Waltz beat in 3/4: drum pattern and how to play it
Song grooves
· Simplified drum grooves in the style of famous songs — not exact transcriptions.
- Time signature
- 3/4
- Tempo
- 176–176 BPM
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Loop
- 4 bars
| Hi-hat | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Snare | ||||||||||||
| Kick |
| 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. The snare accents fall on 2 and 3. The loop is 4 bars long, and the fourth bar ends with a short fill on the snare.
In our catalog it is used at 176 BPM.
Who plays what: notes per bar
| Cymbal hand | 6 |
|---|---|
| Snare hand | 2 |
| Kick foot | 1 |
Every kick lines up with a cymbal stroke, which makes this one of the easiest coordination patterns to start with.
How to practice it
- Press Play and listen to a few loops while counting out loud: 1 & 2 & 3 &.
- Lower the tempo to 105 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 140 BPM.
- Finally play the full groove at 176 BPM, including the fill, then try it without the player.
- This groove is in 3/4: count all 3 beats out loud until the bar length is in your body.
- At this tempo, economy of motion matters: keep the sticks low and let them rebound.