Rhythm & Beat Construction

Drums that move, grooves that hold.

Programming, feel and arrangement for drums. The skill everything else sits on top of.

Foundations of groove

Where the feel comes from.

1. Pulse, subdivision and the backbeat
2. Straight and swung
3. Syncopation
4. Polyrhythm and cross-rhythm, gently
5. Rhythm check

Genre grooves

The patterns that define styles.

1. House, techno and four-on-the-floor
2. Boom bap and the lazy snare
3. Trap: hi-hats, rolls and 808s
4. Afrobeats and amapiano grooves
5. Drum and bass and breakbeats
6. Rock and the human drummer
7. Six grooves, one project

Drums in an arrangement

Where the beat goes and where it stops.

1. What drums do in each section
2. Transitions: risers, drops and silence
3. Percussion layers beyond the kit
4. Arrange a two-minute drum track
5. Beat construction final