Rockers reggae 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
- 87–103 BPM
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Loop
- 1 bar
| Hi-hat | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cross-stick | ||||||||||||||||
| 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 hi-hat (only the “&” of each beat). The kick lands on every beat — the famous “four on the floor”. The cross-stick hits only on beat 3, which gives the heavy half-time feel.
In our catalog 2 songs use it, from 87 to 103 BPM.
Who plays what: notes per bar
| Cymbal hand | 4 |
|---|---|
| Snare hand | 1 |
| 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 60 BPM and play just the kick and cross-stick along with the player.
- Add the hi-hat part. When the loop feels relaxed, move up to 80 BPM.
- Finally play the full groove at 103 BPM, then try it without the player.
- For the cross-stick, lay the stick across the snare and click the rim with the butt end.
Compared with the nearest groove
Compared with “Thriller” (Michael Jackson, four-on-the-floor beat), this groove adds snare accents on 3 and drops the snare on 2 and 4 — and it runs 15 BPM slower. If you can already play that one, this is your next step. four-on-the-floor beat →