Floor Tom And Snare Backbeats

The groove idea you are going to be learning in this lesson is very similar as that presented in This Level 1 Groove Lesson where the right hand was moved from the snare to an alternate part of the kit. The difference in this lesson will be that both the floor tom and snare will be played on either beat, beat 2 or both. This is really easy to do, all that happens in the right hand moves from the cymbal to a tom. The downside of this idea is that there will be no right hand on the back beat, but that is just a feature of the patterns.

Below I have listed some grooves that follow this concept. I have split this into three sections, one where the tom is added on beat 2, the on beat 4 then finally on both. As with all concept lessons, learn the patterns shown below then create further grooves from them. Some patterns use a quarter note right hand. In these a minim will be used to notate the space over the snare and tom. In all example I have used the floor tom, feel free to experiment with how other parts of the kit sound for this idea.


Applied To Beat 2

Example 1

A groove with snare beats accented with toms


Example 2

A groove with snare beats accented with toms


Example 3

A groove with snare beats accented with toms


Applied To Beat 4

Example 1

A groove with snare beats accented with toms


Example 2

A groove with snare beats accented with toms


Example 3

A groove with snare beats accented with toms


Applied To Beats 2 and 4

Example 1

A groove with snare beats accented with toms


Example 2

A groove with snare beats accented with toms


Example 3

A groove with snare beats accented with toms


TASKS

  • Learn the grooves above up to a tempo of at least 140bpm.
  • Experiment with different kick placement.
  • Create some 4 bar phrases using these grooves.

Below is a short piece with this concept applied. Note the use of the pattern as a variation in the fourth bar as well as a standard groove pattern.

An example piece

Lessons

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