Drum beat in the style of “So What” — Miles Davis

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Miles Davis’ 1959 modal jazz classic swings gently, with Jimmy Cobb on drums. Keep the ride light and the hi-hat on 2 and 4.

Tempo
136 BPM
Time signature
12/8
Groove
jazz swing groove
Genre
Jazz
Difficulty
Intermediate
Loop
4 bars

Drum pattern

Main groove × 3
Ride
Hi-hat
Kick
Variation × 1
Ride
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 hand6
Snare hand0
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 136 BPM it has an up-tempo feel: one beat lasts 441 ms and a 12/8 bar takes 1.8 seconds. Use the tempo buttons to slow it down while you learn.

Practice plan

BPM

Learn At 136 BPM, “So What” is faster than 76% of the 150 songs in our catalogue. See all song tempos →

120 190 BPM So What · 136
Tempo among our jazz songs

Step-by-step breakdown of the jazz swing groove →

How it differs from similar beats

Compared with “Fool in the Rain” (Led Zeppelin, half-time shuffle), this groove leaves out the kick on 1, 2a and 4a, drops the snare on 3 and plays the swing ride pattern on the cymbal instead of a shuffle — and it runs 6 BPM faster. If you can already play that one, this is your next step. Fool in the Rain →

“Fly Me to the Moon” (Frank Sinatra) uses exactly the same simplified pattern, 16 BPM slower — a good warm-up before this one. Fly Me to the Moon →

Other songs with the same jazz swing groove

Similar drum beats

This is a simplified rhythm pattern in the style of “So What” by Miles Davis, written for drum practice. It is not a transcription of the recording and contains no audio, lyrics or artwork. Drums3D is not affiliated with Miles Davis.