How can you make drumming more fun? By playing along to music, of course. And when you are practising solo this mean finding drumless tracks and play alongs or creating them on your own.
Play-along tracks or drumless tracks can help you practice your timing, work on specific techniques, try out various beats and fills in different styles all in a musical context making it much more enjoyable than playing to a metronome. Because you are playing to actual songs these help you with your musicality as well. These tracks are especially great when it may not be possible to jam with other musicians.
Types of Drumless Tracks
Drumless tracks can be of different types . Typically, songs that have been recorded with no drums, or where the drums have been removed, are called “drumless tracks” or “drum play-along tracks”. There are also original recordings where the drum tracks have been removed, which gives you a chance to try out some famous drum parts (or write your own) over the actual song.
At The Drum Camp we create a wide collection of play along tracks of a range of tempos for our students to practise, jam or record to.
Click tracks
Drumless tracks can come in two versions: with and without a click. This lets you practice and record yourself playing with the click version, then try the no-click version to work on your timing and precision (this can really hone your ability to follow the bass like you would when playing with a band).
Making Drum Videos
If you’re looking to make drum videos to post on social media (or just for yourself for feedback and educational purposes), play-along tracks are a perfect solution. You can use a drumless version of popular songs and record your own take of it or If it’s not a cover, it gives you a chance to showcase your own writing and arranging skills for drum parts.
Playing with music is one way to make practicing and learning drums even more fun. Use drumless tracks and play-alongs to apply new skills, work on time and feel, learn how to create your own drum parts, and enjoy your favorite songs. Give it a try!
