LARS ULRICH's 22 Greatest Drum Techniques! 

It's nice to see someone, unironicaly giving Lars credit.

Thought this was a clickbait

Good to finally see something positive on Lars on the internet.

That's an odd guitar.

Lars really is the guitarist’s drummer.

One thing I also find impressive is how seamlessly he makes Metallicas pretty incessant time signature changes feel - go through practically any Metallica song, even straight-forward ones that seem to be in 4/4 will have a measure of 5/4 thrown in at one point. Then you have constant jumps from 2/4 to 4/4 to 3/4 to 6/4, even some 7/8 stuff, and the 21/32 measure in Master of Puppets, plus the 3+3+2 poly rhythm in Orion, and even just the 1/16 opening to Shortest Straw that is pretty goofy timing wise etc.. I think James and Lars have a really good (intuitive, not academic) understanding of time in songs and can play around with stuff like that, when almost all of their contemporaries were stuck in just going through entire songs in 4/4 or at best maybe doing self-contained sections in odd time, almost never just jumping into 5/4 or 3/4 for a single measure, and then being able to resolve it in a way that doesn't make it jarring.

"i dont have enough toms "

Watching you point out and put labels on all these techniques has made me realize how much Lars has influenced my drumming. Those bass drum roll crashes and sneak attacks and Lars Ulrich beat and fill starter are all things I’ve done without realizing where I got them

Cool video! It's easy to hate on Lars, but some people forget how many iconic drum parts he wrote. On every album (especially the older ones) are so many drum lines you will probably remember for ever

I'd never realized Lars influenced me as much as he has. I have always thought he was a good drummer and I've always defended him, but never noticed I had unconsciously picked up a lot of his techniques. Thank you for the video!

I really love the snare techniques he used in St Anger

I think this really showcase, how "different" Lars is as a drummer. He doesn't give a lot to pure clinic techniques. He is just doing whatever the fucking song - and therefor Hetfield - is needing.

"Lars is a good drummer." - Dave Lombardo

I always thought Lars was an original drummer. He was amazing in Ride and Master of puppets. “And Justice” was the most technical and that album had a big impact in metal back in the 80’s. Till this day people who love metal learned from Metallica and that’s a big complement to all the band members including Lars Ulrrich

Why the hate on lil Lars? He inspired a lot of us to start playing drums ;)

My personal favourites of his techniques are "crashing on two", "random and snare abusing fills" (Josh Steffen's Lars parodies are perfect example of this), and "lots of triplet/sextuplet double bass bursts".

Lars has amazingly creative arrangements that he really doesn't get credit for. All drummers people compare him to can go 200 mph but he's just different!

Tbh I’m glad this is serious Lars doesn’t get enough credit.

This makes me wanna buy a drum kit

Man i can't wait to see what video he'll do in the art of cooking channel

Ya know, I've never really thought before about how Lars's perhaps counterintuitive power-through approach to "Nothing Else Matters" really, really works for that song, but it does. In that sense, it kind of reminds me of "You Don't Know How It Feels" by Tom Petty--a classic example of a soft song with a powerful beat that WORKS. In fact, I think you could argue that that beat is what makes the whole song work. It makes it POP.

This is soooo crazy. I just got my first drum set the other day, and today I was trying to learn my first song (Fade to Black) and was looking for something like this a few minutes after trying. It just happened to be that you posted this at the perfect time, and I’ve already been subscribed, watching all of your guitar videos. What are the odds? Great videos man. Keep them up!

Man, this guy LOVES Metallica!

It’s funny when people hate on Lars, but yet they probably don’t even know how to hold a set of drum sticks. It’s so easy to hop on a hate band wagon that’s what people that don’t understand music do. All the haters seem to forget Lars and Metallica have influenced many many drummers and bands. And as far as his live performances, well they seem to have no trouble getting people to pay crazy ticket prices to see them. And also if you are looking for a perfect performance, listen to a CD. You cannot name a band or a drummer that performs on stage like it sounds on a CD.

I'm primarily a Guitarist and Vocalist, so it's really cool to see another Guitarist play Drums. Just goes to show how most people learn more then 1 instrument once they start.

There totally aren't enough serious Lars videos out there. Sure, he has some silly tropes he falls back on a bit too much, like excessively long out of place snare rolls, and bashing his china cymbal in place of a ride, but his sound is one of a kind. My only critique on your video is the part about ballads. Although he doesn't rely on ghost notes for dynamics, he ebbs and flows dynamics on the hihats, emphasizing the 1 and 3 or all 4 quarter notes depending where the beat falls.

I'd rather hear a drummer make the music sound good, not just himself, Lars is good at that, and that's enough.

You sir, are a talented cookie.

I thought this channel was the art of guitar 😉

You have a very intelligent way of describing things to the viewer. Your an awesome teacher. I would love to see a Gary holt technique video. Keep up the good work. Thanks for all your great lessons.

