Drums3D

Motown beat: drum pattern and how to play it

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Time signature
4/4
Tempo
104–160 BPM
Difficulty
Easy
Loop
4 bars
Main groove × 3
Hi-hat
Snare
Kick
Fill × 1
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 straight 8th notes on the hi-hat. The kick plays on 1, 2a and 3. The snare accents fall on 1, 2, 3 and 4. The loop is 4 bars long, and the fourth bar ends with a short fill on the snare.

In our catalog 8 songs use it, from 104 to 160 BPM.

Learn Songs on this beat run from 104 to 160 BPM; the median of all 150 songs on Drums3D is 118 BPM. Song tempos compared →

Who plays what: notes per bar

Cymbal hand8
Snare hand4
Kick foot3
Kick notes without a cymbal1

The tricky spot is the one kick note that fall between cymbal strokes — practice hand and foot on their own there before playing the whole groove.

How to practice it

  1. Press Play and listen to a few loops while counting out loud: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &.
  2. Lower the tempo to 80 BPM and play just the kick and snare along with the player.
  3. Add the hi-hat part. When the loop feels relaxed, move up to 105 BPM.
  4. Finally play the full groove at 130 BPM, including the fill, then try it without the player.
  • The syncopated kick notes are the tricky part — loop just the kick and hi-hat until they lock in.

Compared with the nearest groove

Compared with “Every Breath You Take” (The Police, straight pop beat), this groove adds kick notes on 2a and adds snare accents on 1 and 3 — and it runs 13 BPM faster. If you can already play that one, this is your next step. straight pop beat →

Songs that use this groove