Best Drumming YouTube Channels

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Since he was a young kid, Brett has been playing the drums, inspired by his father’s love for playing the guitar and his family’s immersion into the music world. By 13, Brett’s love for the drums was solidified. Now over 20 years later, Brett focuses on making a living doing what he loves the most, playing the drums and sharing his knowledge. He even has his own Youtube Channel!

Bottom Line Up Front

There are countless drumming YouTube channels to check out. When watching them, you’ll find lessons, drum covers, performance videos, gear reviews, and comedic content.

If you’re looking for new channels to watch, here are my top suggestions.

My Top Picks at a Glance

Drumeo – Largest drumming YouTube channel with regards to the scope of their content. You get educational videos, entertainment videos, and documentaries.
COOP3RDRUMM3R – One of the most popular drum cover channels. Casey Cooper has become a household name in the YouTube drumming world.
Matt McGuire – Another popular drum cover channel. Matt McGuire is also the drummer for The Chainsmokers, so you get insights into the live gigging world.
Sounds Like a Drum – The best channel for learning about drum gear and how to manipulate it to get desired sounds.
ZackGrooves – Best comedic drumming channel, backed by Zack’s remarkable playing ability.
rdavidr – The best channel for DIY drum tips.
Sweetwater – In-depth reviews and breakdowns of all the latest drumming products.
65 Drums – A channel dedicated entirely to electronic drums. It has all the latest news, along with reviews of varying kits.
Drum Beats Online – Excellent education channel that also has several inspiring drumming videos.
ArtofDrumming – A high-quality educational channel that has an amazing series on how to make your drums sound like iconic drum kits from pro players.

Finding Channels to Watch

With so much content out there, it may be good for you to understand the different types that are available. Knowing these will allow you to focus on what type of content you want to consume. It will give you direction, and you’ll be able to choose the drumming channels that directly fulfill what you’re looking for.

Education

Educational channels are one of the main types of drumming channels that you’re going to find. These YouTube channels aim to teach you things. Some of them will teach you how to play drum parts, while others will teach you how to get better sounds from your drums.

When I watch lesson videos on YouTube, I tend to prefer drummers that get straight to the point with their lesson. I typically fast forward so that I can see the drum notation, and then I just learn from that idea. I only do this because I have a lot of experience and can easily learn things.

You may want a drum teacher that breaks down topics elaborately and makes them easy to understand. Thankfully, there is an extensive list of drum education channels that fulfill both needs.

There are also ones that teach in wacky and wonderful ways. The best way to find an education channel that you love is to watch them all and choose the one that grabs your attention the most.

Entertainment

Entertainment content is any content that has you sit back and watch. You don’t need to learn anything or make any decisions. This could come in the form of drumming performances, tour vlogs, or abstract videos that relate to drums.

These are the type of videos that I watch when eating breakfast. There’s nothing like watching a good drum solo when getting ready to start your day.

You won’t typically find drumming channels that are purely focused on entertainment, as videos like these will show up on channels that have other types of content as well.

For example, all the cymbal brands have videos of drummers doing performances on their channels, but entertaining you is not their main goal. Their main goal is to sell their cymbals.

Gear Reviews

YouTube channels that do gear reviews are some of the most useful channels you can watch. This is where you can get a drummer’s opinion on the gear that you’re thinking of buying. You’ll get to hear them play it and give their thoughts.

While some channels are purely dedicated to doing gear reviews, others are channels that do them every now and then. I tend to prefer the dedicated channels as they have more insights into the gear they’re reviewing.

They go through a lot of drumming gear, so their opinions on it are made in comparison to the other options that are available. This gives you a better overall idea of whatever they’re reviewing.

Just make sure to watch review channels that have experienced drummers. If the drummers aren’t experienced, their opinions may do more harm than good.

Drum Covers

While drum covers count as entertainment content, I’ve put this as its own section as the drum cover world is an entity on its own. There are hundreds of drum cover channels on YouTube, and all of them have drummers playing along to popular songs.

As there are so many, you may be wondering how to find the best ones. Besides the obvious aspect of view count, there are a few other things you can look for.

My top priority when looking for drum covers is video production quality. I’d much rather watch a drum cover that has been expertly filmed with multiple camera angles than one that only has one shot in it. Multiple angles make it more dynamic.

I also love watching drum covers where the drummers are demonstrating showmanship. It makes them a lot more interesting to watch. Drummers who play with no emotion tend to lose me after a while.

