Brazilian drum styles: samba and more · drumdesync
Brazilian drum-style grooves with real notation. Start with samba, layer by layer. Free to practice.
Your kit becomes a samba school: surdo in the foot, tamborim on the rim.
- The surdo in your foot The kick becomes a surdo: one firm hit on every beat. The heartbeat of samba.
- The surdo pickup Before every beat, the foot sneaks a pickup on the "a". That is how samba walks.
- The full samba feet The pedal hi-hat joins on the "&"s: both feet in conversation, the whole samba floor.
- The shaker hand The hand becomes a ganza: steady sixteenths on the hi-hat, even like a shaker.
- Accent on the beat Same shaker, but the > is in charge: strong on the beat, light everywhere else.
- The swing on the 'a' The accent moves to the "a" and the samba really starts to sway.
- The rim marks the two Stick laid across the rim: a dry tick on 2 and 4, answering the surdo.
- Telecoteco The tamborim figure on the rim: nine hits that define Rio samba.
- Telecoteco with the feet The tamborim phrase over the full feet. Real independence.
- Running snare The snare takes the shaker role: running sixteenths accented on the beat.
- The samba snare groove The hidden telecoteco: the notes run, the accents draw the phrase.
- The down side The telecoteco flipped: the same phrase starting from the other bar.
- Ride the samba Right hand moves to the ride, the rim marks 2 and 4, the feet never stop.
- The full samba groove Graduation: running ride, telecoteco on the rim and the full samba feet.
- The cross-side samba The same groove, flipped: the rim phrase starts on the 1, the other side of the clave.
- Samba on the bell The ride bell (◆) marks the beats with a ping that cuts through. Samba school shine.
- The ride that swings The ride is never flat: accent the "a" and it sings with the surdo pickup.
The backbeat that moves the world, from your first groove to the monster classics.
- The backbeat Kick on 1 and 3, snare on 2 and 4, hi-hat in eighths. The most played groove in the world.
- The engine Kick on all four beats: the engine that drives the rock forward without stopping.
- The dry rock Hi-hat in quarters, only on the beat. More space, the bare bones of the groove.
- Kick on the '&' of 3 An extra kick on the "&" of 3, pushing into beat 4. The most classic rock syncopation.
- The double kick The kick doubles right at the top: 1 and the "a" of 1, tied together. Extra weight on the entry.
- The driving train Steady eighth-note kick under the backbeat. The full-steam train of hard rock and punk.
- Open at the end Hi-hat closed the whole bar, opening only on the "&" of 4. The breath before it loops.
- Open and shut Two opens per bar, on the "&" of 2 and 4. The groove that breathes, Sweet Child style.
- Sixteenths on the hats Sixteenths on the hi-hat: twice the notes. Denser, the heavy slower rock.
- Groove on the ride The hand keeps time on the ride instead of the hi-hat: a more open sound for the chorus. Same backbeat.
- Fill at the end Three beats of groove and, on 4, the hand fills across the toms: high, mid, low.
- The big hit Crash opening beat 1, groove, and a tom fill that resolves at the end.
- The heavy half-time The backbeat drops to beat 3 and everything gets heavy. The monstrous "When the Levee Breaks" feel.
- The syncopated kick The kick dances between the backbeats, with the hi-hat opening. Seventies hard rock.
- The locomotive Eighth-note kick engine, crash and open hi-hats: hard rock at full steam.
- The dense groove Sixteenths on the hi-hat accented on the beat, a syncopated kick underneath. Elaborate rock.
Spang-a-lang: the ternary sway of jazz, from the ride to the comping.
- The ride pulse The "ding" on every beat on the ride and the pedal hi-hat closing on 2 and 4. The clock of jazz.
- The spang-a-lang The classic ride figure: ding, ding-da, ding, ding-da. The heart of jazz drumming.
- The feathering The bass drum comes in very lightly on all four beats: felt more than heard. The cushion of swing.
- Comping on 4 The left hand throws the first jab: the snare answers on beat 4, a comment to the ride.
- Comping on the '&' of 2 The snare lands off the beat, on the "&" of 2, which the swing lags into the triplet. Jazz starts talking.
- Both hands talk Two snare comments per bar, on the "&" of 2 and on 4. The left hand gets its own voice.
- The kick answers The kick leaves the feathering and throws a syncopated hit on the "&" of 2, talking to the snare.
- The jazz dialogue Snare and kick take turns at different spots: one asks, the other answers, over the ride.
- The little fill Three beats of swing and, on 4, a little triplet fill across snare and toms that resolves on the ride.
- Four-limb swing Ride, pedal hi-hat, feathering and comping from both: all four limbs in the swing game.
- Up-tempo The spang-a-lang at a fast tempo: the swing tightens and the ride has to float light.
- Dense comping Snare and kick full, chattering in almost every gap of the ride. The jazz that bubbles.
- The chatter The snare draws a syncopated phrase over the ride, like a second triplet melody.
- Mature swing Everything mature: floating ride, snare and kick comping in conversation and the little fill resolving.
The shuffle that limps right on time: from your first sway to the Texas shuffle.
- The shuffle in your hand The blues cell: long-short, long-short. Just the hi-hat, counting the triplet.
- The blues floor The kick anchors on 1 and 3 under the shuffle. The foundation starts walking.
