How To Play Jazz On Drums Beginner to Advanced

Learn how to play Jazz on drums step by step. Start with the essentials and move up to advanced level skills.

Get all of my courses to take you from your first beat to grooving on stage. Save yourself 50% too!

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Learn how to play Jazz on drums from beginner to advanced in my Total Lessons Course Pack without the big lesson fees!

Jazz Drums Total Lessons Pack

  • Instructor: Von Baron
  • Level: Beginner-Advanced
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The Jazz Drums Total Lessons Course Pack is a complete program for how to play Jazz on drums. It guides you from beginner to advanced Jazz drumming, step by step. You’ll start with the basics—setting up your drums, tuning, playing Swing beats, drum fills, and essential coordination exercises—to build a strong foundation.

As you improve, you’ll learn important skills like comping, brush playing, trading fours and soloing and playing in different time signatures. You will also explore Afro-Cuban and Brazilian rhythms like Bossa Nova, Samba, and Mambo.

Plus, this course pack covers fast Swing techniques, hi-hat skills, Funk-Jazz grooves, and how to read drum sheet music to feel confident in any Jazz setting.

With 150+ practice tracks and real-world examples, this pack gives you everything you need to play Jazz on drums with skill, creativity, and confidence!

Learn with a relaxed, step-by-step method at your own pace. Track your progress and see how much you have accomplished! Example below is from the Brushes Mastery Course.
Course overview
Learn how to play Jazz on drums from beginner to advanced, covering drum setup, swing beats, fills, coordination, comping, brushwork, and soloing.

You’ll also explore Afro-Cuban and Brazilian rhythms, fast Swing techniques, Funk-Jazz grooves, and reading drum charts.

Also included are over 150 drum practice tracks to build confidence and creativity.

  • Drum Lessons Video: 70 hours
  • Drum Lessons: 300
  • Instructor Playing Examples: 60
  • PDF Downloads: 130 Pages
  • PDF Drum Charts (Drum Scores): 35
  • Drum Practice Tracks: 150+
  • Drum Lab Monthly Drum Class
  • Lessons In 10+ Languages:
    English, Deutsch, Français, Español, Italiano, Português, Suomi, 简体中文, 繁體中文, 한국어, 日本語, हिन्दी

Want to learn how to play Jazz on drums?

Below are the lessons I recommend also included in this course pack.

#1 Beginner Drum Kit Setup

An important Jazz drum lesson for beginners teaching you what kind of drum gear to buy and how to set it up. This course will help you take the stress out these first important steps.

In here, you'll get my recommendations for drum kits, cymbals, drum heads, sticks, brushes, drum thrones, drum rugs, drum bags and a lot more. 

You'll also learn how I set up my drum kit to make your drumming more fluid and help you avoid injury. 

#2 Intro To Jazz Drumming

This course teaches important Jazz drumming skills for beginners, helping you build a strong foundation for your drumming future.

Improve your drum set independence, play Jazz Swing drum grooves and fills, trade fours and more. These are some of the most important lessons you need to learn how to play Jazz on drums. 

#3 Jazz Drum Comping

The next series of Jazz drums lessons for beginners teaches you how to "comp" on the drums. The word "comp" is short for "accompanying." It's when we use our drums to communicate with the other musicians in the band. 

In here, you'll learn the next level of independence exercises to learn how to play Jazz on drums. You'll also improve your listening and know when to play and what to play in real music situations. 

This course will take you up through intermediate level Jazz drumming. A great choice for your drumming now and later. 

#4 Brushes Mastery Course

Brushes are as important as sticks for playing Jazz on drums.  Brushes give us another texture, tone and color option that blends beautifully with ballads to Bossas. 

My Brushes Mastery Course takes you from Jazz drumming techniques for beginners, like how to hold your brushes and the different sounds you can make, all the way up to using them in dozens of styles of music, playing fills and soloing. 

You'll be able to use this course through advanced level drumming.  A super choice for your Jazz drumming now and down the road. 

The first two sections of the course are great for beginners learning how to play Jazz on drums. They will give you all the Jazz drumming basics you need to quickly start swing with your brushes.  

#5 Backing Tracks For Drums Player

You'll want to practice with music to hone your Jazz drumming skills.  

With over 120 drumless backing tracks in this built-in player, you'll be able to practice your new abilities and use the tracks for future course practicing too. 

The player and tracks are free for this course pack. They can't be downloaded though. To download these tracks, see below for a special offer included exclusively in this course pack. 

#6 Odd Meter Jazz Drumming

In Jazz drumming we often get asked to play songs in 3/4 and 5/4 meters. When starting out, most of the songs we play are in 4/4 (4 beats to a measure) but it's good to be prepared for odd meters too.

As you progress in learning how to play Jazz on drums, you'll start to encounter songs in 3/4 (3 beats to a measure) and 5/4 (5 beats to a measure). 

Don't worry if this all sounds confusing. In here, you'll replace your confusion with confidence. You'll be able to play both Swing drum grooves and drum fills in 3/4 and 5/4.  

This course will help you with Jazz drumming techniques for beginners up through intermediate level drumming. An excellent choice to expand your drumming skills now and in the future. 

#7 Jazz Funk Drumming

Believe it or not, swinging your Funk beats is an important skill in Jazz drumming. Almost every gig I play involves this drumming feel at some point. 

