Traditionally, if you wanted to learn the drums, you found a teacher in your area, booked a lesson and started on your merry way to becoming the next John Bonham - that’s how I learned. But in this day and age, your options are far greater, with the best online drum lessons now able to teach you everything you need to know from wherever you are, and for a fraction of the price.
Thanks to advancements in technology such as cameras, audio equipment and speedy internet connections, it’s now possible to take a lesson from pretty much anyone, pretty much anywhere.
But with so many options available - from independent teachers to collections of video lessons from some of the biggest players on the planet - which is the best option for you? That’s what I’m here to help you find out.
I’ve explored and tested all the most popular options online right now and rounded-up the ones I think are the best fit for certain types of player - whether you’re a complete beginner, you’re further along your playing journey, or you’re seeking out lessons from your drumming heroes.
Right now, my top pick is Drumeo. Not only are they producing some of the most entertaining and insightful drum content online right now, the quality and scale of tuition they offer their subscribers is unrivalled.
Quick list
Best overall
If you’ve ever shown the slightest interest in online drum lessons, there’s a strong chance you’ve already watched one of the almost 2,000 videos currently hosted on Drumeo's YouTube Channel. Take out a subscription, however, and you’ll get access to thousands of hours of lessons from some of the greatest drummers on the planet, thousands of song transcriptions, jam tracks, live lessons and more.
If you’re a complete beginner, the Drumeo Method syllabus will guide you from kit set-up to advanced techniques. Intermediate and more experienced players will love the ability to delve deep into more refined and niche techniques and approaches. There really is something for everyone, regardless of ability and music taste.
MusicRadar readers can enjoy a full month for free (the standard trial is 7 days) using this link. Your trial will also give you complete access to Drumeo's sister platforms Pianote, Guitareo and Singeo.
“With hundreds of hours of lessons and courses from some of the greatest drummers in the world, thousands of song transcriptions and hundreds of jam tracks, plus a lot more, Drumeo has something to offer for drummers of all abilities and styles. If you’re looking for quick inspiration, but with detailed, high quality instruction on-tap, you’ll find it here.”
Read more: Drumeo review
Most personal
Revered drum educator Mike Johnston really cares about teaching, and it’s reflected in the design and presentation of his lessons. There are over 50 courses included with a membership, each one designed to improve the core areas of your drumming. Mike is constantly working on the best way to present and explain concepts, and offers multiple camera angles, full notation and multiple tempos for every one of his lessons.
But what I love most about mikeslessons.com is its ability to deliver the lessons in a way that feels personal. There’s a comprehensive practice planner to make sure you’re getting the most out of your time, homework assignments to ensure progression and live sessions including jams and Q&As to give you actual contact time with Mike.
It’s possibly not the starting place if you’ve only just picked up sticks, but I think advancing and intermediate players will love Mike’s enthusiasm and friendly presentation.
Best for beginners
If all this talk of blistering chops and world-class celebrity teachers has you feeling a little intimidated, Drum Ambition narrows things down a little by focussing on beginner to intermediate drummers. Simon Dasgupta has developed a curriculum to take you through the fundamentals of drumming over five modules, split into 100 videos.
The Drum Ambition app means it’ll work across your devices. There’s over 40 minutes of free lessons on the Drum Ambition site to give you a taste of the lessons and presentation style, starting from the very beginning of how to count eighth-notes.
Once again, you can pay monthly or annually, with tiered pricing starting at $29 for pay-monthly, $199 for pay-annually and a $499 Pro package which includes a monthly one-to-one video chat with Simon, and a personalised practice plan.
Best OG lessons site
Drumeo’s vast amount of content is rivalled only by Drum Channel, one of the first major online drum lessons platforms to emerge, and is now well over 16 years into existence. With masterclasses from the likes of Chad Smith, Bruce Becker, Thomas Pridgen, Abe Laboriel Jr and many others, there are lessons and courses covering the basics - from your first beats to extreme double pedal playing, full track breakdowns and even fitness (see Yoga for Drummers). They also host regular sofa chats with big-named players.
Plus, you'll find song play-alongs and transcriptions, and jam tracks. An annual plan costs $197 a year (working out at $16.41 a month) or you can pay monthly at $25, plus Drum Channel offers a 90-day money-back guarantee if you’re not completely satisfied.
