Steve PMHDrumming burns more calories than cycling, weight lifting, and hiking. Drumming builds strength and cardiovascular fitness—an extreme workout.
If you have always wanted to learn how to play the drums without attending everyday lessons, you’re not alone. Fortunately, there are several ways you can reach drum teachers remotely and improve your drumming skills.
One of these options is Drumeo. It’s the biggest online drum education platform and has been holding this title for several years. Drumeo allows you to learn how to play the drums through videos and live lessons.
The platform makes your lessons fun, more manageable, and affordable, but is it for you? Is it better than traditional face-to-face tuition? Is it a worthy investment?
In this article, we will answer all your questions about Drumeo, its history, features, pros, and cons to help you make an informed decision.
Ready? Let’s dive right in!
Drumeo Overview
Drumeo is a membership website dedicated exclusively to teaching drums. It is one of the most popular platforms for learning how to play the drums online. When you become a Drumeo member, you get full access to their well-organized and laid-out content.
You can choose any lesson you’re interested in and watch all the videos, download sheets, and practice. You also get an opportunity to comment directly in a live lesson and get more clarification or explanation on a specific video.
That means you don’t need to be a beginner to learn drums on Drumeo. Rather than teaching one thing at a time and making you practice it over and over, Drumeo uses a different approach that allows you to progress faster and develop a more robust understanding of the instrument.
The platform guarantees that you will learn the drums faster with the help of their world-class teachers and favorite drummers. Their approach includes a step-by-step 10-level drum curriculum with over 230 courses on all topics and styles.
They also have over 2000 play-along songs, full transcriptions, and practice tools that you can access anytime on any device.
There are coaches to offer support and motivate you in the 10+ weekly live events. They also provide personal feedback and video reviews. The site is constantly evolving, with developers looking to improve students’ experiences.
There is a community of drummers designed to share experiences and a unique XP system that allows you to track your progress. The system helps you know how you’re doing in your lessons and which areas require improvement.
The platform is optimized for Android and iOs users. You can download it on PC, and it’s pretty easy to maneuver with a colorful polished feel. There are several packages to choose from and a 90-day money guarantee if you’re not satisfied with the course.
History of Drumeo
Jared Falk Launched Drumeo, which means “drum education online” in February 2012. The idea of teaching drumming using online lessons was born in 2002 by Jared and his partner Rick Kettner.
The two started as a small online community known as BreakSticks.com. They would use the website to upload video tutorials, drum articles, and a community discussion forum.
Railroad Media
With the help of both families, Jared and Rick started Railroad Media in December 2005 and became full-time employees. They launched step-by-step DVD packs including the Rock Drumming System, One-Handed Drum Roll, Moeller Method Secrets, Bass Drum Secrets Pack, The Latin Drumming System, and The Jazz Drumming System.
With continued growth, particularly with the presence of YouTube, Railroad Media created an in-house studio which boosted its popularity and growth.
How Drumeo was Born
They would film video training packs, and soon they decided it was time to start creating online editions with The Drumming System as the first online edition. The Online edition allowed students to access the original content directly through the website.
It also allowed them to ask questions and comment on the videos. With the shift towards online video lessons, Jared decided it was time to unify everything under a single platform, and that’s how Drumeo was born.
The Future of Drumeo
The Drumeo team continues to adopt new technologies to improve their online presence and add value to the online drum lessons. Jared has been leading the efforts to add more remote instructors with early additions, including Rob Litten, Jai Es, and Aaron Edgar.
In the future, you can expect to see more instructors from across the globe joining the platform to add diversity and vibrancy to the drumming community.
While uncertainties exist, Drumeo hopes to use the ever-growing technology, shifting trends, and new ideas to provide its students with creative solutions to practical needs.
How does Drumeo Work?
Drumeo is a membership site. That means your first step to joining the program is reviewing the website and paying the membership fee. You can also check their YouTube channel to get a glimpse of what to expect from their video lessons.
The site allows you to sign up for a 7-day trial to understand how the platform works. Once you’ve created your account, you can set up your profile.
Inside the Drumeo members’ area, you will be directed to a page offering a brief explanation of the course, the number of lessons available, how long the course will take, how much XP you could earn from taking the course, and the links to each lesson.
