Funk drum patterns.

7 funk patterns at 104 BPM. Play one, change any step, take it to your DAW as MIDI.

Funk is a sixteenth-note music played on a backbeat. The snare still lands on two and four, but between those hits the hats tick in sixteenths and the snare plays ghost notes you feel more than hear, so the bar is full and tight at once. The kick, meanwhile, lands wherever it makes the bass sit, and the whole thing points back to the first beat of the bar, the one.

Basic. Kick on one and the and of two, snare on two and four, sixteenth hats, ghost rims in the gaps.

Hat
Rim
Snare
Kick

Drop a sound on any row to play it there.

Open in the drum sequencer →

The one. A heavy kick on one, a kick on the a of two and the and of three, everything pointing back to the downbeat.

Open hat
Hat
Snare
Kick

Drop a sound on any row to play it there.

Open in the drum sequencer →

Syncopated snare. Snare on two, the a of two, four and the a of four, with the hats on eighths.

Hat
Snare
Kick

Drop a sound on any row to play it there.

Open in the drum sequencer →

Second line. New Orleans: kick in a 3-3-2, snare on the and of two and four, hats on the beats.

Hat
Rim
Snare
Kick

Drop a sound on any row to play it there.

Open in the drum sequencer →

Sixteenth kicks. Three kicks a bar on sixteenths, the snare kept plain: the rhythm section locked.

Hat
Rim
Snare
Kick

Drop a sound on any row to play it there.

Open in the drum sequencer →

Funk disco. Four on the floor under the funk hats and ghost rims, open hat on the and of four.

Open hat
Hat
Rim
Snare
Kick

Drop a sound on any row to play it there.

Open in the drum sequencer →

Two bars, snare answer. Bar two's snare adds a hit on the a of one and the and of three.

Hat
Rim
Snare
Kick

Drop a sound on any row to play it there.

Open in the drum sequencer →

How a funk beat is built

The kick

The snare and the rim on two and four

Hats in sixteenths

Then a variation: The one

Snare on steps 5 and 13, hats on every one of the sixteen steps, and ghost rims on steps 4, 8, 12 and 16, the last sixteenth of each beat, at a lower level than the snare. Kick on step 1 and step 7, the and of two. That is the basic groove, and the ghosts are what make it funk rather than pop. The one puts a heavier kick on step 1 and the others on the a of two (step 8) and the and of three (step 11), so everything leans home. The syncopated snare adds hits on the a of two and four, steps 8 and 16. Second line is New Orleans: the kick in a 3-3-2 across the bar, the snare on the and of two and four, a little swing. Sixteenth kicks put three kicks a bar on sixteenth positions with the snare left plain. Funk disco puts four kicks on the floor under the same hats and ghosts.

More drum patterns

The beat you want is in a song you’re playing.

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Questions.

What are ghost notes?

Quiet snare hits between the main ones, usually on the sixteenths before or after the backbeat. On the grid they're the rim row at a low level; in a DAW, lower those notes' velocity to about a third of the snare's.

What tempo is funk?

95 to 115 BPM for most of it, and the grid opens at 104. Slower and it leans toward soul; faster and it becomes disco, which is the last pattern on this page.

Should funk hats be sixteenths?

Usually. Sixteenth hats with accents on the beats are the funk top; eighth hats make the same pattern sound like rock. If sixteenths are too busy at your tempo, keep them and lower every second one instead of removing them.

More free tools

All free tools →

Drum sequencer

Program a beat on a 16-step grid.

Drum pad

16 pads on your keyboard, your own sounds too.

Metronome

A steady click, and a click track to download.