Are there names given to regular drum beats?

[Tomred]

Hey folks,

Just wondering if there are particular names given to beats which would be used a lot when drummers speak to each other?

For example, if I said "Can you play the money beat?" the drummer would (or should) know that I'm talking about playing the kick on the 1 and 3, snare on 2 and 4, with eight notes occuring on the hi hat?

Thanks

[pastor_bob]

Hi Tom, I guess I can start with one called the "Train Beat" It's pretty popular in Country music.

[drummer]

Straight rock
1/2 time rock
Blues shuffle
Two-handed shuffle
12/8 Ballad
Slow swing
Fast swing
Train Beat
Samba
Bossa Nova
Disco beat
Ska
One drop
Polka or "2 beat"
Waltz
etc.

I'll think of some more. These are off the top of my head.

[Tomred]

Thanks, it's always a pleasure went I visit this site.

Straight rock
1/2 time rock
Blues shuffle
Two-handed shuffle
12/8 Ballad
Slow swing
Fast swing
Train Beat
Samba
Bossa Nova
Disco beat
Ska
One drop
Polka or "2 beat"
Waltz
etc.

I'll think of some more. These are off the top of my head.

Thanks, drummer. Although, wouldn't some of these (Ska, one drop, polka and waltz) be more a description of the style of music/rhythm rather than a specific beat?

Like saying a reggae only has a kick on beat 3.

*EDIT: The more I think about it, the less distinction there is between them actually

[xweasel]

Blast, hammer blast, bomb blast, gravity blast.

[Michael.Piccoli]

If you said the "money beat" I might have to jump into Money by pink floyd. A little 7/8. Watch out for that haha!

[almostmatt1]

Blast, hammer blast, bomb blast, gravity blast.

Beat me to it.

Kollias also calls the hammer blast a "down blast", I believe.

[imnotverygood9]

Rosanna Shuffle, to contribute one.

[rickthedrummer]

Larry, Moe, and Curly

[Nechre]

Double hand shuffle, with a 4 on the floor kick and ghost note roll with the left hand on the "and" of beat 4 is known as the "Texas Shuffle."

On most slow blues songs that I jam on I use this because the typical slow blues is boooooooring.

Another off the top of the head is a rumba.

Extreme music beats and Blast beats have names as well:
Skank/punk beat
Unison/Hammer Blast
Alternating Blast
Hoaglan Blast
Gravity blast

Just to name a few.

[SparrowBeat]

Sparrow special, Special sparrow, and flying Sparrow are a few I came up with that have really taken off in the local community.

[KCJones]

Sparrow special, Special sparrow, and flying Sparrow are a few I came up with that have really taken off in the local community.

I just saw Danny Carey doing youtube lesson on the Flying Sparrow, but he kept flubbing it up. He was gracious and apologized... said he was still trying to figure it out!

[SparrowBeat]

I just saw Danny Carey doing youtube lesson on the Flying Sparrow, but he kept flubbing it up. He was gracious and apologized... said he was still trying to figure it out!

lol, ah yeah, good ol' Danny. I tried giving him some pointers on it, but. Decent drummer. He might do something some day.

[slinky]

the bread and butter beat. Think AC/DC kidding

[Russ]

You got your actual named ones like drummer mentioned, but more than anything else I hear beats named by their time signature. 3/4, 4/4, 7/8, etc.

[Drumbledore]

Ska and reggae is one of my little specialties. May I contribute?

Particularly with the older ska musicians that I've come across, they'd often ask for:

"Steppers" or four-step: Meaning a "four to the floor" quarter note kick whilst you play all sorts of syncopated snare cross-stick patterns (think of a number of say Police tunes as a starter, such as the beginning of "Regatta De Blanc"). Or you can have just a simple cross-stick on "3" as you play the 4/4 bass drum pattern. The hi-hat can be straight 8th's, shuffled or even hints of swing. But the swing isn't exactly like a jazz swing, it's more of a kind of bounce between straight eighth's and shuffled or swung eighth's....a bit New Orleans like (due to one of reggae's roots in an older Latin-like rhythm called Mento). A slower version of a "steppers" beat would be Stevie Wonder's "Master Blaster", for example.