It’s quite ironic that I’m saying this, as I barely show any emotion when I’m playing. That’s why I don’t make drum covers, though!

Selection Criteria

All the YouTube channels that I have selected below include the content types that I have selected above. I’ve also selected them because they have high-quality production value. You’ll find that only drumming channels with top-quality visuals and sound quality tend to become popular on the platform.

Also, all the channels that I have suggested have over 50 000 subscribers. The number of people that have subscribed to them is a testament to how good they are.

Drumeo

Drumeo is the largest drumming platform on the Internet. While their main focus is their website, they put a lot of high-quality content out on their YouTube channel. They’re mainly an educational channel. That’s how they started out, and the bulk of their content involves lessons from famous drummers.

However, they also put out a lot of entertainment content. My favorite videos from Drumeo are documentaries about drum and cymbal factories. You get to see exactly how things are made and how all the systems work from some of the top drumming brands in the world.

This is the one channel where you’ll find some of your favorite drummers teaching lessons and giving advice. I’ve put this option at the beginning, as I’d recommend it first over any of the other channels.

COOP3RDRUMM3R

Casey Cooper was one of the first drummers to gain popularity by posting drum covers on YouTube. He’s been doing it for over ten years, and his channel has the most subscribers out of all the channels that I’m listing here.

What I love about Casey is that his drumming isn’t as technical as many of the other drummers doing covers. He’s just a guy having fun behind the drums, and you can clearly see how passionate he is from how he plays.

He’s made a huge impact on the drumming world, and it’s because of him that many drummers have decided to start playing. He doesn’t upload drum covers as frequently as he used to, but there are still new ones every now and then.

Matt McGuire

Matt McGuire is the second biggest drum cover drummer after Casey Cooper. He made his mark in the YouTube space when he uploaded hundreds of videos of him playing to remixes of popular songs. His drumming style is what made him popular as it’s highly energetic while still being very technically impressive.

He eventually became the drummer for The Chainsmokers, thanks to his YouTube popularity. Because of this, you get to watch videos that take you through the touring lifestyle.

Like Casey, Matt doesn’t post as many covers as he used to. He posts new ones a bit more frequently than Casey, though, and they’re always technically impressive.

Sounds Like a Drum

Sounds Like a Drum is a channel dedicated to drum sounds. The goal of all their videos is to show you how to get amazing sounds with the gear you have. They teach audio techniques, tuning techniques, and everything in between those things to allow you to get the best sounds possible.

I love this channel as they have an incredibly practical approach that is easy to follow. I often watch their videos and walk away with knowledge that I never had before. When I’m looking to attain a certain sound in my setup, I’ll look to their channel to see if they’ve done a tutorial on how to get it.

ZackGrooves

ZackGrooves is one of the newer channels on the list. He first started posting regularly in 2020, yet his channel blew up within months. He mainly produces entertainment content. All his videos will make you laugh thanks to their wacky ideas and his humorous personality.

However, I think the main reason his channel works so well is that his goofy traits are backed by his incredible drumming skills. He’s one of my favorite drummers, and I’m always blown away by what he plays behind the kit.

Zack also has a strong community surrounding his channel. This is demonstrated by his videos where he plays drums to music made by his subscribers. He highly encourages people to send him messages and questions as he loves engaging with his audience.

rdavidr

David Raouf’s channel is the prime place you want to look to find everything DIY. He boosted his channel’s growth by providing videos that suggested drum hacks that will save you money. If you’re the type to figure things out instead of paying for them, you’re going to love this channel.

David has incredibly interesting videos where he gives himself goals to achieve. My favorites are ones where he cuts up cymbals to create his own unique ones. The end results aren’t always amazing, but the videos are always fun to watch.

He does a few performance videos and drum covers, but the main idea behind his channel is DIY content for drummers.

Sweetwater

While Sweetwater isn’t a dedicated drumming channel, I’ve suggested it here as it’s the best place to find videos of drum kits being demoed. Nick D’Virgilio is the main man behind all the drumming videos, and he’s an excellent demonstrator of drums and cymbals.

There are hundreds of videos of Nick talking about drum kits and explaining who they’re good for. He’s an incredible drummer, so his demos are always interesting to watch.

Sweetwater often brings famous drummers to do videos for their channel as well. There are several videos where Nick has conversations with established drummers. You get to hear about their opinions and learn from them.

