DRUMYLearn
Drum beats
Eighteen grooves, each written out as a grid, counted and ready to play on your kit, easiest first. Eleven are straight 4/4, two swing in triplets and five are in other time signatures: 3/4, 6/8, 5/4, 9/8 and 7/8.
Start with the eight easy beats
Straight 4/4 grooves
- Money beatKick on 1 and 3, snare on 2 and 4, hi-hat on every eighth.
- Half-time grooveKick on 1, the & of 2 and the & of 4, accented on 1; snare on 3; hi-hat on every eighth.
- Ride cymbal grooveKick on 1 and 3, snare on 2 and 4, ride on every eighth.
- Rock beat with an extra kickKick on 1, 3 and the & of 3; snare on 2 and 4; hi-hat on every eighth.
- Four on the floorKick and hi-hat on every beat, snare on 2 and 4, open hi-hat on the & of every beat.
- Motown beatKick on 1, the & of 2 and 3; snare on every beat; hi-hat on every eighth.
- Train beatKick on 1 and 3; snare on 2 and 4, ghost notes on every sixteenth between.
- 16th-note hi-hat grooveKick on 1 and 3, snare on 2 and 4, hi-hat on every sixteenth.
- Linear grooveKick on 1, 2, the & of 3 and the & of 4; snare on 2 and 4; hi-hat on the e and a of every beat.
- Ghost note grooveKick on 1, the & of 2 and 3, accented on 1 and 3; snare on 2 and 4, ghost notes on the a of 1, the a of 2, the a of 3 and the & of 4; hi-hat on every eighth.
- Paradiddle grooveKick on 1 and 3; the hands on every sixteenth, the right on the hi-hat and the left on the snare.
Triplet feel
Other time signatures
- 3/4 grooveKick on 1, snare on 2 and 3, hi-hat on every eighth.
- 6/8 grooveKick on 1, snare on 4, hi-hat on every eighth.
- 5/4 grooveKick on 1, 3 and 5; snare on 2 and 4; hi-hat on every eighth.
- 9/8 grooveKick on 1 and 5, snare on 3 and 7, hi-hat on every eighth.
- 7/8 grooveKick on 1 and 5, snare on 3 and 7, hi-hat on every eighth.
Keep practising
Browse drum songs
- Easy drum songs for beginners
- Intermediate drum songs
- Hard drum songs
- Slow songs to play on drums
- Fast drum songs
- Drumless songs to play along to
- Kick, snare and hi-hat songs
Practise
Guides
- How to connect an electronic drum kit to your computer
- How to play along to songs on electronic drums
- Why your electronic drums feel late — and how to fix it
By artist
- Metallica
- Led Zeppelin
- Iron Maiden
- Pearl Jam
- Nirvana
- AC/DC
- Green Day
- Radiohead
- System of a Down
- Deftones
- Red Hot Chili Peppers
- Foo Fighters
- Tool
- Weezer
- Bring Me the Horizon
- Gojira
- Muse
- Queens of the Stone Age
- King Crimson
- Michael Jackson
- Avenged Sevenfold
- Three Days Grace
- Children of Bodom
- Arctic Monkeys