different things, but some core fundamentals are present in each. Someone who has been going to the gym for a long time can lift heavier weights and train for many more hours than someone who is just beginning. 

The big difference between gym training and drum practice is that you focus on bigger muscles in the gym, and it’s a bit easier to keep concentration. In drumming, you focus on much smaller muscles, fingers, and ankles, so it’s gonna take more time for you to train your concentration and start practicing for longer times.

If you don’t have much time to practice every day, there are ways to practice drumming without drums.

How Long Does It Take To Get Good At Drums?

It really depends on your time invested into practicing and how much of it was effective practicing. You don’t need as much time to learn basic drumming and play a simple song. But, if you want to learn drums at a higher level and start practicing grip, technique, playing different genres, and learning music theory, you will spend years perfecting that.

You can also practice drums when you’re not at your drums by carrying with you a practice pad, and whenever you feel like practicing, just bust out some basic rudiments on it. 

Conclusion

One thing to remember is that it’s not that important how much time you spend practicing as much as it’s important that those hours that you practice are as effective as they can be. Your brain knows where the limit of your concentration is, learn to listen to it and train your concentration and you can be effective at practicing and become a better drummer much faster.