- Four on the floor The kick hits all four beats: the stomping floor of the blues bar.
- The blues shuffle groove Snare on 2 and 4 over the shuffle: the groove behind almost every blues.
- The accent that sways Strong on the beat, light on the short note: the > draws the shuffle roll.
- Shuffle on the ride The timekeeping moves to the ride and the left foot closes the hi-hat on 2 and 4.
- The snare shadow Ghost notes on the middle of the triplets of 1 and 3: the snare fills what the hi-hat skips.
- The filled triplet Ghosts on every middle: all three triplet notes sounding between hi-hat and snare.
- The pushing kick An extra kick on the "&" of 3, lagged into the triplet by the swing. The foot pushes into 4.
- The shuffled snare The left hand learns the shuffle alone on the snare: strong on 2 and 4, ghosting the rest.
- The double shuffle Both hands shuffling together: hi-hat and snare in parallel. The Chicago shuffle.
- The slow blues The whole triplet on the hi-hat, very slow: the 12/8 mood of blues ballads.
- The Texas shuffle Double shuffle over a four-on-the-floor kick: the Texas blues bulldozer.
- The full slow blues The 12/8 ballad on the ride, the bell marking 1 and 3 and the pedal hi-hat on 2 and 4.
- The half-time shuffle Snare cracks only on 3, shadows on the triplet middles: the legendary Purdie feel.
- The blues train The shuffle at speed on the ride, kick on all four: the jump and boogie side of the blues.
The train crossing the prairie: from boom-chick to the full-steam train beat.
- The boom-chick Kick on 1 and 3, snare on 2 and 4, nothing else. The skeleton of all country.
- The two-beat The boom-chick gets eighth-note hi-hat on top. The classic honky-tonk two-beat.
- The ballad on the rim The backbeat becomes a wood click: cross-stick on 2 and 4, the ballad sound.
- The trot The snare walks in steady eighths, accenting 2 and 4. The train still at a trot.
- The train beat The country signature: sixteenth-note snare with accents on 2 and 4, kick on the beats.
- The train with the hats The foot hi-hat joins on the "&"s, hissing between the kicks. The full four-limb train.
- The train pickup An extra accent on the "a" of 4 pushes the bar into the next 1. The train gains traction.
- The country shuffle The two-beat swaying in triplets: swung eighths on the hi-hat. Country with a limp.
- The chorus on the ride The timekeeping opens up to the ride in the chorus: same two-beat, bigger sound.
- The highway half-time The snare lands only on 3 and everything doubles in size. The modern highway ballad.
- The full-steam train The complete train beat, faster, with both feet. Stamina and lightness together.
- The full ballad Cross-stick, hi-hat and a gently syncopated kick. The ballad ready for the stage.
- The graduation train The graduation: the full-steam train with the pulling accent. Everything the track taught, at once.
Weight, gallop and double bass: the force of heavy metal, up to the extreme.
- The fist The backbeat with the kick doubled in eighths on 1 and 3. Rock with a closed fist.
- The kick double The fast sixteenth double on the kick: the seed of double bass.
- The weight on the ride The timekeeping drops to the ride and the sound opens up. The fist with open arms.
- The gallop Eighth + two sixteenths on the kick: the heavy metal horse, galloping on 1 and 3.
- The full gallop The kick gallops all four beats nonstop, hi-hat marking just the pulse. The cavalry ride.
- The skank beat The snare moves to the offbeat: thrash's fast, brutal polka.
- The d-beat The kick chasing the snare: the war beat Discharge created in 1979.
- Two feet in eighths Double bass arrives: continuous eighths alternating the feet, ride on top.
- The sixteenth wall Continuous sixteenths with both feet: metal's wall of low end. Hand in quarters.
- The wall with the hand The sixteenth wall below, eighth-note hi-hat on top. Two engines at different speeds.
- The cavalry charge Crash on 1 and the full gallop at speed. Classic heavy metal in one groove.
- Full-steam thrash The skank at the slider's limit, crash opening. Speed as an instrument.
- The blast beat Kick and snare alternating in sixteenths, ride with the foot. The door to extreme metal.
The upside-down groove: the weight lands on 3. One drop, rockers, steppers.
- The anchor on 3 Just the cross-stick, one click per bar, on beat 3. Find the new center of the world.
- The drop Kick and cross-stick land TOGETHER on 3. Beat 1 stays empty on purpose.
- The one drop The hi-hat stitches eighths over the drop. The beat that carried reggae around the world.
- The hi-hat skank The hi-hat accent moves to the offbeat: the "&" jumps out, like the reggae guitar.
- The empty one Hi-hat only on the beats, and the silence of beat 1 stands exposed. The courage not to play.
- The rockers The kick claims beat 1: more driven, more militant. Seventies reggae.
- The steppers Kick on all four beats, marching nonstop. The "Exodus" engine.
- The steppers with skank The steppers march below, the offbeat accent on top. Two forces crossing.
- The swung one drop The hi-hat sways in triplets over the drop. Carlton Barrett's master touch.
- The full one drop Sixteenths on the hi-hat with the skank alight, drop on 3. The signature in full texture.
- The rockers with a fill Three beats of rockers and the fill walks down the toms into the next bar.
- The steppers march The graduation: steppers with skank at show tempo. Firm, danceable, hypnotic.