As a beginner, I find the BeatBuddy Manager (BBM) to be a great learning tool. I thought I would share how I use it for others who might find my thoughts useful.
I sometimes find it more convenient to use the BBM when I am testing beats and drum kits for a specific song. It removes some of the distraction which can be confusing to beginners of using the real pedal and you can use it anywhere you have your laptop. Think of it as a simulator. I plug my headphones into my laptop and start it up. Rather than playing my guitar or other instrument, I just sing in my head, or very quietly with the songs I am interested in matching to beats. I can take my laptop anywhere and do this almost no matter where I am.
One thing I have noticed, is that the large panel that covers most of the right side of the BeatBuddy Manager is a great beginners’ learning tool for understanding what is going on when you use the real pedal. When you hit the buttons on the simulated pedal on the top left, you can see where in the song the BeatBuddy is playing. You can also see what happens when you do a fill, and which fill it is, as well as seeing what the transitions to the next parts do. As I sing a song quietly to myself (great for when the wife is still asleep at 4 am) I can practice hitting the fills and transitions to understand where they might best go in a song. I find this has really helped me use the real pedal, as I now have a visual in my mind of what the pedal is doing.