I think Lars obviously struggles with the timing, but he does use a lot of basic drumming techniques that I think are very useful for beginning drummers to learn about. For example a particular drum pattern in the song “...And Justice For All” was very interesting to learn where he does this thing with the toms using one drum stick while interspersing it with the snare drum. Made me think about independence with each hand. So even if you think Lars totally sucks (he’s obviously a pretty primitive drummer) I still think it’s useful to learn his drum patterns.

I love Lars it’s nice to see something nice about him for a change

10:31 "Simple yet heavy" and 13:25 "The up hit" is basically Megadeth's drum beat of choice (Crash on "4 +" instead of 1)

I’m really liking these drumming videos

Lars and me. The year was 1990, I was about 13 just started high school and I really enjoyed just hanging out with a awesome friend that lived 4 doors down from my house "Wayne" everyone liked Wayne, just a top bloke he is. He's forces of Metallica was very strong with in him. He always had any Metallica song playing. So I've called it a big YES for a life changing moment/experience/episode of Metallica music being played I'm finding myself totally be taken inside the song itself, so alive with having heart and sole I would after be hitting ground hard then harder and harder loving the crisp sound I know them as being the best in the universe bands that everything just work's and works well. James, Lars, Kirk and there Bass players that had time being with the band are such great artists, musical wonders. Lars Ulrich adds his drum mastering ways, fresh as the sound of Lars on the drums he just takes the whole sound of good music to the best music ever. Like a sweet sounding note/tone/rhythm of a worked V8 motor, a jumbo jets engines are some best sounds that give goose bumps, Lars Ulrich is a top quality sound tailored by him. Cheers Lars for your hard work that makes everything flowing and going.

One thing I always found super interesting about Metallica's songs that I don't think I've heard from any other band is that often times when Lars play that typical thrash beat, or what you called the off beat in this video, the guitar parts often are written so that it almost sounds like the snare is being hit on the downbeat, but of course the starts and ends of the riffs reveal that they are on the off beat. The song where I think this is best heard in is Fight Fire with Fire because the accents on the guitar are so deliberate, but they do this all the time. In my head I always thought it was so they didn't mess up Lars, as he had trouble keeping time anyways, but maybe it is done on purpose to give the songs their own feel.

Try doing some John bonham he is the greatest of all time

Not a drummer but love watching drum lessons and could please do George Lynch/ Allan Holdsworth/ Jason Becker techniques?

Quick tip: for faster double bass, move your feet down the pedal and train just lifting up your legs (feet flat to the ground) with your thighs without a pedal for about 15 min a day/or as a warm up before playing.

One word... Thank you! The videos you produce are absolutely incredible every day I wake up and look forward to your videos. Your guitar tutorials and lessons are the main reason I'm getter better. Awesome man! Keep it up

i admire your work and how you noticed all his techniques , im glad not only me find that lars is one of the best drummers with a unique style, keep up man

I agree Lars isn't the most technically impressive drummer. Next to Nicko McBrain for example he can seem lacking. But somehow Lars seems so in sync with the piece of music as a whole like an active force not just a percussion. Can't explain it but he seems somehow essential to Metallica and their sound.. the drums are as memorable as the guitars in the make up of the song

I love these videos they are super informative and your ability to analyze all of these different techniques, whether it's drums or guitar and then compile them in an entertaining and easy to understand way is amazing. Definitely using some of these techniques in my songs. Thank you again for another great video!

Wooow you are playing drums too? Great....normally i follow to your guitar lessons. Have a great weekend. Cheers Roger

Been watching your videos for a while, as a drummer it’s cool to see more drum videos here ;)

All the drummers criticizing Lars timing have NEVER heard themselves on a recording or played to a metronome. It teaches humility.

I expected a 15 minute long china cymbal joke

Really cool finally anyone who does serious Lars Ulrich drum videos

Awesome Lars vid!! He really has a style of his own. Ppl give him crap all the time but he really is a good drummer. Keep up the good work Mike!!

Great job.. I'm a guitarist,, but I really enjoy these drum tutorials.. your a solid drummer my friend

Do this for Vinnie Paul pleaseee

I love your videos. First drum lesson I've seen that revolves around Lars.

This is funny because it's generally though that he sucks. Edit: Notification received whilst listening to Metallica.

I don't know why I watched, I'm a bassist, still very interesting though

"Lars is really good at crashing on the 2, sometimes the 3 or the 4." That or he's bad at crashing on the 1.

I must say, I really love how your starting to bring drums into your content. Always did want to learn, and I might get a set eventually. Could not be a better time my man!

Hey, could you please do an entire Marty Friedman guitar techniques video? And maybe one about Rory Gallagher? Thank you very much! Kind regards!

Please do Grateful Dead! Bob's originality in rhythm playing is unbelievable, and Jerry's country-blues lead innovation would make for a really interesting and enlightening video :) as a jam band, there's a lot of ground to cover. Amazing video by the way

Lars is a brilliant musician with a great understanding and vision of where songs should go and how to enrich songs dynamically.

finally someone who did this ive been noticing that kind of playing from lars lately but never found anyone who made a video about it thank you

I like the technique of doing a snare roll for 67 measures before hitting the crash. All at same speed regardless of the tempo or time signature of the song. It's so amazing.

