Drum beat in the style of “Hotel California” — Eagles
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Song grooves
· Simplified drum grooves in the style of famous songs — not exact transcriptions.
Don Henley sang and played drums on this 1976 Eagles classic. The verses use a gentle cross-stick; switch to the full snare when the song opens up.
- Tempo
- 74 BPM
- Time signature
- 4/4
- Groove
- rock ballad beat
- Genre
- Rock
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Loop
- 8 bars
Drum pattern
| Hi-hat | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cross-stick | ||||||||||||||||
| Kick |
| Hi-hat | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Snare | ||||||||||||||||
| Kick |
| 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 hand | 8 |
|---|---|
| Snare hand | 2 |
| Kick foot | 3 |
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 74 BPM it has a slow tempo: one beat lasts 811 ms and a 4/4 bar takes 3.2 seconds. Use the tempo buttons to slow it down while you learn.
Practice plan
How it differs from similar beats
Compared with “Back in Black” (AC/DC, basic rock beat), this groove adds kick notes on 3& — and it runs 20 BPM slower. If you can already play that one, this is your next step. Back in Black →
“Wind of Change” (Scorpions) uses exactly the same simplified pattern, 2 BPM faster — a good next step once this one feels easy. Wind of Change →
Other songs with the same rock ballad beat
Similar drum beats
This is a simplified rhythm pattern in the style of “Hotel California” by Eagles, written for drum practice. It is not a transcription of the recording and contains no audio, lyrics or artwork. Drums3D is not affiliated with Eagles.