How To Change Your Drumheads (The Easy Way)

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Why do we need to change our drumheads? How long do drumheads last? What about the resonant heads?

Knowing how and when to change your drumheads is a crucial skill to develop as a drummer in order to keep your kit sounding the best it can. We get countless questions from our students asking why they can’t get their kit to sound the way they like, only to find out they haven’t changed their heads in YEARS (or sometimes they still have the stock heads on).

Many drummers are daunted by the process of having to tune up fresh heads, but Jared Falk is here to tell you step-by-step how he changes his own heads with a few extra tips to help make the process simple and seamless.

How To Replace Your Drumheads

Remove the hoop and old drumhead

Use a drum key to loosen the tuning rods and remove the hoop and old drumhead. With a damp cloth, wipe down the edge of the shell to clear off any dust or residue.

Seat the new drumhead on the drum

Put the new drumhead on the shell, making sure all sides are touching the edge (you don’t want a warped head).

Replace the hoop

Use your fingers to screw each tuning rod into the drum until you can’t make them any tighter.

Tune the drum

Use your drum key to start tightening up the head, giving each tuning rod a full turn and adjusting from there. Click here for a full guide on how to tune drums.

Supply:

• New drumheads

Tools:

• Drum key

Related content:
How To Tune Drums
How Drumheads Are Made
Which Drumheads Are The Best?
How To Muffle Your Bass Drum

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Jared Falk is a lifelong drummer, drum teacher, and the co-founder of Drumeo. For over 18 years, Jared has been a leader in the online music education industry, publishing his first online video lessons in 2003 and founding Musora in 2005.