Looking to expand your vocabulary with a few drum and bass drum patterns? I’m trying to do the same, so I feel you.
As a drummer, I often get bored of playing the same grooves and fills over and over. That’s because, nowadays, I’m not learning new things as I used to back in the day, so it’s easy to always lean into the same patterns.
A good way to avoid boredom and improve our vocabulary is to learn a completely different musical style.
Learning another musical style has many benefits including growing as a musician, improving your creativity, getting new gig opportunities, and, therefore, expanding your network, as well as breaking out of a rut, which is what I want right now.
As someone who has been drumming for more than two decades, it’s getting harder and harder to find a different musical style to learn. What a great problem to have, am I right?
Anyway, a style I’ve never bothered learning or at least trying out is Drum and Bass. Don’t ask me why, but since it’s not the type of music I usually listen to, I never bothered learning it.
That ends today, as I’ve searched all over the internet for the drum and bass drum patterns everyone must know, so you don’t have to.
To make your life easier, I’ve included the drum notation and a sound clip with each pattern.
There’s also a PDF file with all the drum and bass drum patterns at the bottom of the article.
And who knows? Maybe you’re the next JDBeck (he’s a jazz drummer, but his drum and bass influences are obvious), or at the very least, your vocabulary improved a fair bit.
Without further ado, these are the drum and bass drum patterns everyone should learn:
DnB Drum Pattern #1
My first suggestion couldn’t be anything else other than what’s most likely the standard drum and bass drum pattern.
It’s a fairly simple 16th note pattern, so the way you count it is: “one, e, and, ah; two, e, and, ah…”.
You play the bass drum twice, on the first beat and the “and” of the third beat. The snare drum is also played twice, on beats 2 and 4, just like any basic backbeat.
In my opinion, the Hi-Hat pattern is the hardest part of the whole groove. If there’s one thing that defines a Drum and Bass drum beat is the fast tempo they’re played at since it’s always between 160 and 200 BPM.
In other words, you have to play 16th notes on the Hi-Hat at a tempo of at least 160 BPM. On top of that, you have to accent every other stroke, starting on the first beat.
If you put everything together, here’s what it looks like in drum notation:
And what it sounds like:
DnB Drum Pattern #2
The second Drum and Bass beat everyone should learn is based on the first one, but with a couple of extra notes.
Nothing changes, when it comes to Hi-Hat and the bass drum. You still play 16th notes on the Hi-Hat, alternating between an accent and a regular stroke.
Additionally, you play the bass drum twice, on the first beat as well as on the “and” of the third beat.
On the contrary, the snare drum is where most changes happen. You still play the snare drum on the 2nd and 4th beat.
On top of that, you add two extra snare drum notes, on the “ah” of the 2nd beat, and the “e” of the third one.
Plus, those additional notes are played as ghost notes, so you need to play them softer than regular notes.
With that in mind, here’s what it looks like with two extra ghost notes:
The two snare drum ghost notes make a huge difference. Here’s what it sounds like:
DnB Drum Pattern #3
The third beat isn’t based on any of the previous ones. In fact, the Hi-Hat pattern is the only thing that stays the same: 16th notes, accented every other note.
On top of that, you play the snare drum on the 2nd beat, as well as on the “and” of the third one.
Just as easy is the bass drum pattern. This beat in particular has 3 bass drum notes in total.
The first one is played on the first beat, followed by one on the “and” of the 2nd beat, and another one on the 4th beat.
Remember to count it as we’ve previously seen, and play it as smooth as possible even at faster tempos.
If we combine everything, here’s what it looks like as drum notation:
And what it sounds like at higher BPM:
DnB Drum Pattern #4
In my fourth suggestion, the main focus is the bass drum, with the pattern including a total of 4 bass drum notes per measure.
On the first beat, you play the bass drum twice – on the 1, as well as on the “and” of that same beat.
You then play it on the “ah” of the 2nd beat, which is immediately before the 3rd beat, followed by the final bass drum note on the “e” of the 3rd one.
Additionally, the snare drum is played as you would in a standard backbeat – on the 2nd and 4th beat of each measure.
