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 (21–30)
cloudy skyDOES
If you want to play solid, masculine rock, this is the song! This one is often recommended for beginner bands, too.
It’s driven by a powerful, straight 8-beat, but beginners might find it hard to keep up with the speed.
If playing an 8-beat is tough, you can switch to a 4-beat and it’ll still sound cool! The biggest hurdle is the guitar solo right before the final chorus.
That section has patterns that can be tricky for beginners to drum, so it’s a good idea to ask a more experienced drummer to simplify and arrange the parts.
Shangri-LaChatto Monchī
With a steady quarter-note kick drum, open-and-closed hi-hats, and a fill that drops straight into the chorus—there’s no intro where the drums shine more than this.
It’s a track defined by its memorable hi-hat groove, and keeping time in the verse is quite challenging and rewarding.
The frequent snare rolls are another highlight, making you want to produce a great tone with every hit.
It’s also a really fun piece to use for practice!
Only for you, clear skiesYorushika
Yorushika is especially popular among students, isn’t it? This song is built mainly on a dance beat and an 8-beat groove.
However, its 8-beat pattern uses ghost notes—small additional snare hits besides the main snare on beats 2 and 4.
If you can reproduce this, your performance will have a better groove, so if you’re an intermediate player, definitely give it a try.
Also, in the first verse’s A section, there’s a part where the kick drum plays on the offbeats to match the guitar’s rhythm.
Once you get the feel of locking your hands and feet together on this beat, it’s really satisfying! This beat shows up in many other songs too, so master it while you’re learning this one.
asking for the moonKANA-BOON
If you can play a dance beat, this is the song I recommend! It’s an early signature track by KANA-BOON, a band that’s hugely active in the Japanese rock scene.
As you’ll hear, aside from the open/closed hi-hat variations, it’s pretty much a dance beat throughout the whole song! To put it simply, the dance beat here is the drum pattern in the chorus: the bass drum plays quarter notes, the hi-hat hits the offbeats, and the snare fills in between.
Once you get used to the coordination between hands and feet, it’s easy to play, and it gives the music a great groove—so it’s one beat you should definitely master!
You and the summer music festivalSHISHAMO
I think SHISHAMO’s songs are ones that student band members will want to play.
Among them, this track is especially recommended! It’s at a difficulty level that feels rewarding for beginners through intermediates, and it’s packed with phrases that often appear in other songs, too.
First, there’s the intro phrase that uses syncopation and the hits that make full use of open and closed hi-hats.
In the A section, even though it’s in an 8-beat feel, the kick drum pattern differs from the basic beat, and you can hear how that alone adds rhythmic variety.
The 8-beat groove using the floor tom may also feel fresh to beginners! It’s a song that gives you all sorts of insights and helps you take a step up as a drummer.
The Story You Don’t Knowsupercell
This is “Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari,” which became the ending theme of the popular anime Bakemonogatari and enjoys great acclaim as a staple anime song.
Built on an off-beat rhythmic foundation, it features a variety of drum phrases that burst forth, and the structure develops one section after another, making it perfect for practice.
Because it’s an extremely popular song, there are likely many opportunities to perform it—so be sure to master it.
Love Never Felt So GoodMichael Jackson, Justin Timberlake
Singer-songwriter Michael Jackson, hailed as the King of Pop, enjoyed immense popularity.
“Love Never Felt So Good,” included on the compilation album Xscape, also drew attention at the time for its duet version with Justin Timberlake.
While the tempo isn’t particularly fast, the groove of the song is heavily influenced by the drums—such as placing the kick on the off-beats in a 16th-note feel—so drummers who have mainly played rock-style 8-beat patterns should take care.
This soulful pop tune is recommended for intermediate-level drummers looking to broaden their playing style or take on Western pop music.
