“I Heard It Through the Grapevine” — Marvin Gaye: drum beat
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Song grooves
· Simplified drum grooves in the style of famous songs — not exact transcriptions.
Marvin Gaye’s 1968 version is darker and moodier than most Motown songs, but the backbone is still the Motown beat with its steady snare.
- Tempo
- 116 BPM
- Time signature
- 4/4
- Groove
- Motown beat
- Genre
- Soul & Motown
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Loop
- 4 bars
Drum pattern
| 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.
Who plays what: notes per bar
| Cymbal hand | 8 |
|---|---|
| Snare hand | 4 |
| Kick foot | 3 |
| Kick notes without a cymbal | 1 |
| All three together | 2 |
The tricky spot is the one kick note that fall between cymbal strokes — practice hand and foot on their own there before playing the whole groove.
About this groove
At about 116 BPM it has a medium tempo: one beat lasts 517 ms and a 4/4 bar takes 2.1 seconds. Use the tempo buttons to slow it down while you learn.
Practice plan
How it differs from similar beats
Compared with “Highway to Hell” (AC/DC, basic rock beat), this groove adds kick notes on 2a and adds snare accents on 1 and 3 — and it runs at the same tempo. If you can already play that one, this is your next step. Highway to Hell →
“Respect” (Aretha Franklin) uses exactly the same simplified pattern, 1 BPM slower — a good warm-up before this one. Respect →
Other songs with the same Motown beat
- Respect Aretha Franklin · Soul & Motown · 115 BPM
- Valerie Mark Ronson ft. Amy Winehouse · Soul & Motown · 106 BPM
- My Girl The Temptations · Soul & Motown · 104 BPM
- Ain't No Mountain High Enough Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell · Soul & Motown · 130 BPM
- (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction The Rolling Stones · Rock · 136 BPM
- Rehab Amy Winehouse · Soul & Motown · 144 BPM
Similar drum beats
This is a simplified rhythm pattern in the style of “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” by Marvin Gaye, written for drum practice. It is not a transcription of the recording and contains no audio, lyrics or artwork. Drums3D is not affiliated with Marvin Gaye.