Chapter 7 of 13 · All chapters

Part 1 · Rhythm basics

  1. 01The beat and tempo
  2. 02Bars, beats and 16 steps
  3. 03Kick, snare and hi-hat

Part 2 · Your hands on the pads

  1. 04The 16-pad layout
  2. 05Which fingers play what
  3. 06Tap, don't press

Part 3 · Grooves

  1. 07The basic beat
  2. 0816th hats and finger rolls
  3. 09Syncopation
  4. 10Fills

Part 4 · Feel and style

  1. 11Accents and ghost notes
  2. 12Swing
  3. 13Beats in different styles

Learn · Part 3: Grooves · Chapter 7

The basic beat

Kick on 1 and 3, snare on 2 and 4, hi-hat on every 8th note. This beat is the foundation of most pop, hip-hop and rock grooves. Once you can play it without thinking, everything else is a variation.

The beat

Here it is at a slow tempo. Listen a few times and count along: "1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &". The hat plays on every count, the kick on "1" and "3", the snare on "2" and "4".

80 BPM

Tap a part's name to mute it, then play that part yourself. Practise it in Groove →

Learn it one part at a time

  1. Hats only. Mute the hat and play it with your right index finger while kick and snare play.
  2. Kick and snare. Unmute the hat, mute kick and snare, and play them with your left hand.
  3. Everything. Mute all three parts and turn on the click. Now you're playing the whole beat.
  4. Speed up. Add 4 BPM at a time. Stop at the speed where it still feels easy.

What to listen for

Focus on: the hi-hat never stops. Kick and snare land exactly with a hat note, never between them. If you hear a "flam" (two sounds almost together), one hand is early.

Common mistake: the hat hand speeds up when the snare comes in. Go back to step 1 and play the hats alone until they stay even.