Best for e-drums
Melodics presents a different approach to the rest of the platforms featured here. First, it’s aimed at electronic drummers, and second, it isn’t based on the personality/teacher style of lessons we see presented elsewhere. Instead, you download the Melodics software, and hook-up your kit to your computer. From here, you learn through a slightly ‘gamified’ interactive learning concept.
It’s a great way of teaching yourself, and it’s the educational partner for both Roland and Alesis. However we do feel that you might be seeking further inspiration and more human instruction before very long. If you’ve got an electronic drum kit, download it, try the free lessons and there’s no obligation to continue.
Best for pros
Dave Weckl is a true icon of the drums, and while he’s a technical powerhouse from another planet, he’s been an educator in parallel to his playing career for decades.
Here, Dave has created a series of courses via Teachable based around all aspects of playing, from set up to hand and foot technique, timing and feel, soloing and even recording.
As well as the courses, there’s interaction directly with Dave and his team (including representatives from the brands he plays) via an exclusive, private Facebook page and forum. You’ll also get access to performances, playalongs and guest lessons/seminars from top instrumentalists such as Mike Stern and Oz Noy. The courses cater for all ability levels, but we think the detailed nature could be more applicable to intermediate/advanced players.
Best for legends
MasterClass is an all-round education site, with courses on many subjects from cooking to… drumming! Current drum courses include Ringo Starr (Drumming & Creative Collaboration), Sheila E (Drumming and Percussion) and Metallica’s guide to being in a band (featuring some instruction from Lars Ulrich).
There’s a lot to be learned, but we’d say it’s better suited to players who have found their feet (and hands) and want some more specific lessons or to learn directly from the players mentioned. MasterClass memberships start at $180 (billed annually), but this gives you access to every course on the MasterClass site which takes the sting out a little bit.
Also consider...
How to choose the best online drum lessons for you
There are plenty of teachers and organisations offering online drum lessons, usually presented as pre-recorded courses aimed at different ability levels in exchange for a monthly subscription fee. Here are some things you should consider. Further down the page we also have some of your common questions answered.
You might have had a look around at some of the best online drum lessons platforms already. If so, you’ve probably noticed they are fairly similar - you sign up, decide which path you want to go down, and then a thread of videos opens up to you.
However, there are a number of nuances to look out for to help decipher which features and which platform is right for you. These are all factors we consider when testing out a platform ourselves.
- Structure: Does the structure of each lesson and course make sense from a user standpoint? Is it clear, sequential and easy to navigate? And the same applies to the site/app as a whole; can you find the content you need quickly and easily?
- Quality of lessons: Do the lessons look modern and are they filmed in high quality and from multiple camera angles? Where relevant, is it clear what the drummer is doing with both their hands and feet? As a general point, are lessons presented in an expert but friendly manner and are key theories and techniques demonstrated clearly enough for you to follow suit?
- Extra features: Does your chosen platform offer bonus elements such as live lessons, or tutor feedback. And are these things you feel you’ll actually benefit from?
- Useful tools: For us, the most helpful tools an online lessons platform can provide is the ability to slow down and loop key parts of a lesson, and follow along with on-screen notation.
- Pacing: Does each lessons move along at an appropriate pace, or does it rattle through key concepts too quickly for you to really fathom without a lot of rewinding? Or are some lessons too slow and over-indulgent? Make sure your chosen platform delivers the approach that suits you best.
- Price: You probably already have plenty of monthly payments leaving your bank account for various bills and services, right? Can you justify another one? What you’re looking for here is great value for your outlay. We’d recommend signing up for a few free trials to get a feel for how you might use a regular subscription.
FAQs
How do online drum lessons work?
Typically, you take out a subscription (usually monthly, but often annual subscriptions are available). This gives you access to an archive of structured video lessons content to work through at your own pace. The best online drum lessons platforms are constantly adding to this archive with new lessons, programs, guest masterclasses and loads more.
These lessons are accessible via a web browser, or in some cases also through a dedicated app. This means that, as long as you have a laptop or smart device to hand, you can practice at your convenience, day or night. And the portability-factor means your learning doesn't miss a beat if you're away from your kit for a period of time. Going on holiday? Pack a pair of sticks and a practice pad, load up your online lessons and away you go.
