Learning reggae drum beats as a young drummer prepared me well for coming up with new ways to play grooves on drum set. It was awkward at first, but it opened up my mind to moving away from the same old “boom wack” backbeat with the snare drum on two and four.
Reggae is a genre of music from Jamaica. It was popularized by artists like Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, and, in some ways, it was reinvented by bands like The Police with new wave pop / rock.
What are the different types of reggae drum beats?
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One Drop
The “one drop” is the most recognizable reggae beat for drum set. It’s emphasis is opposite the common backbeat with its heavy kick on beats 1 and 3, placing the kick on 2 and 4 — beat 3 for how I’ve chosen to notate it below.
The upbeat accents on hi-hat are another important feature of the reggae groove. This element of the drum beat supports the other rhythm section instruments, like guitar and keys.
Steppers
This is the “four on the floor” of reggae drum beats. The kick drum is on all four downbeats in each measure, leaving lots of opportunity to vary the rhythms that dance on top via the snare, toms, cymbals, and percussion.
Rockers
The “rockers” reggae beat is the money beat. The kick drum is on 1 and 3, while the snare is on beats 2 and 4.
If you’re interested in more about the “money beat,” check out this article that explains the basic beat and other variations.
Pattern Variations
Many of the variations on these three beats come in the form of different hi-hat or snare drum patterns. You change up the accents a little but not too much because the groove relies on the upbeat emphasis. The hi-hat variations are more so in terms of rhythm and feel.
Straight pattern
A straight pattern may sound ordinary or even boring. Since most reggae drum beats have a swing feel, straight patterns are more common with faster reggae grooves. It’s more common in the “rockers reggae,” but you can use it on any type of reggae drum beat.
Shuffle
The shuffle patterns come in several variations. You can vary the rhythm or the accents, and by doing so, you can establish different styles. These variations can also be good opportunities to phrase songs in unique ways.
Like jazz ride patterns or shuffles used on blues tunes, the following example impacts reggae songs a lot for just a slight shift in the rhythms or dynamics.
“Skipping” Syncopation
The “skipping” syncopation only feel like they skip along over the top of the groove, like a rock bouncing over the surface of the water. In thexample below, it almost sounds like the hi-hat pattern shifts between two different tempos. The second example is just a different way to feel or interpret the cymbal pattern.
Cross Stick
The snare drum cross stick also opens an opportunity for variation. The basic one drop, for example, places the cross stick with the kick drum on beat 3. Hit that beat and the upbeat of beat 4 and you have another common pattern variation.
What kinds of fills work well with reggae beats?
The hi-hats are a good place to start when it comes to fills and improvising over reggae beats. Consider the variations in terms of 8th notes, triplets, and 16th-note syncopation. To level up from these exercises, try adding combinations of accented and unaccented notes.
The cross stick snare drum technique is the next opportunity for mixing it up. In particular, the cross stick holds a lot of stylistic potential. Notice that some of the examples below use rhythmic ideas that are similar to the hi-hat examples above.
Toms and timbales can play a number of roles in the groove. Think of a tom as an opportunity to support the downbeats or anticipate them through upbeats placed in certain beats of the measure.
Let’s finish the discussion on fills and improvisation with some percussion, like cowbell and tambourine. Many reggae bands have a percussionist, but that doesn’t mean the drum set can’t jump in on the fun.
Percussion add-ons are one of my favorite elements of a drum set. Check out this article about different percussion you can add to your kit. It has an example of jam block and cowbell patterns for a reggae beat.
I think of reggae percussion as a series of sparse accents that pop into the spaces of a groove, reminding us about all of the interlocking layers in the rhythm section.
Drummers Known for Their Reggae Beats
It’s unclear who was the first drummer to play reggae beats on drum set, but the one drop, in particular, was made popular by Carlton Barrett of the Wailers. As it is still today, Bob Marley’s music gave reggae it’s prominence, and Carlton was the driving force of the groove.
“Stir It Up”
This is the ultimate example of the one drop. Carlton breaks up a shuffled hi-hat pattern with quarter notes and makes it move with accents. His finesse on the hi-hat accents produces multiple dynamic levels to drive and delineate the musical phrases.
Hi-hat accents can be tricky without a well-defined technique. Check out this article for lessons on accents and hi-hat technique.
I like the fourth bar of the verse where Carlton adds the eighth notes on beat one to add rhythmic motion into the short turnaround. He doesn’t always play this phrase, and he doesn’t always play stuff like this on the fourth bar.
We’ll dive deeper into phrasing with rhythm and accents on the hi-hat later with Stewart Copeland’s new wave reggae grooves.
“Jamming”
A steppers reggae beat has been one of my go-to grooves for years. Carlton plays his characteristic shuffle variation on the hi-hat, while almost making it feel like a one drop — the cross stick on beat three gives it a deep backbeat.
“Could You Be Loved”
This drum beat is rockers reggae. Like most of Carton’s drum beats, his signature shuffle with specifically placed accents is front and center. But it’s the four on the floor groove that makes this rockers beat powerful.
The next name that comes to mind, and one of my all time favorites, is Stewart Copeland. The Police were a popular power trio that dominated new wave rock by mixing elements of punk, reggae, and jazz. Stewart Copeland is known for focusing on the hi-hats and kick drum to build his drum beats.
“Bring on The Night”
The hi-hat is key on this tune. Make sure to pay attention to the accented and unaccented notes. The 8th notes keep things busy, and the upbeat accents and slurps phrase with the guitar and anticipate the backbeat.
“Walking On the Moon”
It’s easy to say that this is my favorite Police song. The drum set groove is a shuffle on top of backbeats on the kick drum. It’s not quite a regular one-drop because the kick drum pattern is double time. This means there are two kicks per bar, as opposed to the one kick in a one drop.
“Message in a Bottle”
Stewart Copeland plays this song differently on almost every tour. If you search for live versions on YouTube, you should find one from 1980, 1983, and 2008 in the first results. Every beat is different, yet each has the same approach — a strong downbeat intro followed by interesting cymbal work with accents on the upbeats and a hybrid samba / one-drop kick pattern.
Rea Mochiach is my last example and none the lesser of this list. He is a powerhouse dub and reggae drummer who plays like he could be in any band, any genre, any night of the week.
“King Without a Crown”
I love this song for so many reasons. Like The Police, the guitar, bass, drums, and vocals work well to establish the groove under strong melody and interesting harmony. The drum beat is a rocker style reggae with some dub kick drum and hi hat rhythms.
Dub reggae started to develop as the reggae recordings of the 1960s were used to remix songs with an emphasis on the rhythm section instruments and added effects like reverb, delay, and filters.
Pay close attention to the kick drum pattern in this song. It has slight variations but mostly sticks to a four-bar phrase. The chorus reminds me of a mixture of a samba break and dubstep rhythms. Notice how crisp the syncopated hits are in the rhythm section. These can slip out of time easily if your not careful.
Final Thoughts
Reggae is an approach to popular music that works for so many musical situations. As a drum set player, it can be as simple as playing the kick on beats 2 and 4 while playing spacey cymbals for a song intro.
As we looked at with the Police, an entirely new approach to pop rock was created by using reggae as a stylistic foundation for a new wave rock band.
I use these grooves both explicitly for reggae songs and in less overt ways, too. Sometimes I don’t even bring up the fact that the groove is reggae because it could impact the vibe of the session in the wrong way.
Bottom line: Reggae works well — just as well as the money beat. Good drum set players can play reggae style grooves with the same level of comfort as the common “boom wack” backbeat.