The back-end portal contains a set of modules offering a different focus of instruction such as method, Songs, Coaches, Courses, Rudiments, Play-Along songs, and much more.
Most modules have multiple video courses, and the left-hand sidebar links to Drumeo forums. It allows you to introduce yourself to the drumming community and ask questions about the platform. Depending on your skill level, you can decide to start from the first lesson or skim through the course to identify your target course if you’re looking to learn a specific skill.
You can watch the video lessons from anywhere or download them to watch later. Each lesson is accompanied by segments of sheet music, each of which you can practice along. Once you feel comfortable with the lesson, you can move on to the next one—until you’ve completed the course
Who is Drumeo for?
While Drumeo was undoubtedly created to help beginners because they stand to gain more from the course, everyone can benefit from the program, including intermediate and advanced drummers.
With over 2000 lessons in over 230 courses, it’s almost impossible to run out of things to learn. Drumeo frequently adds more videos every day, with each video explaining a particular aspect of the topic.
Standard course topics such as How to learn lessons quickly and Useful grooves every drummer should know and advanced courses like Gospel drumming and Polyrhythmic phrasing over the barline are perfect for any growing and developing drummer.
The lessons allow you to experiment and find your niche. Drummers of all levels have lots of tips and skills to pick from the platform, and if you feel you’re beyond advanced, you still have a lot to learn from the coaches to scale higher as a drummer.
Drumeo is also perfect for drum enthusiasts who might not have time to attend lessons in the traditional style. The platform allows you to access lessons from anywhere at any time and download videos if you’re away from your computer or in a place with no internet connection.
However, it’s a bit disappointing that you won’t receive feedback on what you’re practicing in each lesson. You can only ask questions during live sessions.
What Makes Drumeo Unique?
With over 147,000 students, Drumeo is by far the largest online drumming platform available today.
Drumeo gives you exclusive access to some of the world’s renowned drummers globally. You can interact with them and gain support and connection throughout your learning process.
Unlike other drum courses that give a list of instructions, Drumeo focuses on having real instructors explaining concepts and showing you how to do it with sheet music. It also allows you to choose the coach you feel matches your style to help you achieve your goals.
While learning from the site provides full access to video lessons, Drumeo has daily live sessions and weekly live events. You can choose topics you need help with, ask questions and get personal feedback from your favorite drummers.
The events are recorded and available to you for future reference. The lessons are also designed for the student, and the videos come with sheet music to practice along, which allows you to perfect every lesson before moving to the next one.
With over 2000 songs, it’s safe to say that Drumeo was keen on adding most of your favorite songs to play in the course. They also offer free lessons that you can go through for practice before you pay for your membership.
While Drumeo is exclusively for adults, children have their section in the platform called Drumeo kids that introduces and teaches your child how to drum through entertaining shows and interesting videos. Drumeo kids can be downloaded for free on Google Play or the App Store.
Features of Drumeo
Before joining the members’ area, you might want to check the free lessons and review the main features to know if the course fits your needs or not. Here are the main features of Drumeo.
Coaches and Famous Drummers
Drumeo lessons are delivered by over 80 professional coaches, including drumming celebrities like Benny Greb and Thomas Lang. You can choose the instructor you prefer to work with depending on your strength.
For instance, if you’re a jazz drummer, you can choose to work with one or all jazz instructors on Drumeo. If you have no specific style, you can select a coach for each type you learn.
The coaches have different strengths. Some of the coaches you can expect to interact with include:
- Jared Falk: Getting started and motivation
- Eric Improta: Rock, art, and touring
- Domino Santantonio: Pop and performance
- Micheal Schack: Electronic drumming
- Matt Mcguire: Live shows and performance
- Kaz Rodriguez: Musicality and composition
- Larnel Lewis: Musicianship and groove
- Sarah Thawer: Exploring new styles
- Dorothea Taylor: Drumline discipline
- Todd Sucherman: Philosophy
- John Wooton: Rudiments and applications
The Courses and Lessons
The 230+ courses cover something specifically for you to learn, and the main component of the lesson is the video. The classes are guided by a professional instructor with tools such as sheet music to help you play along. They are well filmed in a studio to look professional.
