Counting Drum Beats
Most (but not all) Rock beats contain a backbeat played on the snare drum. However, the bass drum can be played in many different places, and there are other places the snare drum can be played too. Experiment with the bass drum on all eight positions within a bar of eighth notes.
When counting a particular part such as the bass drum, you need to be able to differentiate it from the cymbal part which contains constant eighth notes. The best way to do this is to accent with your voice the part you are concentrating on. This means counting all eight eighth notes, but saying the bass drum part louder, e.g. the previous example would be counted one and two and three and four and. To help you gain control of this type of counting, the following example shows the bass drum played one at a time on all eight eighth note positions within a bar of * time. The bass drum counts are larger and in bold, indicating that they are counted louder.
As mentioned on the previous page it is important to experiment with different placements of the bass drum. The following examples should give you some basic ideas, but try to come up with some of your own as well. Use the counting system you have just learnt until you are comfortable with each new beat.
Once you can easily play a variety of one bar repeating patterns, try some two bar patterns as shown here. Take this one slowly and remember to use the counting system as you play.
