The Arts Music Store Drum Beat Sampler | learn the drum styles of AC/DC Black Sabbath Blink 182 Green Day Guns and Roses Nirvana The Police Red Hot Chili Peppers Rush

The Arts Music Store Drum Beat Sampler

You've Got a drum kit now and don't know what to do. Here's some sample beat in popular styles by famous groups. As the beat plays, follow the music focusing on the kick drum and the snare. You should be able to follow that through to the end of the piece. When you're comfortable doing that, try to notice the hi-hat and cymbal notes in the patterns. You will also notice the toms and snare changing during a drum fill around the middle of the piece.

These are similar beats to the songs they imitate and in no way are meant to infringe on copywrite. These patterns are meant for educational purposes only and are not to be reproduced in any way.

AC/DC DRUM STYLE

Straight forward Rock and Roll has always been the trademark of Australia's Dominant rock band for the last thirty years. Pay close attention to the kick and snare as they drive the "one-and-two-and-three-and-four" throughout almost all AC/DC songs.

BLACK SABBATH DRUM STYLE

Dark, Gloomy, Loud and Powerful are words to describe the music of Birmingham's Black Sabbath. The beats are filled with tom work that compliments the guitar and bass riffs. Drum fills connect the parts of the songs and the verses and choruses have lots and lots of crash cymbals being used in a "ride".pattern making the music louder.

BLINK 182 DRUM STYLE

Pop punk has made it's way from teen parties to huge stadiums and Blink 182 was a big part of the phenominom. Using straight 4/4 beats, fast backbeats, the drums played a lot faster than normal rock bands had in the past two decades. We've slowed this one down a bit, so concentrate on the kick and snare, and try to copy it.

GREEN DAY DRUM STYLE

Tre Cool is awesome. His seems so at ease when he plays and at the same time, plays with great intensity. The second coming of punk has a lot more fun than the bitterness of the '70s and owes it to it's ambassadors, Green Day. This sample is played in swing so every kick and snare beat you hear should be counted "one-and-a-two-and-a-three-and-a-four-and-a".

GUNS AND ROSES DRUM STYLE

These guys put the anger back in rock and roll. Just when everything was sounding a little too "synthy" and relying on drum machines, Guns and Roses gave everyone a wake-up call. The drum beats are rock and roll with lots of "one-two-three-four" ride-bell and crash riding throughout the guitar solos. Pay attention to the cymbal transition after the fill..

NIRVANA DRUM STYLE

Dave Grohl augmented what the pixies did in the late '80's by bringing the "quiet verse-loud chorus" and helped create the Seattle scene. The drums are so polite in the verse, and then after a qick fill, all the cymbals start pounding the beat while the kick and snare create a type of off-set back beat. Try to copy this and get louder once the snare comes in.

THE POLICE DRUM STYLE

The police may have been a key element of making "ska" a household word in North Amerca in the '80's. Stewart Copeland's sound is as easy to spot as a cat in a dog show. Listen to the syncopation of the toms and the pushes on the fills. Try reproducing them yourself and you will experience syncopation for yourself.

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS DRUM STYLE

Funky. That's probably the number one word used to describe Chad Smith's style. He mixes funk beats with hip-hop style vocals and rock-funk guitar. When you try to play this snippet, pay close attention to the "one-and two...one-and-two" kick and snare patterns he uses in many of his songs.

RUSH DRUM STYLE

This was a tough one. How do yo sum up the drumming of someone so diverse and prolific as Neil Peart? I chose to copy a style that focusses the beat on the hi-hat, rather than the kick and snare like traditional rock. It's a polite drum beat that could explode to a complicated fill at any time during the song, but always seems to revert back to a steady repitition later. Enjoy!