Most people who want to play punk try to start at punk tempo. It falls apart in a week, because a skank beat at 180 is a rock beat at 90 with everything else stripped away, and they never learned the rock beat at 90.
So this plan starts slow and boring on purpose. You learn one beat, you get it clean, and you let the tempo climb a few BPM at a time. By week twelve you are playing real songs from Vancouver punk and metal bands at 170 BPM and above.
Every session looks the same
| Time | What you do | Tool |
|---|---|---|
| 5 min | Warm up: single strokes, R L R L, on a pad or the snare | Click Track |
| 15 min | This week's beat, climbing in tempo | Punk Beat Ladder |
| 10 min | Play along to a real song | Drum Game |
The one rule: you only move up a rung after eight clean bars in a row. If it falls apart, go back one rung. Going slower is not failing. It is the practice.
Weeks 0–1Set up and learn to count
- Open the Drum Map and lay out your kit. Label every piece. When someone says "hi-hat", "snare" or "kick" you should be able to point at it without thinking.
- Set the Click Track to 60 BPM in 4/4 with eighth notes. Count "1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &" out loud along with it, then clap it. Do this until it is dull.
- If you have an e-kit or a mic, open the Drum Trigger Visualiser and hit each piece. You will see straight away whether your kick and snare are landing together or flamming.
Weeks 2–4The rock beat
This is the beat nearly every rock and punk song is built on. Hats on every eighth note, kick on 1 and 3, snare on 2 and 4.
- Hands first. Hi-hat and snare only, with the Click Track at 60 BPM.
- Add the kick once your hands are on autopilot. If the kick drags your right hand with it, slow down.
- Climb. Use the ladder below. It stops for a stick count-in before every new tempo so you can reset.
- First song: Skamen by Dead Fast at 115 BPM, on normal.
Rock beat · 70 → 120 BPM · +5 every 8 bars · count-in on every rung
Open this drill →Goal for week 4: a clean rock beat at 110 BPM.
Weeks 5–7Punk 8ths and the Oi! stomp
Now the right foot gets busy. The stomp puts the kick on every beat. Punk 8ths is the rock beat with one extra kick on the "and" of 3, which is what makes it push forward.
- Stomp first, 90 to 150. It builds the foot you will need later.
- Then Punk 8ths, 100 to 150.
- Songs: No Other by Bound By None (120 BPM), then Cornered Demo by Lift The Anchor (148 BPM).
- Record yourself once a week on your phone, a full session in one go. Drop it into Razor Cut and it splits the recording into takes wherever you stopped. Keep the best one each week. In a month you will be glad you did.
Oi! stomp · 90 → 150 BPM · +5 every 8 bars
Open this drill →Punk 8ths · 100 → 150 BPM · +5 every 8 bars
Open this drill →Goal for week 7: Punk 8ths at 150 BPM.
Weeks 8–10The skank beat and the D-beat
These are the two beats that sound like punk and hardcore. The skank beat puts the snare on every "and", which will feel backwards for a few days. The D-beat is the gallop behind crust punk.
- Skank beat, 80 to 160. Start slower than feels necessary.
- D-beat, 80 to 150.
- Songs: Groenlandia and La tragedia de los comunes by Diera (148 BPM), then Pony Up by Granite (162 BPM).
- Watch the drum covers to see what these beats look like on a real kit at full speed.
Skank beat · 80 → 160 BPM · +5 every 8 bars
Open this drill →D-beat · 80 → 150 BPM · +5 every 8 bars
Open this drill →Goal for week 10: the skank beat at 160 BPM.
Weeks 11–12Speed, and your first rehearsal
- The full ladder, 70 to 200, any beat, with "keep going at the top" switched on. Stop when your form goes, not when you get tired. Tense shoulders and a death grip on the sticks mean you have gone past it.
- Songs: Land and Sea (172 BPM) and Star Shines Trough (178 BPM) by Dead Fast, and On The Double by Bound By None (185 BPM).
- Before your first jam, run the Gig Checklist on "rehearsal" so you turn up with sticks, a key and ear protection. Ask the band for their song tempos and export a WAV from the Click Track for each one.
Skank beat · 70 → 200 BPM · +10 every 8 bars · keeps going at the top
Open this drill →Goal for week 12: a full song in the Drum Game at 170 BPM or faster.
Boss songs, for when you are ready
- Per mi by Diera, 207 BPM
- Sebastopol García by Diera, 207 BPM
- Bajo el nivel del mal by Diera, 215 BPM
After twelve weeks
You can hold four beats that cover most of punk, at tempos a real band will ask of you. The next step is playing with people. The Punk BC board lists shows across British Columbia, and Play with us is where bands looking for players end up.
If you want someone watching your hands and telling you what to fix, I teach. The services page has the details.
Every tool in this post is free, runs in your browser and needs no account. The full set is on the tools page.