Recommended practice songs for intermediate drummers: a collection of tracks to develop expressiveness and performance skills
Playing the drums gets really fun once you can hit a certain level, doesn’t it? Still, many people probably struggle—tripping up on songs with difficult phrases, or finding it hard to express groove and match the feel of the song even with simple patterns.
In this article, we’ll introduce recommended practice songs for those who’ve just moved beyond the beginner stage or are aiming to level up further.
We’ve picked plenty of recent popular tracks too, so feel free to use this as a guide when choosing your practice songs.
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Recommended practice songs for intermediate drummers: A collection of tracks to develop expressiveness and performance skills (91–100)
Thinking in Yura Yura Teikokuyurayura teikoku
Yura Yura Teikoku’s popularity still hasn’t faded, and among their songs, “Thinking Yura Yura Teikoku” is a brisk BPM 190—perfect for practicing up-tempo drumming.
If you can steadily play at BPM 190, covering many bands will become easier.
Why not try covering it as a goal?
MercyMuse
If you want to nail some cool Western rock, I recommend Muse’s work.
“Merc” is a rock track built around a simple beat.
The drumming is dynamic, so it should be really fun to play.
There’s a section in the chorus with rapid-fire bass drum hits; if you focus on mastering that, you’ll be able to apply it to other songs as well.
YMMSuchmos
This is a perfectly stylish number for practicing that comfortable laid-back feel.
The key is whether you can bring out the behind-the-beat groove on the snare without getting swept away by the song’s tempo.
It’s especially recommended for players who usually stick to straight-ahead rock, as a way to broaden your skill set.
secret base ~What You Gave Me~ZONE
It’s a signature song by ZONE and a timeless classic loved across generations! Since it’s a ballad with a relaxed tempo, you’ll be able to play it if you practice steadily.
The beat used in this song, which is based on an 8-beat, is also common in many other songs, so this is a great chance to master it.
With ballads like this that have a laid-back tempo, it’s easy to drift too slow or too fast, so I recommend practicing with a metronome.
Odoru-LoopFurederikku
Frederic is a four-piece rock band formed around the fraternal twins, the Mihara brothers, and has gained popularity with addictive songs that fuse a wide range of musical styles from Japan and abroad, both old and new.
The title track “Oddloop,” which opens their major-label debut EP of the same name, became one of the band’s signature songs after a revival hit on TikTok in 2020.
The song maintains a driving offbeat groove throughout, so keeping steady tempo is likely the key to performing it well.
It’s an energetic track geared toward intermediate players—be sure to watch for the changes in the kick drum patterns along the way.
Are you gonna be my girlJet
Jet’s “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” features a cool, simple rock sound.
The drum part is straightforward yet stylish, making it really rewarding to practice.
The fills are powerful and cool, with a decent amount of notes.
It’s a lot of fun to play as a band, so if you’re in one, definitely try covering it with your members.
A Little Love SongMONGOL800
If you’ve played in a band, you’ve probably performed this classic at least once! Of course, it’s also a great challenge for drum beginners.
The tempo is a bit fast, but it’s mostly a simple 4-beat groove, and there aren’t any complex fill phrases, so you should be fine.
It’s a 4-beat with quarter notes on the hi-hat, but at first this often makes it hard to play the eighth notes on the bass drum cleanly.
Start at a slow tempo to get used to the division of roles between hands and feet in the 4-beat, then gradually speed up—that’s the shortcut to improving! Because it’s simple, it tends to speed up, so be careful to keep the tempo steady.
In conclusion
We’ve introduced many practice pieces recommended for intermediate players who want to improve their performance and expressive skills.
In addition to somewhat challenging pieces aimed at intermediate players, there were also works that are often recommended for beginners.
For those pieces, we suggest playing them with a focus on fine nuances and pushing for a higher level of expressive completion.
Practice a lot and let’s get better!