Some time ago, I encountered my favorite drum groove during a lesson. In 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, Steve Gadd plays the following unusual yet extremely fitting rhythm spanning two bars1.
The original text of this post was created by my human intelligence in German. The translation was a collaboration between man and machine. The man was I and the machine was Google Translate.
Bar 1
Count 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
Hand L R L R L RRL R L
Hi-Hat x x x
Snare o o ooo o o
Floor Tom o
Bass Drum o o o
Hi-Hat Foot x x
Count 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
Bar 2
Count 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
Hand RRLL
Hi-Hat x x x
Snare o o ....
Hi Tom o
Floor Tom o
Bass Drum o o o
Hi-Hat Foot x x
Count 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
This prompted me to start thinking about more linear grooves. Eventually, I created a groove of my own. At first, I couldn’t really play it. By now, it’s going better.
Bar 1
The snare plays a ghost note on the 16th note preceding the backbeat—followed by
a normal stroke on the backbeat itself (notated as . o)—and finishes with two
ghost notes on the final two 32nd notes of the bar (notated as ..).
Count 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
Ride bell o o
Snare . o . o ..
Bass-Drum o o o
Hi-Hat Foot x x x x
Count 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
Bar 2
In the 2nd bar, the ghost note before the backbeats is replaced by bass drum and floor tom, the ride bell is replaced by floor tom and hi-tom, and an open hi-hat is played on the ‘4&’.
Count 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
Hi-Hat Foot x x x
Hi-Hat o
Bass-Drum o o o o
Snare o o
Hi-Tom o
Floor-Tom o o
Count 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
Okay, I’m no Steve Gadd. But everyone has to start somewhere.
We haven’t found a suitable song for this with my band yet.
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For notation I use code notation and Abcjs ↩︎