Simple drum beats are not necessarily the same as an easy drum beat or a basic drum beat. Most drummers wouldn’t read into these terms too much, but it’s important to think about what a simple drum beat really means.
A simple drum beat is crafted from parts with consistent rhythms and drum set instrumental choices that don’t involve many changes. It could be that the kick, snare, and hi-hat are the only instruments involved in the beat. But, most importantly, simple drum beats make a big difference for the music they serve.
John Bonham’s beat on “Kashmir” is a good example of a simple drum beat. It’s a boom whack beat with a few kick drum variations. The variations are so simple that he just adds an extra sixteenth note after the downbeat to fill in the space and speak a little.
Simple Drum Beats as Building Blocks
After you play through these beats and consider the song examples mentioned, think about how many complex drum beats include two or more concepts from these simple beats. For example, combine the halftime feel with a shuffle, and you’re almost to an iconic shuffle like the one Jeff Porcaro played on “Rosanna.”
The goal of this article is to introduce these simple drum beats in musical contexts that would perhaps suffer with more complexity. Each example, however, includes some suggestions for variations that could make the drum beat more complex.
Complexity should never be the goal, but sometimes taking a drum part to the next level means varying the rhythm or instrumentation. This could add complexity for musical reasons, not those that feed the drummer’s ego.
Sometimes leaving out a kick drum or hi-hat makes the drum beat come alive. So consider these simple drum beats as concepts that you can vary, combine, and use for inspiration to write drum beats that serve the music.
Drum Key
1. Boom Whack
Songs like “Highway to Hell” by AC/DC or “Billy Jean” by Michael Jackson have a boom whack drum beat. It’s often called the money beat because it’s so simple and has been on a lot of songs that have made a lot of money.
The boom is the kick and the whack is the snare. These are played with a quarter note rhythm, which, for a 4/4 time signature, can’t get any simpler.
You can play a variety of cymbal accent patterns over the top of the drum parts. Try eighth notes with upbeat accents, downbeat accents, or a more syncopated accent pattern. The simple drum beat with kick and snare allows listeners to focus on how interesting the cymbal accents feel in the groove.
2. Boom Chick Boom
This simple drum beat reminds me of Ben E. King’s song “Stand By Me.” That song doesn’t even have drums. The beat is carried by an upright bass, a cabasa, and a triangle.
For the Latin music students, this beat in Braziian music is similar to a baião. The big difference in the example below is the cymbal pattern is not as complex. But that doesn’t need to take away from the huge impact this beat can have on the groove.
The “boom chick boom” can be phrased with the “chick” exclusively on count four. This changes the feel quite a bit in terms of a movement resolution in the rhythm, but the kick drum rhythm keeps the groove moving forward.
3. Halftime Groove
One of the simplest differences you can make with a drum beat is whether it’s half time, common time, or double time. These three changes are very simple differences that make a big difference.
Halftime
Common Time
Double Time
In fact, when I am not familiar with a song that comes up on a gig, I first ask if it’s half time or not. To me, the answer to this question makes such a difference for the groove. Out of all of the simple drum beats on this list, this has to be the most impactful variation on the “boom whack” beat.
Be careful with the space in this beat. It’s tempting to add a lot of kick drum variations and fills with the cymbals, and that stuff sounds great. But be reverent toward the music when filling the space that simple drum beats like this one create in the groove.
4. Kick and Hi-Hat
Stewart Copeland is a huge fan of the kick and hi-hat beat. He says it provides enough time and that we shouldn’t always go right to snare drum backbeats.
Since a lot of songs have snare drum backbeats, the kick and hi-hat groove is a simple way to make a contrast. This can make a set list or an album more interesting, especially when you begin to discover what you can do with the freedom from the backbeat.
Try out different tom or snare parts either in repetition ways or more randomly. For example, listen to Manu Katche on “In Your Eyes” from the Secret World Live video. He plays the kick and hi-hat with tasteful fills and accents.
5. Motown Snare Whack
If there was a snare drum “four on the floor” this is it. Motown drummers would smack downbeats on the snare drum to drive the rhythm section into the groove in a simple yet fantastic way.
Maybe it was all of the syncopated parts from horns, guitars, keys, bass, and vocals that needed this contrast. The funk that’s created from such a straightforward rhythm is very exciting to play, too.
The song that comes to mind is Stevie Wonder’s “Uptight.” The snare chops away at the downbeats and the melody and rhythm instruments make me want to move like in a funky parade.
6. Pea Soup Hi-Hat Slurps
The “pea soup,” like the boom whack, is an onomatopoeia. The name is based on the sound the hi-hat cymbals make when you strike the edge and open and close the cymbals with the pedal. Adding this sound almost anywhere in a groove can add a lot.
Be careful how you use a good thing like a hi-hat slurp. One or two for simple drum beats should be enough to make a big difference in the groove.
