Wouldn’t it be great if you could play lots of songs on the drums quickly and easily? You can by learning a simple but powerful pattern that I call The Eighth Note Drum Beat. You can have fun applying this beat to many popular songs while taking the time to learn more complex drum technique.
I have this theory that the most popular rock, pop and country songs over the past 50 years can be played with one of six drum beats.
For background on my idea, read these posts: 6 Simple but Powerful Drum Beats – Part 1 and Part 2.
If you’ve been reading and practicing the lessons on the LearnDrumsNow.com blog, you’ll recognize The Eighth Note Drum Beat as the first drum beat you learned in the post Your First Drum Beat (No Drums Required). And if you need a refresher on how to read drum music, visit this post: The Key to Reading Drum Music
Breaking Down the Eighth Note Drum Beat
For this beat, play eighth notes on a closed hi-hat with your right hand. Your left hand will play the snare drum on 2 & 4. If you want a driving beat, quarter notes are played on the bass drum. For a more laid-back feel, play the bass drum on 1 & 3.
As you go through the steps, make sure to count out loud in time with the metronome or clock. Watch the music as you play each step.
- If you have a metronome, set it to 60 beats per minute. If you don’t have a metronome, find a clock that ticks seconds and get a feel for the length of each second.
- Quietly count out loud to four, one count for each second. Repeat counting to 4 over and over (1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4…) until you are counting exactly in time with the seconds. You are counting quarter notes.
- Add the word “and” between each count, keeping the count on each second like “1-and-2-and-3-and-4-and-1-and-2-and-3-and-4-and…” You are counting eighth notes.
- Next add the words “e” and “a” (pronounced “uh”) and repeat the count of “1-e-and-a-2-e-and-a-3-e-and-a-4-e-and-a” until it feels comfortable. You are counting sixteenth notes. This may seem like an unnecessary step for now but it will pay off when you start to play drum fills on your snare and toms.
- Now play your bass drum (right foot) on each quarter note (number count – one tap per second). Continue playing the bass drum until it’s exactly on your count.
- As you play, read the two measures of music below. Notice how the bass drum is playing quarter notes, one beat per second.
- Next, place your left foot on your hi-hat pedal. Press the ball of your foot down on the pedal so the hi-hat cymbals are closed tightly together. This is called a “closed hi-hat.”
- While continuing to count out loud and keeping the hi-hat closed, lift the heel of your left foot and let it drop so that it comes down on “one,” “two,” “three,” and “four.” This may take some time but practice until your left heel is coming down in time with your count. Make sure the hi-hat cymbals stay tightly closed as you tap your left heel. Tapping your left heel will help you keep an internal beat when you’re not playing along with a metronome.
- Next, add your left hand playing the snare drum on “2” and “4.” Notice how the snare drum, bass drum and your left heel are all played together on 2 and 4.
- Now add your right hand playing eighth notes on the closed hi-hat. That means you’re tapping the hi-hat every time you say a number and every time you say the word “and.”
Great job! You are now playing the beat that is the foundation for a lot of rock songs!
What’s great about this beat is that it can be played at many different slow, medium and fast tempos between 70 and 160 bpm. Songs like Viva La Vita by Coldplay, Billie Jean by Michael Jackson and Another Brick In the Wall by Pink Floyd all have this as their basic drum beat.
Now it’s time to apply what you’ve learned. Try playing the Eighth Note Drum Beat to several of your favorite songs. Start with a fairly slow song and then try a faster song. If you have trouble, turn off the music and slow down the beat until you can easily play all the parts together. Then gradually speed up until you can play at the tempo of the play-along song.
Most of all, have fun with it. This is a drum beat you will use for the rest of your drumming career!