Learning to drum also increases your sense of rhythm phenomenally, making you a tighter musician on your other instruments. It sounds really obvious, but trust me, I've been playing drums for 3 years now, and the difference is amazing. If I hadn't taken up drums, I wouldn't have even dreamed of tapping along to Meshuggah and tech metal balony like that.
Tips from me would be to find a local drummer to teach you to hold the sticks properly. Then try some paradiddles. Here's a few I learned from:
R L R R L R L L
R L R R L (pentuplet pattern)
R R L L (basic roll)
R R L R L L (triplet roll)
If you can master them, then your technique is satisfactory and you can get on a full kit and blast out some death metal or what ever you're into these days
There are loads more paradiddles on the internet, most notably on the Vic Firth site. Seriously, there is hundreds, and all are essential for technique, even if you just want to be a basic drummer you have to learn a few