"One Drop": one of the basic yet absolutely essential reggae rhythms to know, because without understanding that, you won't get very far with the rest of the syncopated (and often improvised) reggae patterns. The one drop emphasizes a cross-stick plus bass drum hit landing usually (and quite often only) on the "3" in a bar. Which then means.....no downbeat on the bass drum on "1"....you avoid it as it will kill the offbeat feel. Now, the other thing is that the hi-hat may swing, shuffle or vary between the two, but never (unless you can cope with a band full of Rastas giving you the evil eye mumbling 'bwaaaai!" from under their dreads and beanies) never play the hi-hat with straight eighth notes. You can get away with quarters occasionally, if the song requires it. Listen to Bob Marley's " No Woman, No Cry". Improvise the hi-hat, and stop being so white.

"Two Step", "Rockers" or "Slow Two": a variation of the one drop, where here it is okay to put the bass drum on the "1" as well as the "3". However, the snare or cross stick still has to be on "3", never as a 2&4 back beat. Hi-hat's are often shuffled or "swung" as explained before. Ska sometimes uses this too.

There are also a few other names for rhythms, but these are pretty specific to this genre, and unless you're really heading down that path, you wouldn't often hear of "ragamuffin", "lover's rock", "sensi-beat" or "reggaeton" (which is usually programmed but you can come across live drummers doing reggaeton rhythms very occasionally).

[Markadiddle]

Rosanna Shuffle, to contribute one.

Purdie Shuffle
Jump Shuffle
Kansas City Shuffle
Texas Shuffle


And a whole bunch more I can't think of right now...

[KCJones]

Ska and reggae is one of my little specialties. May I contribute?

Particularly with the older ska musicians that I've come across, they'd often ask for:

"Steppers" or four-step: Meaning a "four to the floor" quarter note kick whilst you play all sorts of syncopated snare cross-stick patterns (think of a number of say Police tunes as a starter, such as the beginning of "Regatta De Blanc"). Or you can have just a simple cross-stick on "3" as you play the 4/4 bass drum pattern. The hi-hat can be straight 8th's, shuffled or even hints of swing. But the swing isn't exactly like a jazz swing, it's more of a kind of bounce between straight eighth's and shuffled or swung eighth's....a bit New Orleans like (due to one of reggae's roots in an older Latin-like rhythm called Mento). A slower version of a "steppers" beat would be Stevie Wonder's "Master Blaster", for example.

"One Drop": one of the basic yet absolutely essential reggae rhythms to know, because without understanding that, you won't get very far with the rest of the syncopated (and often improvised) reggae patterns. The one drop emphasizes a cross-stick plus bass drum hit landing usually (and quite often only) on the "3" in a bar. Which then means.....no downbeat on the bass drum on "1"....you avoid it as it will kill the offbeat feel. Now, the other thing is that the hi-hat may swing, shuffle or vary between the two, but never (unless you can cope with a band full of Rastas giving you the evil eye mumbling 'bwaaaai!" from under their dreads and beanies) never play the hi-hat with straight eighth notes. You can get away with quarters occasionally, if the song requires it. Listen to Bob Marley's " No Woman, No Cry". Improvise the hi-hat, and stop being so white.

"Two Step", "Rockers" or "Slow Two": a variation of the one drop, where here it is okay to put the bass drum on the "1" as well as the "3". However, the snare or cross stick still has to be on "3", never as a 2&4 back beat. Hi-hat's are often shuffled or "swung" as explained before. Ska sometimes uses this too.

There are also a few other names for rhythms, but these are pretty specific to this genre, and unless you're really heading down that path, you wouldn't often hear of "ragamuffin", "lover's rock", "sensi-beat" or "reggaeton" (which is usually programmed but you can come across live drummers doing reggaeton rhythms very occasionally).

Bro, good stuff! Especially the "One drop" section... Keep a cool hed mon, erry ting gwan be eyrye!

[Tin Toad]

Straight rock
1/2 time rock
Blues shuffle
Two-handed shuffle
12/8 Ballad
Slow swing
Fast swing
Train Beat
Samba
Bossa Nova
Disco beat
Ska
One drop
Polka or "2 beat"
Waltz
etc.

I'll think of some more. These are off the top of my head.

of course cant forget my favorite named beat .. "Tony"

[MR. G]

what's the one I hear called " four on the floor " ?

[Tomred]

Thanks for the replies folks, much appreciated.

And I believe the "four on the floor" beat is so named because you sound the kick drum on each quarter beat of the bar.

[Markadiddle]

You forgot about the Markadiddle beat. Put shoes in the dryer and there you have it.