How to play drums in church
A first rehearsal is easier when you know the arrangement and have a part you can keep playing through the changes.
If you've been asked to play drums on Sunday, get the song list and the recordings the band is using before you start practicing. Ask which songs need drums throughout, where you should come in, and how the band plans to end. Those answers give you something specific to prepare.
For a song in 4/4 with a straightforward backbeat, you can start with kick on 1 and 3, snare on 2 and 4, and a closed hi-hat on the eighth notes. The exercise below shows how to learn that part and carry it into a chorus. A song in 6/8, a half-time arrangement, or a section with no drums will need a different part. Check the arrangement with the leader before using this groove in the set.
Learn where the drums enter and stop
Listen once without playing and write down the sections in order. Listen again for the drum entrances, changes, and stops. If the band is using a shorter intro or repeating the chorus, mark that on your chart so you can practice their version.
Ask how the leader will cue a repeat or an ending. A raised hand could mean several things, so agree on what to watch for at rehearsal. Keep the chart where you can glance at it and still see the leader.
Put the first groove together
Count "1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &" evenly. Each number is a beat; each & falls halfway between two beats. Play the kick on 1 and 3 and the snare on 2 and 4 while you keep saying the count. The snare on 2 and 4 is the backbeat.
Choose a practice tempo where you can repeat the bar comfortably. If coordinating the hands and foot makes the count uneven, slow down. Once the kick and snare are steady, add a closed hi-hat on every number and every &. On a conventional right-handed setup, the right hand plays the hi-hat and the left hand plays the snare; adapt the hand assignments to your setup.
Listen for the notes that should land together. The kick shares a hit with the hi-hat on 1 and 3, and the snare shares one on 2 and 4. If you hear two separate attacks on those beats, isolate that pair of limbs and practice bringing them together before adding the rest.
Record a few bars with a metronome. Listen for a gap after beat 4, an uneven & between beats, or a tempo that creeps forward. Work on the part of the bar where the spacing changes, then repeat the whole groove. Bring it up to the band's agreed tempo before rehearsing the song.
Practice one verse-to-chorus change
Try this as a practice example: play four bars of the groove as a verse, followed by four bars as a chorus. Keep the kick, snare, and tempo the same. On beat 4 of the last verse bar, ease your hi-hat foot up enough to let that hit ring, then close the cymbals on beat 1 of the chorus and continue the groove.
The brief open hi-hat marks the entrance without adding a tom fill. Listen to the first bar after the opening. Did the kick arrive on time? Did the hi-hat return to even eighth notes? If closing the cymbals disrupts either one, practice the last verse bar and first chorus bar together at a slower tempo.
This exercise gives you one transition to try. At rehearsal, ask whether it fits the entrance. The arrangement may need a crash, a fill, a pause, or the groove continuing unchanged. Work out the chorus part with the band; the section change alone is no reason to increase the tempo.
Choose fills you can return from
Listen to the vocal through the transition before adding a fill. If the singer carries a phrase into the chorus, try keeping the groove underneath it and hear how that fits. If the band wants a fill, choose one you can finish without losing the next beat.
Practice the bar before the fill, the fill itself, and the first bar afterward. A fill that works by itself may still leave you reaching for the hi-hat when the groove resumes. Shorten it if the return is late, and check that its volume fits the section you're entering.
Check the part with the band
During rehearsal, listen for the bass and the vocal while you play. Ask the leader or sound engineer whether the drums are balanced in the room, because your monitor mix cannot tell you what the audience hears. If the cymbals are covering the vocal, try a quieter, more closed hi-hat and fewer crashes, then check the same passage again.
Run the ending as well as the entrance. Practice the agreed cue, the last hit, and how long it should ring. Before leaving rehearsal, mark any changed repeats or stops on the chart and identify the one transition that still needs practice. Start there when you next sit down at the kit.