Rock and roll is a common genre of music to begin playing drum set. The grooves can be as simple or as complicated as you want, making rock drum beats some of the most satisfying things to play.
Rock drum beats are often characterized by the backbeat snare drum hits on counts 2 and 4. The snare drum whacks are usually complemented by kick drum hits on counts 1 and 3 with a cymbal pattern that dances on top of the drum parts. Anything that strays from this basic beat can be considered a variation on that fundamental pattern, which can make a song sound really cool.
Variations are a great way to create rock drum beats, so this article focuses on five ways to make hundreds of different beats. Whether it’s through adding or subtracting, shifting rhythms, combining ideas, changing the cymbal pattern, or replacing snare drums with toms, rock drum beat variations can be created from almost endless possibilities.
These 30 rock drum beats are based on eighth notes. When you start applying the concepts explained below, the amount of variations that can be created are well into the thousands.
Related: Basic Drum Beats – The ‘Money Beat’ and 10 More Variations
The following variations are relative to Beat 1, the basic rock drum beat described above. Although some of the differences from one beat to the next may seem small, the impact on a groove and the song can be huge.
Drum Key
1. Additive and Subtractive Rock Drum Beats
Additive rock drum beats refers to the decision to add kick drum, for example, to the basic beat (Beat 1 of 30). But this approach is not limited to adding kick drums. As shown in beats 21 through 24, you can add a snare drum to make a variation on the rock drum beat.
Let’s compare Beat 1 and Beat 6. A kick drum is added to the upbeat of the first count. This added kick drum moves the feel of the groove into the snare hit a little heavier than if it was simply a kick on the downbeat of the first count. Sometimes the upfront heavy push is what the song needs.
Beat 8 delays this push until the second half of the measure and Beat 12 gives it to you before each snare hit, like in the legendary rock anthem “We Will Rock You.” It doesn’t get any more rocking than that classic groove from Queen.
The subtractive approach to creating beats could also be what you need to serve the needs of a song. It’s hard to think of taking much away from the basic rock drum beat, but it’s a concept that works well if you’ve added too much initially.
If you’re playing Beat 11 and the kick drum is making the groove too heavy, try subtracting a kick to lay down something like Beat 9. Leaving out one kick drum may open up space in the groove to let the bass, keys, or guitar add something subtle or funky that could completely change the song. This kind of decision can make or break a track, so it’s not something to take lightly when creating rock drum beats.
2. Shifting Rhythms to Make Rock Drum Beats
These 30 rock drum beat examples were created based on two tasks: (1) Organize the drum beats by how many kick drums are in the measure; and, (2) Shift snare and kick drum hits systematically to make new variations.
Beat 12 and Beat 13 are different by one eighth note, but the effect of this difference is huge. The first beat is heavy and symmetrical, while the other places the heavy drum hits in the middle of the measure. Sometimes the groove needs the consistent pumping action while other times the heavy hits and then a break from so many drums works better for the song.
I particularly like the possibilities with shifting the snare drum, like in beats 27 through 30. This shift of the snare hit in almost any direction adds a funkiness that still rocks. It can be a pleasant departure from the backbeat snare hits on counts 2 and 4.
Lastly, we haven’t talked much about half time feels. A basic half time rock drum beat would be kick on count 1 and snare on count 3. Beat 29 has this half time feel established through shifting the snare drum hits and adding another snare to the groove. It’s simple and can be very effective.
3. Combine Rock Drum Beats to Make Longer Grooves
Most songs require a more extended phrase length. Perhaps the groove combines beats 25 and 16. This drum beat establishes a rock baião kick pattern in the first measure and adds two kick drums to this rhythm in the second.
The contrast between the lighter measure and the heavier measure creates a nice balance. And the two places where two kick drums occur feels like a tension and release. The first double kicks call in the rhythm on the downbeat and the second pair of double kicks turns the groove back to the beginning. The second pair uses syncopation that resolves the call established by the first pair.
This approach to analyzing rock drum beats may seem overdone, but it’s important to think about why certain rhythms feel good together. There’s a lot of things happening to elicit emotional responses to a drum beat, and a lot of it has to do with how tension is built and released.
The tension can be created by contrasts like busy versus spacious rhythms or downbeat versus upbeat rhythms. But like all guidelines for making music, you can just as easily break these “rules” and make awesome rock beats, too.
4. Cymbal Pattern Variations for Rock Drum Beats
The cymbal pattern is something that I like to think about just as much as the drum hits. Some of the examples work better with particular drum beats on this list because perhaps, for example, the space created by the drum beat and be occupied by a busier rhythm on the hi-hat or ride.
Let’s combine beats 28 and 25 with Pattern 9. The sixteenth note rhythms on the cymbal pattern fill in the spaces in the beat where there are no drums. This type of balance is based on timbre, the character of the instrument’s sound — a metallic sizzle of the cymbals and the punch and roundness of the drum sounds.
Related: Ride vs. Crash – 11 Cymbal Sounds You Can Make
5. Replace Snare Drums With Toms to Make Rock Drum Beats
If we didn’ already have enough options, replacing kicks and snares with toms is often a great way to change a beat to fit a song. You can add a lot more melody to the drum beat, and the toms can be heavy sounding, which is perfect for rock drum beats.
This concept for creating rock drum beats can be as simple as replacing a snare hit with a tom, like what I have done to Beat 27 in the example below. It could also be a little more complex and melodic as shown in the second example of Beat 29 and snare to tom replacements used in that example.
Final Thoughts
Rock and roll is supposed to be simple, heavy, fun, and interesting. The drum beat can be as complex as the kinds of grooves Danny Carey (Wikipedia) makes with Tool or as simple as some of the beats on the classic Beatles hits created by Ringo Starr.
These concepts for coming up with new ideas and the examples provided are only a starting point. But if you practice these concepts, you will almost never run out of ideas for the next songs you write.