I highly suggest subscribing to the Sweetwater channel. Whenever I want to hear what a certain drum kit will sound like, I’ll look to Sweetwater first.

65 Drums

65 Drums is one of the few YouTube channels that is purely focused on electronic drums. Justin has been posting reviews, breakdowns, and the latest news about electronic kits for years. He goes a lot more in-depth about them than most other channels do.

What I appreciate most about his channel is that he doesn’t just stick to covering electronic sets from Roland, Alesis, and Yamaha. He covers everything available, so you’ll get a decent idea of all the electronic kits out there from watching his channel.

If you’re thinking about buying an electronic drum set, or if you’re a frequent user of e-kits, I highly suggest keeping up with his channel. I trust his opinions on electronic drums completely, and I often go back to his videos when needing answers to electronic drumming questions.

Drum Beats Online

Drum Beats Online is a channel run by Gabe Helguera. It’s similar to Drumeo in that DBO is a website, and the YouTube channel supplements it. However, I love the DBO YouTube channel because it has a more personal approach.

Gabe is the main man here, and he has an amazing personality. He provides drum lessons and advice videos that help drummers with problems that they may have. There are also a few inspirational videos that he’s put out, which are incredibly heartwarming.

My favorite thing about Gabe’s videos is their production quality. Every video has a top-quality intro, and it’s followed by professional editing to keep the audience engaged.

Gabe is also the drummer for I Prevail, which is a popular rock band. He has a few videos where he takes you on tour with him, and you get to see everything that goes on behind the scenes at rock festivals.

ArtofDrumming

My final suggestion is the ArtofDrumming YouTube channel. There’s a team of drummers behind this channel, and they provide lessons, interviews, advice, and general sound tips.

My favorite videos from this channel are the ones where they teach you how to achieve the same sounds that famous drummers have in popular recordings. They have excellent knowledge when it comes to sound and drum gear, and they know how to manipulate both to get desired drum kit sounds.

All the videos posted on this channel are incredibly thorough. The pacing is excellent, and you’ll finish every video after learning something new.

The benefit of this channel is that it’ll lead you to their educational website. Surprisingly, it’s completely free. So, go check it out!

FAQs

Question: Can You Learn Drumming from YouTube?

Answer: Yes. There are thousands of drum lessons available to watch on YouTube. If you’re looking to learn a new drum fill or groove, it’s one of the best platforms to learn from, especially since it’s free.
However, I wouldn’t recommend only learning from YouTube. As the algorithm pushes all the latest content that has been uploaded, there isn’t a set structure when it comes to finding drum lessons. This will leave you with no direction to follow.
If you want to learn to play drums purely from online resources, I’d suggest signing up for an educational drumming website. Those platforms will give you clear paths to follow. Otherwise, you should find a drum teacher in person, and you can use YouTube lessons as extra material.

Question: Do Drummers Make Money from Doing Drum Covers?

Answer: No. When a drummer uses a song to play a drum cover, that song is already owned by the label that distributes it. If a YouTube channel is monetized, all the AdSense money that gets made from a drum cover will go directly to the owners of the song instead of the drummer that made the cover.
This is why you shouldn’t pursue doing drum covers as a full-time job. It won’t pay your bills! However, popular drum cover YouTubers often get sponsorship deals from companies thanks to their high viewership. They also make videos separate from their drum covers where the AdSense money goes straight to them.

Question: How Do You Become a Popular YouTube Drummer?

Answer: You need to make content that is valuable to people. The more valuable your content is, the more people will be attracted to it, and that will increase your views.
A good place to start when making YouTube drum videos is to have high-quality video and sound. That will keep people engaged when watching your videos. You should then decide what content types you want to make.
After that, it’s all about posting consistently. YouTube rewards channels that post lots of content, so keep to a dedicated posting schedule. With high-quality videos that provide value and a consistent posting schedule, your viewers will grow over time.
For more advice on making a YouTube drumming channel, check this article out.

Conclusion

If you subscribe to all ten channels that I listed, you’ll have more than enough drum content to get you through every week. All the channels are still relatively active on the platform, and they’re all constantly growing and providing value.

Don’t stop with just those channels, though. There are plenty more drumming channels where they came from, and YouTube is the perfect platform to watch all of them on.

If there’s a concept that you haven’t seen a drumming channel do yet, I’d suggest that you do it yourself! YouTube is such an easy platform to get started on, and you could potentially make a name for yourself with a good idea.

For more interesting reading on drum gear, check out the following articles: