Four-on-the-floor beat: drum pattern and how to play it
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Practice
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Song grooves
· Simplified drum grooves in the style of famous songs — not exact transcriptions.
- Time signature
- 4/4
- Tempo
- 118–171 BPM
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Loop
- 4 bars
| Open hi-hat | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Snare | ||||||||||||||||
| Kick |
| Open hi-hat | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Snare | ||||||||||||||||
| Kick |
Each row is one drum, each column one step. Large dots are accents, small dots normal hits, faint dots ghost notes.
About this groove
The time is kept with off-beat 8ths on the open hi-hat (only the “&” of each beat). The kick lands on every beat — the famous “four on the floor”. The snare marks the backbeat on 2 and 4. The loop is 4 bars long, and the fourth bar ends with a short fill on the snare.
In our catalog 6 songs use it, from 118 to 171 BPM.
Who plays what: notes per bar
| Cymbal hand | 4 |
|---|---|
| Snare hand | 2 |
| Kick foot | 4 |
| Kick notes without a cymbal | 4 |
The tricky spot is the 4 kick notes that fall between cymbal strokes — practice hand and foot on their own there before playing the whole groove.
How to practice it
- Press Play and listen to a few loops while counting out loud: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &.
- Lower the tempo to 75 BPM and play just the kick and snare along with the player.
- Add the open hi-hat part. When the loop feels relaxed, move up to 100 BPM.
- Finally play the full groove at 128 BPM, including the fill, then try it without the player.
Compared with the nearest groove
Compared with “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” (Eurythmics, pop beat with a four-on-the-floor kick), this groove plays off-beat 8ths on the cymbal instead of straight 8ths — and it runs 2 BPM faster. If you can already play that one, this is your next step. pop beat with a four-on-the-floor kick →