The basic rock beat

Kick on 1 and 3, snare on 2 and 4, hi-hat on every eighth note: 12 strokes a bar, and most rock and pop songs start here.

Three layers

The basic rock beat is built from three layers that each do one job. The hi-hat keeps time, playing eight even strokes per bar on "1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &", which on the pad are steps 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14. The kick marks the strong beats 1 and 3, steps 0 and 8. The snare answers on beats 2 and 4, steps 4 and 12. Put together, a bar has 8 hi-hat strokes, 2 kicks and 2 snares. Say it the way drummers do: "boom, tss, CRACK, tss, boom, tss, CRACK, tss", with the hi-hat sounding on top of the other two.

The backbeat

The snare on 2 and 4 is called the backbeat. In marching music the strong accent falls on 1 and 3, the beats you step on. Moving the loudest sound to 2 and 4 is what makes listeners clap on those beats and gives rock, rhythm and blues and pop their push. Try clapping along to almost any pop song: your hands will land with the snare. Many drummers play the backbeat with the non-dominant hand, which for a right-handed player is the left hand on the snare while the right hand crosses over to play the hi-hat.

Learning it one limb at a time

Coordination comes in stages. First play only the hi-hat eighths for a minute, counting out loud. Then add the kick on 1 and 3 and keep the hi-hat even; the common mistake is that the hand stops when the foot plays. When that is steady, add the snare on 2 and 4. Notice that every kick and snare lands together with a hi-hat stroke, never between them. Your limbs are not doing three separate things; they are hitting together on some steps and the hand plays alone on the others. Start at about 70 bpm and only speed up when the bar loops without a hiccup.

First variations

Once the basic beat is solid, change one thing at a time. Add a kick on the "&" of 3, step 10, so the bass drum plays "1, 3 &". This small push is one of the most common rock variations. Or add a kick on the "&" of 2, step 6, for a busier, dance-like feel. Keep the snare on 2 and 4 while you experiment, because that is what holds the listener. A drummer’s job is mostly to repeat a beat steadily for minutes at a time, so a variation should still sound like the same song.

Try it

The first pad has the basic rock beat. Press Play, then switch the kick at step 10 on and off. The second pad starts empty except for the hi-hat; build the beat yourself from the table above.