7 Songs to Play Drums to That Will Keep You Fit and Concentrated

Updated: April 6th, 2021

I think you’ll agree that drumming to actual songs is one of the most enjoyable activities ever. Often I can just about remember I’m not Taylor Hawkins after having smashed my way through a Foo Fighters song.

But it seems you’re out of songs to play drums to, and that’s not good. After all, practicing is hard work, and without a rewarding play-along at the end, you might quickly lose your motivation altogether.

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And that’s why you’re in for a treat today. I’ll not only give you a list of 7 very fun songs to play on the drums. I’ll actually give you a list of 7 fun songs that will also replace your next cardio workout and train your ability to concentrate.

I know that’s sounds like complete rubish, but science says it isn’t.

So let me briefly explain before giving you my 7 best songs to play drums to.

Drumming for the heart

It all began with a study by British researchers published in 2008. They had been measuring the heart rate of Blondie-drummer Clem Burke during concerts for ten years – and found that it averaged at 140 to 150 beats per minute.

That kind of a heart rate is similar to that of a professional footballer during a match – with the slight difference that the drummer on tour often performs night after night.

So drumming really is like a cardio workout. And the fitness industry has even begun to get ride of the “like”:

In 2012, LA drummers Cristina Peerenboom and Kirsten Potenza launched their fitness programme called “Pound”. In it, participants hold quarter-pound sticks while performing rhythmic exercises and hitting the sticks on mats on the floor an average 15,000 times per session.

Looks funny from a drummer’s perspective? Probably so. And that’s why my workout play-along list below can be performed right where we’re comfortable. Behind our drum sets.

But I still have to back up my promise about improved concentration…

Drumming for the brain

Standford researchers found that when playing a beat, our brainwaves synchronise with the rhythm. So slow beats lead us into relaxed and meditative states, while fast beats help us to focus and concentrate.

And rhythm’s influence is so strong that it even increases the concentration of children with Attention Deficit Disorder – to the same amount as their Ritalin or other medication would.

So during each song I’ll be giving you in a second you’ll actually steady your brainwaves at a certain tempo for a few minutes. And since you’ll be going a little faster with each song, you’ll increase your concentration bit by bit.

The final benefit: doing this regularly, researchers suggest, will train us to make our brain shift from relaxation to concentration at will.

My train-your-heart-and-brain drum track list

I’ll be giving you 7 songs to play drums to, because they amount to approx. 30 minutes of drumming. And I’m assuming that everybody can make room for that.

We’re starting off with one warm-up song, become increasingly fast and intensive, until the last two songs will cool you down and, I hope, leave you off feeling good.

PS

If you want to get rid of the original drum tracks in the songs, try this tutorial. It won’t make them go away completely, and it might be harder to do with rock songs like the above. But to my knowledge, there’s no other method of manually removing drum tracks (unless you record and edit your drumming over them).

PPS

The list of songs to play drums to was inspired by Sacramento-based drummer Tim Metz.