Learning to play drums requires hours and hours of practice and unfortunately there are no shortcuts. Professional drummers dedicate years trying to master technique, rhythms, dynamics and playing in sync with a band.

However, there have never been more opportunities to practice drums and there has never been more engaging ways to learn.

You can’t always take your heavy drum kit with you everywhere you go however your PlayStation is much more portable.

So, how do you get your daily hours of drumming practice in? Let’s take a look at how to learn drums through video games!

First though, let’s examine if video games will actually improve your drumming. There is a large variety of drumming video games available nowadays that you can try your hand at to practice drumming. But does virtual drumming actually help you learn to play actual drums?

Can drumming video games actually help improve your drumming skills?

Lately, there’s been a lot of conversation going on about the effectiveness of video games. However, studies show that the more one does anything, the better one’s brain develops skills related to that activity.

So the skills developed in playing rhythm video games: coordination, reaction time, playing in time with music, are absolutely applicable to real-life drumming.

Plus, playing these drumming games will help you retain the skills you have already amassed while practicing on your drum kit. Of course, virtual drumming can never replace the feel of actual drums, but they can at least ensure that your rhythm, flow, and hand motions don’t fall out of practice.

A major disadvantage of playing drums in your home is that they are quite loud. So, you perhaps won’t be able to get the daily hours of drumming practice you need without angry interruptions from roommates or neighbors.

Another advantage to a drumming video game like Rock Band is that you now have a practice pad that you can practice rudiments on if you want to take your drumming to the next level.

These drumming games allow you to practice drumming for hours on end, without any noise complaints that you’d get from neighbors if you play actual drums.

In addition to training yourself to play drums, you can also learn to play these drumming games to have a blast with your family and friends!

Best drumming games that will get you playing

Now that we’ve established that drumming video games can actually help you improve your drumming skills, let’s take a look at some entertaining virtual drumming games that you can get your hands on and at your local gaming shop.

The majority of these games were designed for all types of consoles, and you can find multiple updated versions for each of them that feature new songs and challenges. Depending on the type of console you own, you’ll have to buy a compatible virtual brand or drum set that you can connect to it.

It will produce a realistic drumming experience for you whenever you play drums in the game. So, without further ado, here are our favorite 5 picks of the best drumming video games out there!

Melodics

This is not technically a video game but a gamified application that helps you get better using your own electronic drumset. If you have an electronic drumset and want to gamify your practice routine, look into this!

Band Hero

Band Hero was first designed in 2009 to be compatible with all types of video game consoles. It was created in a bid to compete against the already established Guitar Hero.

Band Hero was the first ever virtual music game to have a full band set up that included simulated drums. We love this game because it laid the groundwork for future virtual drumming games to be more innovative.

Guitar Hero

Guitar Hero was created in 2005 for PlayStation 2; however, the game has since been updated to work across all major gaming consoles. Originally, it was a guitar-only virtual game, but to make it a solid competitor for Band Hero, the programmers decided to add a vocal microphone and virtual drum set to the game to generate a full band experience.

Rock Band

Rock Band is the brainchild of Harmonix, who also happens to be the creator of Guitar Hero. After the triumph of their first virtual music game, Harmonix decided to create a game that would offer a full rock band experience and be played by multiple people.

Hence, they came up with Rock Band. The Rock Band kit contains a microphone, keyboards, drums, lead guitar, and bass guitar. It has different challenges that you have to clear and makes for a fun game for both adults and kids.

If you want a realistic drumming experience, then learn to play this drumming video game; out of all the virtual games, Rock Band offers the most realistic band experience.

Taiko Drum Master

Taiko Drum Master is one more classic virtual drumming game that was initially created for the PlayStation 2. It’s a challenging drumming game that will definitely help you improve your skills— just find an old bundle with the plug-in plastic drumsticks and get to drumming!

Patapon

Now, this one isn’t really a drumming game— it does not include a virtual drum set. But we have added it to our list because Patapon is a strategy game in which you get attacked by a warrior tribe, and the only way you can beat them is with the power of your drums!

It’s an intuitive, entertaining, and creative game that allows you to improve your drumming skills by way of maintaining your rhythm. If you happen to have your old PlayStation Portable, then do give Patapon a try

Conclusion

Simply, plug your virtual reality set into your gaming system and play your way through a wide variety of songs with absolute control over the noise.

These drumming games will help you retain muscle memory, memorize song structures, practicing changing rhythms and reacting quickly—which is super important if you want to be a good musician.

With these games, you get your hands and feet moving and your pulse rising.

So, what are you waiting for? Go learn how to play these drumming video games which will help you acquire mad drumming skills!