Trap 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
- 136–150 BPM
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Loop
- 2 bars
| Hi-hat | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clap | ||||||||||||||||
| Kick |
| Hi-hat | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clap | ||||||||||||||||
| 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 steady 16th notes on the hi-hat. The kick plays on 1, 2a and 3&. The clap hits only on beat 3, which gives the heavy half-time feel. Eight ghost notes sit between the main hits — play them barely audible.
In our catalog 2 songs use it, from 136 to 150 BPM.
Who plays what: notes per bar
| Cymbal hand | 16 |
|---|---|
| Snare hand | 1 |
| Kick foot | 3 |
Every kick lines up with a cymbal stroke; the challenge is keeping 16 even strokes per bar in the cymbal hand at 150 BPM.
How to practice it
- Press Play and listen to a few loops while counting out loud: 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a.
- Lower the tempo to 90 BPM and play just the kick and snare along with the player.
- Add the hi-hat part. When the loop feels relaxed, move up to 120 BPM.
- Finally play the full groove at 150 BPM, then try it without the player.
- Keep ghost notes very quiet: hit them from just above the head, so the accents stand out.
- 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 “Funky Drummer” (James Brown, funk groove with ghost notes), this groove adds kick notes on 2a, leaves out the kick on 1& and 4e, adds snare accents on 3, drops the snare on 2 and 4 and adds 4 ghost notes — and it runs 50 BPM faster. If you can already play that one, this is your next step. funk groove with ghost notes →