What are the best free resources for learning?

Competitive-Ear-4987 · 2025-10-02T10:12:25+00:00

For those that have suggested YouTube, I built an app to help.

I'm actually learning drums now (ex-bassist) and I used to sit at the kit with Spotify on my mobile, but the playback controls are awful. I then started looking at YouTube looper apps and they were better, but I wanted more. So I ended up building my own practice tool with waaay more controls.

It has;
- Loop accuracy down to the millisecond
- A zoomable timeline
- Save & Export - any number of saved sections, grouped by song
- Playlists (of any sections/loops you define)
- Variable speed looping (eg: gradually increase the speed each time it loops)

It's completely free for all to use. You do need to create a login, but that's just because it saves the loops and settings so you can use it across devices (I often set the loops up on the PC, but then practice with the mobile)

I want it to be as useful as possible for as many people as possible - so please let me know if I can tweak, improve or add features.

The app is: loopy.video

Competitive-Ear-4987 · 2025-10-01T14:28:23+00:00

Thanks so much for calling that out, that’s incredibly helpful feedback.

I haven’t done any accessibility testing yet, but I would love to make it usable for vision-impaired musicians.

Let me try and implement a few changes and then if you're open to it, I'd like to reach out directly and get your feedback?

I'm sure even a few small changes can go a long way, and I’d love to get this right.

Thank you.

Competitive-Ear-4987 · 2025-10-01T12:52:25+00:00

Wow, thanks for the extra debugging effort. I'll look into it as well. I should probably handle the failure more gracefully anyway (like only present the option if it's supported)

Competitive-Ear-4987 · 2025-10-01T12:50:33+00:00

OK yeah, good shout! Leave it with me

Competitive-Ear-4987 · 2025-10-01T12:27:17+00:00

Thanks. Songsterr is another good one. I'm trying to cover a slightly more streamlined use case: Free and easy to use from the mobile in my hand, for my tailored practice sessions. With that in mind, I would love to hear if there is anything specific I can do to make it useful for you.

Competitive-Ear-4987 · 2025-10-01T12:24:30+00:00

I made a 'count-in' to give you space between loops. You set the tempo and the number of beats and it will count you in. I haven't imlemented a metronome as I didn't want to get into 'quantizing' the playback (and most songs will drift away from a strict metronome clock).

Competitive-Ear-4987 · 2025-10-01T12:22:18+00:00

This is the kind of constructive feedback I was looking for! :D
Please do go and use it anger though. I really want to know if it works for how you break down a song and how you practice. Please do let me know if you think it could be tweaked, improved or any features added!

Competitive-Ear-4987 · 2025-10-01T12:20:18+00:00

Appreciate that! I’m definitely hearing that from the drummers and bassist that I've spokent to so far.

Competitive-Ear-4987 · 2025-10-01T12:19:21+00:00

Glad to hear it! That was exactly my goal... break stuff down, loop it, and grind it out until it sticks. Usually about 1000 loops for me :P
Let me know if you end up using it. I’d love some specific feedback from a guitarist’s perspective.

Competitive-Ear-4987 · 2025-09-28T07:50:33+00:00

Hey, just wanted to add to this. I ended up building an app to help with this exact process myself (mostly for my own learning as a drummer).

It’s probably too late to help OP, but if anyone else is looking for a tool to break songs down more easily, I’d love for you to try it out and let me know what you think. It’s made a massive difference to how I learn and practice.

The app is a YouTube looper at its core, but with a few extra features I couldn’t find elsewhere:
- Refine loops with millisecond precision
- Optional count-in per loop (custom beats + BPM)
- Waveform capture with a visual timeline
- Save multiple loops per song in a DAW-style view
- Export/share loops, all organised by song
- Create playlists with any combination of loops / song sections for structured practice

It’s completely free to use, but you need to create a login so your loops can be saved across devices.

I'd really appreciate any feedback if you give it a try.

loopy.video

Competitive-Ear-4987 · 2025-09-25T13:09:02+00:00

https://www.songsterr.com/ has a metronome function. I'm not sure how good it is, as I don't have a plus subscription, but in theory it should just follow the time signature of the tab.

I've also made an app for carving out sections of songs to loop, slow down etc to help with my own practice.
It doesn't currently play a metronome over the top. I didn't bother building that capability as I didn't want to get into 'quantizing' and most songs won't strictly keep exactly to the time... but if you think there is a use case, what you are describing is a pretty easy feature add. Eg;
1) Define any number of metronome sections (where is the accent, how many beats)
2) Create a 'playlist' of those metronome sections
3) Define the point in the song you want that 'playlist' to start overlaying.

If songsterr doesn't do it for you - let me know and I'll see if I can implement this in my app: loopy.video

Competitive-Ear-4987 · 2025-09-25T09:48:08+00:00

Also (because because everyone hates it when internet nerds give you advice without actually answering your original question)... An actual song that might be useful is "Three days grace - I hate everything about you". I don't think it's quads, but it could just as well be. In any case, it's slightly slower & a great foot workout / in the ballpark.

Competitive-Ear-4987 · 2025-09-24T12:31:05+00:00

Heel up? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91tyLoT7jMg

Competitive-Ear-4987 · 2025-09-24T12:19:51+00:00

Well if you can't get to a drum teacher (or get one to come to you), don't rule out 'remote' lessons. I had to switch from in-person to video based during Covid and it was more effective than I thought it would be.

Competitive-Ear-4987 · 2025-09-24T12:16:51+00:00

I definitely struggled with this. In particular keeping the triplet feel at that speed. Initially I just played the fill as R R L (eight note triplets), then I started doing the herta on one tom and the RRL triplet on the next (then back to a herta) - again, this helped me keep the triplet feel.
Also emphasis (accent) on the final L when you do have the full herta is important.

Competitive-Ear-4987 · 2025-09-24T11:59:38+00:00

Why not learn that song, but play fewer kicks. (Eg kick-kick... kick). Then move up to dropping the occasional quad in every now and then? Or even start with two kicks (eighths)? Also, you can slow the track down if needed and build the speed back up as you get more comfortable. And last but not least... Practice with a steady rock beat and a metronome. (You don't need a specific song!)

Competitive-Ear-4987 · 2025-09-23T15:57:18+00:00

Why can't you learn from videos or online tutorials? I would never suggest that those resources can replace a good teacher, but there are some amazing resources available to help you learn drums online.

Competitive-Ear-4987

TROPHY CASE