Sit in a comfortable position with both feet on the floor. Speak aloud the following count: "One and two and three and four and..." Place the heels of your hands on the tops of your thighs and paddle your hands down in time, alternating hands with the count without moving the heels of your hands from your legs. This is to feel the rhythm and to develop the correct motion in your wrists. Improper movement when drumming can result in injury over time. Loop the count several times until you feel comfortable starting with the right hand then stopping and starting with the left.
Pick up a stick and grasp it between the pad of your thumb, and the index finger, curling the finger around it. The other fingers function to catch the stick upon rebound. Pick up the other stick and place it similarly in the other hand.
Count the beat aloud again. Hit the left surface you have chosen to represent the hi-hat cymbals of your drum set--or if you have a drum set, close the hi-hat with your left foot and hit the top cymbal--with your left stick on each of the four counted beats. You are striking the cymbal with the same stick eight times per phrase. Loop the counted phrase until it is smooth.
Count your eight beats aloud again. You can stop your hi-hat movement for a moment. With your right heel on the floor, tap your toes down on the "one" and "three" beats on either the floor or your bass drum pedal. Repeat while looping the phrase until it becomes comfortable. Add the eight beats of your left hand on the hi-hat. Loop until it's smooth.
Stop your foot and hand. Count aloud again the "one and two and three and four and." This time repeat the count, striking your right stick on the right surface you have chosen to represent the snare drum of your drum set on the "two" and "four" beats. Loop the phrase until you have a smooth sticking.
Add the eight-beat hi-hat count and the one-and-three bass drum count. Loop until it's smooth and you are playing a basic rhythm.