How do you play basic drum beats?

A basic drum beat consists of three parts of the drums: the bass, hi-hat and snare. It is played in 4/4 timing, which means that it repeats every four beats.

Once a tempo is chosen, the first element of a basic drum beat is the hi-hat. The hi-hat should be closed and hit on every beat of the measure (it is hit on beats one, two, three and four). The bass drum is hit on beat one, and the snare is hit on beat three. This is a standard Western drum beat; in other parts of the world, the most basic drum beats sound different.