Your first lesson at level one connects you with Jared Falk. He takes you through the introduction and everything you need to know and how to play your first few beats, fills, and songs. Each lesson can last between 30 and 90 minutes.
Drumeo is relatively easy to use. The main menu on the left-hand side, helps you navigate deeper into the lessons and courses. There is a search bar displayed prominently on the dashboard to help you find things faster.
Since the site holds tons of content, there is a minor concern about the organization. While Drumeo did a great job organizing the content, you still end up doing quite a number of clicks to find exactly what you’re looking for.
However, you don’t need to worry about getting lost. If you do, use the main menu or search to get back on track.
It’s important to note that you need a high-speed internet connection to navigate through Drumeo. With so many users and thousands of content, the slow internet might not be helpful.
Design and Aesthetics
Drumeo’s design is quite simple with their color scheme based on their trademark, blue, white, and black with a few elements of yellow, pink, and red. The fonts are readable and easy on the eyes. You will be able to read smaller fonts even if they’re not bolded.
The pages in the membership portal are also not sophisticated. They use header banners, ordered lists, and simple grid layouts.
The design looks professional and user-friendly. The developers were keen on focusing more on function with a display that’s not too attractive nor too overwhelming.
Technology and Content Quality
You can tell that the technology behind Drumeo is impressive as everything about the site is mobile responsive. Whether you’re using a phone, tablet, or PC, the content format fits in perfectly to give you the experience you deserve. That means you can log in to your lessons anytime you want using the readily available device.
Drumeo also took great care to ensure that their videos are high-quality and capture everything going on in the drum kit. Multiple camera angles allow you to see how the instructor is drumming, and you won’t feel lost or uncertain where some notes are coming from.
Community
Another great feature in Drumeo is the open community forums. You can introduce yourself to the members, post comments or questions on video lessons, and receive answers from teachers and other students.
The community helps keep students motivated, so they don’t lose interest in their lessons. By keeping members motivated, engaged, and involved, the Drum team can help students perfect their skills and achieve their goals.
Pros
- Extensive database with over 2000 lessons in over 230 courses
- Real interaction with renowned drummers
- Unlimited access to lessons from any location
- Exclusive live lessons and weekly live events
- Perfect for all drum levels, especially beginners
- Organized curriculum that allows you to choose whom to teach you and when to learn
- Free video lessons and a 90-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- Some lessons can take too long
- No one-on-one lesson or immediate feedback
- Finding lessons can be time-consuming
FAQs
1. What is Drumeo?
Drumeo is an online-based platform dedicated exclusively to teaching drumming. The platform provides lessons for beginners and advanced drummers at a fee.
2. What is XP for in Drumeo?
Drumeo uses XP to help students track their progress. That means the more videos you watch, the more lessons you get and the more XP you get. More XP means you have learned a lot.
3. When can I learn to drum on Drumeo?
It depends on your learning patterns and availability. The course allows you to learn at your own pace and schedule.
4. Which membership package should I choose?
Your membership package depends on how long your course will take. If you’re a beginner, you can start with an annual plan.
Final Thoughts (+ Verdict)
Drumeo has managed to remain impressively vibrant among its peers. Today, it is the go-to platform for drummers of all levels. It seems to be run by drummers who share similar passion and enthusiasm for drumming.
It might be a bit overwhelming at a glance, but the lessons guide even the newest drummers through a streamlined process that makes it easy to learn.
Their song archive can be more extensive and we should expect it to grow over time to cover the most demanded songs. The design is simple, which is the right choice for beginners, but we can expect that the content display and overall presentation will improve.
Note that whether you pay for monthly or yearly subscriptions, the quantity and quality of content don’t change. Depending on your learning style and schedule, you can complete your course in less than six months, while another student can take over two years.
Lastly, after going through the curriculum, coaches, methodology, and reviews from users, we can confidently agree with other reviewers that Drumeo is very much worth your money, effort, and time.
While there is still room for improvement, we can’t ignore the fact that the platform has taken time to deal with the main pain points to ensure students get the best experience. If we were to rate it, we would give it a 9.5/10 as it is the best online drumming course on the market currently.
If you think Drumeo matches your drumming needs, feel free to check it out and try it today!