To wrap up the fourth drum and bass drum pattern, the Hi-Hat pattern is just like all the previous ones – 16th notes, alternating between an accent and regular strike.
Easy right? Either way, for the drummers that had some trouble following along, here’s what it looks like as drum notation:
And what it sounds like:
DnB Drum Pattern #5
If the previous pattern emphasized the bass drum, this one’s the polar opposite, since the snare drum is the main focus.
Once again, the Hi-Hat didn’t change at all but don’t worry, there are a couple of DnB drum patterns with a few Hi-Hat variations at the end of the article.
The bass drum part is also fairly easy, considering there are only two notes per measure – one on the 1st beat, and another one on the 4th one.
On the other hand, the snare drum pattern is where things get interesting thanks to the total of 3 snare drum notes per measure.
The first two notes are placed on the second beat – one on the beat and another one on the “and”.
Additionally, the final snare drum note is also placed on the “and”, but on the 3rd beat instead.
If you had trouble following along, here’s what it looks like as drum notation:
And what it sounds like:
DnB Drum Pattern #6
The sixth drum pattern is the last one using the same 16th note Hi-Hat pattern used in all the previous grooves.
On top of that, the snare drum part couldn’t be easier either, considering you strike the snare drum twice, on the 2nd and 4th beat.
With that out of the way, let’s talk about the bass drum notes’ placement, which is much more interesting.
There are a total of 4 bass drum notes per measure, which is the most out of any of my suggestions.
The first note is played on the 1st beat, followed by the second one on the “ah” of the 2nd beat. Then, there’s another one on the 3rd beat, as well as on the “and” of that same beat.
Put everything together and this is what it looks like as drum notation:
And what it sounds like:
DnB Drum Pattern #7
The 7th drum pattern is pretty much the first one, but with a much more interesting Hi-Hat work.
Considering the Hi-Hat pattern is the hardest part to grasp, especially for a beginner, let’s start with the snare and bass drum notes’ placement.
There are a total of two bass drum notes per measure – one on the 1st beat, and another one on the “and” of the 3rd one.
On top of that, there are also two snare drum notes per measure. The first one on the 2nd beat and the last one on the 4th.
We count this beat as any 16th note one – “one, e, and, ah…” and so on. The Hi-Hat pattern isn’t straight 16th notes, so here’s how you play it:
The Hi-Hat pattern on the 1st and 4th beat is fairly easy, since you play them like any 8th note one, striking the Hi-Hat on the beat, as well as on the “and”.
On the other hand, you strike the Hi-Hat on the 2nd beat on the “one…and, ah”, because there’s an 8th note followed by two 16th notes.
The 3rd beat is almost like a mirror of the second one, so you strike it on the “one, e, and…” since there are two 16th notes followed by an 8th note.
It’s not that easy to explain, so here’s what it looks like as drum notation:
And what it sounds like:
DnB Drum Pattern #8
The 8th and final drum and bass drum pattern is my favorite, so let’s analyze it step by step.
Starting with the snare drum, there’s a total of 2 notes per measure – one on the 2nd beat, and another one on the “and” of the third beat.
There are also a total of three bass drum notes in each measure – on the first beat, followed by one on the “and” of the 2nd one, and another one on the 4th beat.
On the other hand, the Hi-Hat pattern from beats 1 to 3 is the same as the one from the previous groove.
The only difference happens in the 4th beat, where you play the same Hi-Hat pattern from the 2nd beat – one 8th note followed by two 16th notes.
If you put everything together, this is what it looks like as drum notation:
And what it sounds like:
Conclusion
Learning a new music genre is always a fun experience for someone that loves drumming as much as I do and wants to expand their vocabulary.
I certainly had a lot of fun learning the basics of Drum and Bass drumming. Yes, basics. It can get much more complex, but you need a solid foundation first before trying harder DnB beats.
Anyway, if you want a PDF with every single pattern mentioned in the article, download it at the bottom of the article and get back to work.
For now, I hope you enjoyed this introduction to Drum and Bass drumming. If the article gets enough traction, I will definitely follow it up with an article on the advanced drum and bass drum patterns.