“Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine” — James Brown: drum beat
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Song grooves
· Simplified drum grooves in the style of famous songs — not exact transcriptions.
A 1970 James Brown classic with a tight, repetitive funk groove. Everything locks to the first beat of the bar — “the one”.
- Tempo
- 108 BPM
- Time signature
- 4/4
- Groove
- 16th-note funk groove
- Genre
- Funk
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Loop
- 1 bar
Drum pattern
| Open hi-hat | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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.
Who plays what: notes per bar
| Cymbal hand | 16 |
|---|---|
| Snare hand | 5 |
| Kick foot | 4 |
The kick always lines up with the cymbal, so the work is in the snare hand: 3 of its 5 notes are ghost notes.
About this groove
At about 108 BPM it has a medium tempo: one beat lasts 556 ms and a 4/4 bar takes 2.2 seconds. Use the tempo buttons to slow it down while you learn.
Practice plan
How it differs from similar beats
Compared with “Funky Drummer” (James Brown, funk groove with ghost notes), this groove changes only small details — and it runs 8 BPM faster. If you can already play that one, this is your next step. Funky Drummer →
“Walk This Way” (Aerosmith) uses exactly the same simplified pattern, 1 BPM faster — a good next step once this one feels easy. Walk This Way →
Other songs with the same 16th-note funk groove
Similar drum beats
This is a simplified rhythm pattern in the style of “Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine” by James Brown, written for drum practice. It is not a transcription of the recording and contains no audio, lyrics or artwork. Drums3D is not affiliated with James Brown.