Drum beat in the style of “99 Luftballons” — Nena
Song grooves
· Simplified drum grooves in the style of famous songs — not exact transcriptions.
Nena’s 1983 hit switches from a quiet start to a fast, driving new-wave beat. The main groove is quick straight 8ths — stay relaxed to keep the tempo.
- Tempo
- 193 BPM
- Time signature
- 4/4
- Groove
- driving rock beat
- Genre
- Pop
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Loop
- 4 bars
Drum pattern
| Hi-hat | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Snare | ||||||||||||||||
| Kick |
| Hi-hat | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High tom | ||||||||||||||||
| Floor tom | ||||||||||||||||
| Snare | ||||||||||||||||
| Kick |
Each row is one drum, each column one step. Large dots are accents, small dots normal hits, faint dots ghost notes.
Who plays what: notes per bar
| Cymbal hand | 8 |
|---|---|
| Snare hand | 2 |
| Kick foot | 4 |
Every kick lines up with a cymbal stroke, which makes this one of the easiest coordination patterns to start with.
About this groove
At about 193 BPM it has a fast tempo: one beat lasts 311 ms and a 4/4 bar takes 1.2 seconds. Use the tempo buttons to slow it down while you learn.
Practice plan
How it differs from similar beats
Compared with “Beat It” (Michael Jackson, rock beat with 8th notes), this groove adds kick notes on 1& — and it runs 54 BPM faster. If you can already play that one, this is your next step. Beat It →
“Livin’ la Vida Loca” (Ricky Martin) uses exactly the same simplified pattern, 15 BPM slower — a good warm-up before this one. Livin’ la Vida Loca →
Other songs with the same driving rock beat
Similar drum beats
This is a simplified rhythm pattern in the style of “99 Luftballons” by Nena, written for drum practice. It is not a transcription of the recording and contains no audio, lyrics or artwork. Drums3D is not affiliated with Nena.