The examples below include different places you could start adding some pea soup to your drum beats. Placing the slurp just before the kick drum can help with coordination. As soon as possible, however, you should try placing the slurp anywhere in the groove to develop your vocabulary.
Variation 1
Variation 2
7. Slap Conga Drum Beat
The slap conga is one of the few Latin beats on this list of simple drum beats. It’s like the boom whack beat, but it has two eighth notes on the rack tom on beat four in lieu of the snare drum backbeat.
Try playing the following example on the ride cymbal or the hi-hat. Also, consider the impact that one eighth note on the kick drum could make to the groove.
If a kick drum is added to the upbeat of count two, it will give the groove a little push in the middle of the measure. This beat would start to sound a little like the samba kick, which is the next one on the list.
8. Samba Kick Drum
The samba kick drum beat is like a Latin shuffle. It places the samba shaker accents on the kick drum, as most drum set players interpret a samba, and fills in with sixteenth notes on the cymbal.
You can play several variations on this kick drum concept. The examples below include the samba kick with just a back beat, one with more samba syncopated samba accents, and very simple hi-hat rhythm with the kick pattern.
Variation 1
Variation 2
9. Slow Blues
The slow blues is like the half-time beat with triplet eighth notes instead of duple eighths. It’s in 6/8 time signature to establish this triple meter, and the boom and whack are so critical to the groove that you don’t want to overcomplicate it.
The kick drum variations, however, are not out of the question. Check out the second and third examples below. They show how a subtle kick drum variation could spice up this simple drum beat without crowding the groove.
Variation 1
Variation 2
This is a stylistically simple drum beat. Even the drum fills need to be simple. If they are overplayed, the support will likely suffer for the singer or guitarist pouring their soul into the song.
I try to think about playing fills that don’t stop the beat. If you can play the slow blues drum beat and add a fill without stopping the cymbal sound or deviating much from the rhythm, the groove will be maintained.
10. Simple Shuffle
Some drummers call this beat the “country shuffle.” It’s a boom whack beat with a shuffle cymbal pattern. Neither the snare nor the kick are shuffled, and the cymbal pattern is not filled in with snare drum ghost notes.
If you want to vary the beat a little without losing the simplicity, try different cymbal accent patterns. The examples below include a few accent variations that make a big difference without complicating the groove.
Variation 1
Variation 2
11. One Drop
The one drop is a reggae drum beat that places the emphasis on the backbeat with a heavy kick drum. It sort of turns the beat around by shifting the bass drum hit from beat one to beats two or three.
A one drop beat is such a simple drum beat for a simple music that is not to be ruined with too much rhythm. The upbeat cymbal pattern supports the upbeat guitar and keyboard rhythms.
The lack of kick drum syncopation allows the bass to weave in and out of the downbeats in funky and hip ways. Compliment these lines with short simple fills that make it obvious that the bass and drums are one unit, grooving hard.
12. Boom Boom Clap
This is the “We Will Rock You” beat. It’s heavy and moves the groove forward, even at a slow tempo like Tom Petty’s “You Don’t Know How It Feels.”
With a simple drum beat like the boom boom clap, it’s crucial to focus on the quality of the drum and cymbal sounds. This means focusing on the volume balance between drums and cymbals, as well as the opportunities to be subtle with the cymbal pattern.
The following examples include some subtle hi-hat variations that work well with the boom boom clap, among other drum beats on this list.
Variation 1
Variation 2
13. Bossa Nova
The boss nova is Latin drum beat based on Brazilian rhythms, and it’s probably the most complicated best on this list. It made the cut because of how essential it is to know and for the simplicity of the concept.
It has three elements:
- Eighth-note cymbal pattern
- Brazilian clave rhythm
- Samba kick drum pattern
Try changing the stick or implement used for the cymbal pattern. For example, a brush on the snare drum instead of sticks on the cymbals can be a simple way to make a big difference in the groove.
14. Disco Beat
The disco beat is like a boom whack with a kick drum on all four downbeats and upbeat accents on the cymbal pattern. This is a driving beat that requires a strong performance.
You can vary the hi-hat pattern as long as the upbeat accents are maintained. The following examples include the basic hi-hat variation, slurps on the accents, and sixteenth notes that anticipate the accents.
Variation 1
Variation 2
15. Train Beat
Train beats sound like a train is coming down the rails. They can be straight or swung, and the accent pattern possibilities can be simple yet add lots of excitement.
Country songs use a lot of train beats, and they can be tough to play. These drum beats are not necessarily easy just because they are simple.
A country drummer may need to be able to adjust the train beat in a wide range of swing interpretation. This means they have to have control over the space between the notes from more duple to triple or vice versa.
Variation 1
Variation 2
Final Thoughts
These simple drum beats can be combined in simple ways, too. Consider adding some pea soup hi-hat slurps to the simple shuffle. Or, how about shuffling the train beat?
Whatever combinations you choose, remember that the essence of a simple drum beat is to not clutter the groove. It’s relative to the other rhythm instrument parts and the melody.