Jeez i didn't know this guy played drums too! Impressive sir

Subscribed! Really enjoyed this video, nice job deciphering his magic. Looking forward to future videos where you teach us some of these techniques. I'm too new to drumming to pick up what you did in real time, hopefully you'll teach us at a pace a newbie can follow. Think that anyone that has Lars as role model will become a great drummer. Thanks!

Laras and James are very clever when creating songs.

He's pretty simplistic, but I'd love to see one of these on Ringo's drumming!

I would really love too see the techniques of the rev from avenged sevenfold. He really was a great drummer imo.

1st time seeing you play drums and im actually really impressed.

An excellent video! Thank you Mike for these series

Best John Bonham techniques

I've been a huge fan of Lars since I first heard Metallica....I've picked up some of his style in my drumming as well...this was a great video! Ive always loved his use of the toms!

Anyway great video. I recognize a fair few of these techniques but it's still interesting seeing them all examined.

On almost every song, Lars' first drum "fill" (in a standard 4/4) of the song is a delayed snare hit with a cymbal (delayed by one high-hat hit, so it's on 4 instead of 3). So the measure is - 1. bass+HH 2. HH 3. bass+HH 4. snare+cymbal. You see on dozens on Metallica songs. It's always the very first fill, too. Or the first fill of the new segment. This happens twice in Fade to Black for example, once in the beginning verse and once during the final verse section. It's his go-to fill, possibly to make sure everyone was in the same place of time, since it always happens in the same situation. Have you ever noticed this? I could start making a list of all the songs that do this, with time stamps. It's so common, though.

These aren't only Lars' techniques, a lot of drummers use these

Since metallica is the main band I listen to, I seem to do a lot of lars techniques. For better or worse.

love your channel, superb

Mike, I'm really enjoying your videos. The first one I saw was the John Bonham vid. This one gives many great alternatives to have in ones arsenal. You are a good teacher. Much appreciation to you.

Lars is an incredible Drummer.. One of the best ever.

Do Dave Lombardo s 22 techniques!!

First like!!!! Love you, Mike! Awesome videos. I learnt most of everything I know about guitar from the internet, and you're 90% of my guitar learning experience!! Thank you sooooo much! Cheers

i seriously dont understand why people who are metallica haters and hate lars with a passion watch videos like this. i have been a fan since 89ish and they are my favorite band period so i found this video very interesting.

I'd love to see more of these for other drummers

Lars will always be my favorite drummer

Great video! I also like how he sometimes adds double hi-hats in fills. Garage Inc. has many fills like that.

It's interesting to see how metal drummers took his simple techniques to the extreme and it's funny seeing his ideas back down to his level..LARS THE OG

People is so busy whining and complaining about Lars not doing double bass drum live that they don't notice what of an interesting drummer he can be.

Hello Mike! Very nice video, although I do not play drums at all :D

That was awesome.

Great vid. I'm not much of a Lar's fan, but his drumming is powerful. I thought this was pretty informative on his style though. Thumbs up!

I know a lot of people hate on Lars because he constantly changes tempos, uses cymbals (chinas specifically) a lot, and in general seems to be all over the place, but for the entirety of Metallica songs his drumming has been appropriate, I don't see any other drummer playing songs like Orion better than Lars, in that particular example the multitude of changes and odd things are what make that song great, I can't imagine Dave Lombardo as the Metallica drummer... it would have been a completely different band. just like the Beatles if they had a more flashy drummer.... that actually would have detracted from their songs.. Imagine Slayer with Charlie Benante (Anthrax) I don't think it would have sounded good, and he is perfectly capable of playing their material, but if he was the one who wrote it, the style just would have been so different. Haters, know that Lars is one of the if not THE highest paid drummer in the world right now so people can hate all they want, he is still richer than they are. And lastly, really good drummers for example Dirk Verbeuren (now with Megadeth) had to take those gigs that really don't showcase what he can do but pay a lot more than gigs that did (his band Soilwork) it seems like wasted talent but hey the man has to eat.

The crash on two is what throws me off!!

Late to the party but thanks. I've always loved drums but after I started paying attention to Lars it went to another level

Really enjoyed this. Thanks!

Lars absolutely killed it on the where ever I may roam track!

You should do a video about Chuck Schuldiner techniques.

really cool stuff, thanks for sharing

I love how sincere this video is

The Thing that Should Not Be has almost all techniques mentioned here.

Lars is a very limited drummer, but he's made a very good living at it, so more power to him.

great sounding kit!

Hey dude really cool vid thank u for taking the time to do it. I love Lars and of course I love Metallica. Thanks for actually explaining something cool about Lars instead of making fun of him somehow because its "cool" to do so. Ill definitely subscribe to your channel dude!