Can't I just watch drum lessons on YouTube?
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You have probably come across many of the best known educators in the online drum lesson game already via YouTube, which begs the question: why not just watch the stuff they post online for free? Well, obviously that’s an option, but it’s important to note that free content on YouTube - while often extremely informative - is posted partly as a marketing tool.
But what you don’t get from sampling a lot of free content is structure. You run the risk of only learning disparate grooves, chops and tricks whereas paid-for courses are designed to give you a logical progression and a more complete understanding of the topic you’re learning. There’s a lot to be said for that.
Which online drum lessons service is right for me?
Selecting which service to go for will partly depend on you, your current ability level, schedule and the ways that you prefer to learn. Just as with face-to-face lessons, it’s worth having some objectives of what you’d like to achieve from the lessons. Are you looking to start playing from scratch, or are you a more experienced player wanting to improve a narrower, more specific style or technique?
If you only have a small amount of time to dedicate to drumming each week, you may find that having access to too much content is overwhelming or distracting.
Likewise, feedback and accountability for making sure you’re progressing properly and consistently could be high on your list of priorities. If so, it’s worth checking out a membership that gives you the option to submit your playing for feedback and ask questions etc.
How much should I spend on online drum lessons?
But we also need to consider budget. Many of the memberships in our guide cost less if you pay annually - with a cooling-off period if you change your mind - but also offer a pay-as-you-go option if you’d rather not pay a lump sum.
We’d suggest taking advantage of a free trial, or perhaps starting on a monthly plan if you need more time to decide. This way you can give yourself a test run with dedicated lesson and practice time and see how it fits into your schedule before committing to a full year.
Whichever platform you sign up for, the likelihood is you’ll save a significant amount of money vs taking regular face-to-face lessons during the same period.
We explore the topic of online vs face-to-face lessons more thoroughly in this article.
How we test online drum lessons
The MusicRadar online drum lessons review process is editorially independent and not influenced by any third parties. For the purposes of our reviews we are either supplied with a free subscription by the platforms themselves, or we purchase our own subscriptions.
We test every platform for at least a couple of weeks to get a true feel for how they work and the impact they are having on our playing.
We aim to re-evaluate and re-test services whenever there has been a major update and we update our reviews and star ratings accordingly. This guide is also updated on a regular cadence to keep pace with the latest changes and improvements to our favourite platforms.
Our testing team evaluates online lessons platforms in the following categories:
- Ease of registration/setup
- Quality of content/tutors
- Range of content
- Song library
- Other useful features
This enables us to produce accurate, well-balanced and real-life reviews to help you easily figure out whether the service you’re interested in really is the best choice for you.
Find out more about how we test music gear and services at MusicRadar.
Why trust us
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Since 2007 MusicRadar has been helping musicians of all kinds, whether they're drummers, guitarists, producers, keyboard players, or DJs. We've been testing music gear and services for a long time, and our team of highly experienced industry professionals collectively have over a century's worth of knowledge from real-world music-making.
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Our testing team includes:
- Expert reviewers with decades of hands-on experience testing and owning a wide range of guitar products and services
- Industry professionals who have worked in the drum industry for decades
- Writers who have held positions at drum companies, within drum retail and at leading drum magazines and websites
- Drum tutors have have run successful tuition businesses in addition to creating lesson content for magazines including Rhythm and sites like MusicRadar
Meet our experts
Outside of my day job as Guitar Reviews Editor on MusicRadar, I'm also a freelance drum journalist and I regularly test and review drum gear for MR.com. I test the majority of electronic drum sets that come through the MusicRadar studio. You can also see me playing and chatting drums on the MusicRadar Tech YouTube channel. I formerly edited Rhythm and Total Guitar here in the UK, but drums is my primary instrument and I’ve been playing for more than 25 years. When I'm not working on the site, I can be found on my electronic kit at home, gigging and depping in function bands and working on the odd original project.
Latest updates
Recent updates
05/02/25: We've streamlined our list to a little and categorised each of our choices with a 'best for...' label so it's easier to find the right option for you. We've also improved the navigation of the page. Finally, our FAQ section has been updated with more guidance and there's a new section covering how we test online lessons services.
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