Reggae drum patterns.

7 reggae patterns at 75 BPM. Play one, change any step, take it to your DAW as MIDI.

Reggae puts the weight where other music leaves a gap: nothing on beat one, and the kick and snare together on three. That is the one drop, and once you hear it the whole genre makes sense, the guitar on the offbeats, the bass filling the space the drums leave. Rockers adds a kick on one, steppers puts a kick on every beat, and dancehall and ska are what happened when the tempo moved.

One drop. Nothing on one; kick and rim together on three; hats in eighths with the offbeat accent.

Open hat
Hat
Rim
Kick

Drop a sound on any row to play it there.

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Rockers. Kick on one and three, snare on three with the rim: heavier than the one drop.

Hat
Rim
Snare
Kick

Drop a sound on any row to play it there.

Open in the drum sequencer →

Steppers. Four on the floor under the reggae top: the marching kind.

Open hat
Hat
Snare
Kick

Drop a sound on any row to play it there.

Open in the drum sequencer →

Rocksteady. Slower, the one drop with a rim on two and four as well.

Hat
Rim
Snare
Kick

Drop a sound on any row to play it there.

Open in the drum sequencer →

Dancehall. Kick on one and the and of two, snare on three, a rim on the a of one: the digital riddim shape.

Hat
Rim
Snare
Kick

Drop a sound on any row to play it there.

Open in the drum sequencer →

Ska. Fast, kick on one and three, snare on two and four, the open hat on every offbeat.

Open hat
Hat
Snare
Kick

Drop a sound on any row to play it there.

Open in the drum sequencer →

Two bars with a tom pickup. The one drop, with toms on the last beat of bar two into the next three.

Hat
Tom high
Tom low
Rim
Kick

Drop a sound on any row to play it there.

Open in the drum sequencer →

How a reggae beat is built

The kick

The rim on three

Hats in eighths and the open hat

Then a variation: Rockers

Leave step 1 empty. Put the kick and the rim together on step 9, beat three, and the hats on the eighths with an open hat on step 15. That is the one drop at 75, and the empty downbeat is the point. Rockers adds a kick on step 1 and uses the snare head on three instead of the rim, with the rim on two and four. Steppers puts kicks on steps 1, 5, 9 and 13 under the same top, which is the marching feel of the late seventies. Rocksteady slows to 68 and adds a rim on two and four to the one drop. Dancehall is faster at 92: kick on step 1 and step 7, the and of two, snare on 9, a rim on the a of one. Ska goes to 160 with the kick on one and three, snare on two and four, and the open hat on every offbeat. The two-bar pattern ends with high and low toms on the last beat of bar two, leading back to the three.

More drum patterns

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Questions.

What is a one drop?

A beat with nothing on one and the kick and snare (usually a rim click) together on three. The name says it: the first beat is dropped. It's the first pattern on this page and the frame for everything else.

What tempo is reggae?

65 to 85 BPM for roots reggae, with the grid at 75. Rocksteady sits slower, around 65 to 70; dancehall at 85 to 100; ska at 150 to 180 with the same offbeat top.

Why a rim click instead of a snare?

Because a cross-stick on three is the classic reggae sound: dry, woody, quiet enough that the bass stays in front. The rockers pattern uses the snare head instead, which is the louder, later style.

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.