Drum beat · Advanced

Ghost note drum beat

Soft snares between the backbeats, felt more than heard. The funk in a groove. The ghosts are barely a tap; the 2 and 4 are twice as loud.

Tempo: 86 BPM
Level: Advanced 4 of 5
Time signature: 4/4
Feel: Straight 16ths
Run: 22 s · 8 bars
Limbs: Both hands and the kick foot

Play it on your kit

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The pattern

Ghost note groove: one row per drum, one column per sixteenth of a bar of 4/4
Drum	1	&	a	2	&	a	3	&	a	4	&
Hi-hat	x	x		x	x		x	x		x	x
Snare			(x)	X		(x)			(x)	X	(x)
Kick	X				x		X

Each column is a sixteenth. x is a hit, a bold X an accent and a small (x) a ghost note.

Plays it twice at 86 BPM.

How to count it

Count: 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a

Kick 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. Said aloud: 1 & a 2 & a 3 & a 4 &

How to practise it

Coming from the Motown beat, the kick and the snare change: the kick plays on 1, the & of 2 and 3, accented on 1 and 3; the snare plays on 2 and 4, ghost notes on the a of 1, the a of 2, the a of 3 and the & of 4.

Start with the hi-hat on its own, on every eighth.
Add the snare, on 2 and 4, ghost notes on the a of 1, the a of 2, the a of 3 and the & of 4.
Add the kick, on 1, the & of 2 and 3, accented on 1 and 3.
Count aloud and play it through as DRUMY does: 8 bars at 86 BPM, about 22 seconds.

What DRUMY judges

Each note is judged on when it lands, within 140 ms, and on which drum, not on how hard: the accents and ghost notes are drawn, not judged. All of what DRUMY judges.