How a rock beat is built
The kick
The snare on two and four
Hats in eighths
Then a variation: Driving
Kick on steps 1 and 9, snare on 5 and 13, hats on every eighth, no swing. Play it at 120 and it already sounds like a band. The driving version adds a kick on step 11, the and of three, so the second half of the bar pushes toward the next downbeat, and a crash on step 1 marks the start of a section. Half-time keeps the kick on one, moves the snare to beat three only, and swaps the hats for a ride on every eighth: the same tempo, twice the weight. The two-bar pattern plays the basic beat and then, over the last three beats of bar two, walks the toms high to mid to low and lands on the crash, which is the fill every song uses at least once.
More drum patterns
- Trap
- Boom bap
- House
- Techno
- Drum and bass
- Reggaeton
- Jersey club
- UK garage
- Drill
- Lo-fi hip hop
- Hip hop
- Amen break
- Basic drum beats
- Drum fills
- Hi-hat patterns
- Jazz and swing
- Funk
- R&B and soul
- Pop
- Bossa nova
- Samba
- Afrobeats
- Reggae
- Disco
- Punk
- Metal
- Breakbeat
- Dubstep
- EDM, trance and hardstyle
- Phonk
- Country
- Blues and shuffle
- Latin
- 6/8 and 12/8
- All drum patterns
- Program your own: the drum sequencer
