Brushes Drum for Beginners: A Complete Guide

Learning to play drum brushes takes patience, but the fundamentals are straightforward once you understand what the technique requires. This guide covers how to hold brushes, the two core techniques, and how to develop them systematically.

Equipment Check Before You Start

Before learning brushes drum technique, make sure you have: a snare drum or practice pad with a coated head (a clear head produces a less characteristic brush sound), a pair of wire brushes that fit your hand comfortably, and a quiet practice space where you can hear the subtle sounds brushes produce. If you are practising on a kit, use the snare exclusively for initial technique work.

How to Hold Brushes

Brushes drum technique uses the same matched grip or traditional grip as sticks, adjusted for the lighter weight and different balance of the brush. The brush is held further up the handle than a stick to improve control over the wire spread. The grip should be loose and relaxed — tight grip kills the sweep sound and fatigues the hand faster.

How to Learn Drum Brush Technique

1. Learn the basic sweep stroke with your dominant hand. Place the brush on the head and draw it in a circular pattern, applying light downward pressure. The sound should be a continuous hiss. If there is no hiss, increase pressure; if the sound is rough, reduce it. Practice until the circle is smooth and even.
2. Add the tap stroke with your non-dominant hand. While the dominant hand continues its circular sweep, use the non-dominant hand to tap light, even eighth notes on the head. The tap should fall with the wrist, letting the wire tips contact the head and rebound naturally.
3. Combine sweep and tap into a basic brushes drum jazz pattern. The dominant hand sweeps in a slow circle, completing one cycle per bar of slow jazz. The non-dominant hand taps two and four. Listen to Joe Morello recordings to understand the sound you are working toward.
4. Practise with a metronome at a slow tempo (60 BPM). Slow brushes drum practice at the correct tempo is more effective than fast practice at incorrect tempo. The sweep needs to feel relaxed and the tap needs to be consistent in volume and timing.
5. Add the hi-hat or ride on beats one and three. In a jazz brushes drum context, the hi-hat or ride cymbal typically marks one and three while the snare brushwork provides the texture on two and four. Introduce this independence gradually once the snare pattern is solid.
6. Record and listen back. Brush technique is difficult to evaluate while playing. Recording a simple pattern and listening back reveals inconsistencies in sweep pressure, tap volume and timing that are not obvious in the moment. Adjust accordingly.

Developing Further

Once the basic pattern is reliable, explore variations: altering the sweep speed, changing the size and shape of the circle, adding accent taps within the pattern, and playing at different tempos. The brushes drum vocabulary in jazz is built from these variations applied with musical judgement. Study recordings of Joe Morello, Papa Jo Jones, Ed Thigpen and Elvin Jones to hear the full brushes drum range of textures available within this approach.

Where to Go Next

Our complete overview covers the instrument type in detail. Our buyer’s guide helps you choose the right brushes. Our best value guide gives direct recommendations. And our mistakes guide covers the errors beginners most commonly make.

Frequently Asked Questions