For anyone wanting to become a competent drummer, learning basic drum beats is the first thing you need to learn because they are the foundation of all rhythms. Your overall drumming ability will improve by learning beats. There are various music styles that have their own beats that you will want to learn and master.

Knowing your basic drum beats means you can play along with all kinds of different styles of music. Each musical style has its own rhythm, tempo and sound. Rhythms are pretty generic and can often be used in more than one style of music.

A jazz beat is 4/4 time, and so are hip hop beats. You can play a hip hop beat in a jazz style, but jazz beats will always be jazz beats. A rock beat is also 4/4 time but it can't be played in 3/3 time, or in a waltz rhythm. They can be crossed over in order to improve or enhance other music styles though.

Here are a few examples of popular drum beats:

• Jazz, Hip Hop, Latin

• Rock, Techno, Blues

• Afro-Cuban, Reggae, Waltz

• Rag-time, Heavy Metal, Country

• R&B, Brazillian, Funk

Each one of these music styles has its own set of drum grooves that you can learn.

Which Ones Will You Learn

As you can see, there are more beats than you are likely going to be able to learn (at least at first). It's a better idea to master a few rather than know them all poorly. Many famous drummers in reggae, rock, blues, jazz and even heavy metal all stick with the few styles they know the best. That's why they are so good at what they do, because they stick to their basic beats and constantly practice them.

So choose your preferred style of music, and focus on learning those beats in order to truly master them. Don't try to learn them all. The best way to learn is to play the songs you already love. You don't necessarily have to learn all the beats and rhythms in any style of music, just master the songs you like to play.