Drum beat in the style of “Back in Black” — AC/DC

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Phil Rudd’s drumming on this 1980 AC/DC classic is a lesson in restraint: the kick stays on 1 and 3, the snare cracks on 2 and 4, and the space in between is left to the guitars.

Tempo
94 BPM
Time signature
4/4
Groove
basic rock beat
Genre
Rock
Difficulty
Easy
Loop
4 bars

Drum pattern

Main groove × 3
Hi-hat
Snare
Kick
Fill × 1
Hi-hat
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 hand8
Snare hand2
Kick foot2

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 94 BPM it has a medium tempo: one beat lasts 638 ms and a 4/4 bar takes 2.6 seconds. Use the tempo buttons to slow it down while you learn.

Practice plan

BPM

Learn “Back in Black” is one of the songs in our beginner plan. Start the 7-day plan →

64 176 BPM Back in Black · 94
Tempo among our rock songs

Step-by-step breakdown of the basic rock beat →

How it differs from similar beats

Compared with “Whole Lotta Love” (Led Zeppelin, rock beat with 8th notes), this groove leaves out the kick on 3& — and it runs 4 BPM faster. If you can already play that one, this is your next step. Whole Lotta Love →

“Eye of the Tiger” (Survivor) uses exactly the same simplified pattern, 15 BPM faster — a good next step once this one feels easy. Eye of the Tiger →

Other songs with the same basic rock beat

Similar drum beats

This is a simplified rhythm pattern in the style of “Back in Black” by AC/DC, written for drum practice. It is not a transcription of the recording and contains no audio, lyrics or artwork. Drums3D is not affiliated with AC/DC.