In here, you'll learn how to take any Funk groove and swing it like Hip-Hop. Learn how to get this unique feel, 5 grooves for both hi-hat and ride cymbal and some cool drum fills. 

#8 Secrets of Jazz Drumming

This course takes you into the minds of the great Jazz drummers. Learn over 100 tips for what pro Jazz drummers think and play in real music situations. 

Jazz drumming is more than just technique, it's about playing music. From cleaning up your drumming sound, trading fours, playing with the soloist to a whole lot more, this course covers a lot of ground. 

Knowing these essential concepts will not only help you learn how to play Jazz on drums, you'll also get more opportunities to play. This course will take you all the way to advanced level drumming. Definitely a great investment in your drumming future. 

#9 Jazz Drum Patterns

One of the most difficult Jazz drumming skills is independence. Getting our hands and feet to play together in musical ways can be very challenging for most drummers.

In this course, I'll rewire your brain with 8 advanced Jazz drumming patterns.  These will open up your playing and give you the drumming independence of great Jazz drummers like Tony Williams, Elvin Jones and Brian Blade.  When you finish this course, you'll definitely be a different drummer. 

#10 Afro-Cuban Latin Drumming

Afro-Cuban Latin drumming is not only exciting but also essential for learning how to play Jazz on drums. Whether, it's Mozambique, Mambo or Bembé, we get asked to play many Latin rhythms in Jazz.

In here, you'll learn the most important Latin grooves we use in Jazz and expand your drumming feel and independence. The grooves you'll learn are like advanced Jazz drumming exercises.  Each one will get your hands and feel moving in ways that will surprise and excite you. 

#11 Brazilian Drumming

Since the 1960's Brazilian rhythms have been fused with Jazz music. Knowing Bossa Nova and Samba are critical for your success in Jazz drumming.

In this course, you'll learn Brazilian percussion, the 6 most important Bossa/Samba rhythms, dozens of drumming grooves and a lot more. 

#12 Jazz Drum Fills

Jazz drum fills are in a category all their own.  In Jazz we move beyond drum licks and into musical phrases. Drum fills are an essential part of learning how to play Jazz on drums.

In here, you'll learn over 30 sticking patterns and how to use them in infinite ways across your drum kit.  You'll never run out of ideas for drum fills and solos ever again! 

#13 Jazz Drum Soloing

Trading fours and eights, chorus solos, vamp solos, open solos and arranged solos are all very common in Jazz drumming.  Knowing how to play each of these is essential for your Jazz drumming. 

These intermediate to advanced Jazz drumming exercises for drum soloing, will teach you the 5 types of soloing and how to come up with endless ideas for what to play during your solos. This course goes well with the Jazz Drum Fills course. 

#14 Fast Jazz Ride Cymbal

Playing fast Jazz Swing is not as difficult as you might think.  As you get better at Jazz on drums, you'll naturally start to play faster tempos. 

In here, you'll learn the technique I use for playing fast and relaxed at almost any speed. This course on how to play Jazz on drums will help you break through the drumming speed barrier with ease.

#15 Jazz Drumming Hi-Hat

Max Roach and Buddy Rich played with style on the hi-hats. They used fills that really expanded the creative potential of this unique voice on the drum kit.

Using the patterns I teach in this course on how to play Jazz on drums will make your hi-hat playing more musical.  You'll add dimension to your playing during bass solos, grooves and any other place you're working those hats.

In here, you'll learn how to play in "2", five cool fill patterns, hi-hat fanning and more.  Using your hi-hats for more than just keeping time is essential to play great Jazz on drums.

#16 Reading Drum Sheet Music

Reading drum charts (drum sheet music) or music lead sheets doesn't have to be intimidating. In fact, once you master this valuable drumming skill, you'll stop getting lost when playing with other musicians. 

In here, you'll learn the symbols and structure of drum charts and lead sheets and how to set up kicks like in big band drumming.  I also cover pick up notes, intros, endings, changing feels and more. 

This one will get you all the way through your intermediate level drumming.

Bonus - Drum Lab

Got questions about your courses and and how to play Jazz on drums? Join my free monthly Drum Lab live stream class. 

Just by purchasing any course or course pack, you are automatically enrolled into Drum Lab. Instructions for connecting to the class can be found on the Drum Lab course page

Get All Of These Practice Tracks Too!

Plus Over 150 Practice Tracks

About half of the tracks in these collections can be downloaded in my courses. Download the rest of the tracks as a part of this course pack at a huge discount!

Also included are 35 drum charts to help you follow and play along with the tracks. Use them in your practice as you learn how to play Jazz on drums and prepare for the real world of music!
16 Courses + Drum Lab
+ Practice Track Downloads
50%
discount
$435
savings

Need a little more help with how to play Jazz on drums?

Send me a direct message in the School and ask your questions in my monthly Drum Lab class. Just some of the perks for joining Jazz Drum School! 

Von Baron

Jazz drummer, educator, composer

About YOUR TEACHER

Performing regularly on stage and in the recording studio for 35+ years, Von Baron is one of the busiest drummers in Japan. 

Playing with Stanley Jordan, Benny Golson, Eddie Henderson, Geoff Keezer and many others gave Von the opportunity to hone his Jazz drumming skills. 

It's with this real world experience, Von created this course to give you a solid foundation for your Jazz drumming.
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