Here’s groove of the week #9:

This week’s groove of the week is brought to you by the song Monsters by Shinedown. I’ve been working on Monsters this week and the groove stuck in my head. You’ll also recognize this beat from chorus of Maroon 5’s This Love, although it’s played about 20bpm faster than this. Let’s learn it!

Get The Groove

The main challenge on this groove is the 16th note bass drum pattern. You may need to spend time just practicing the hi-hat and bass drum part & focus on separating the right hand from the right foot. Keep a nice steady 8th note pulse on the hi-hat and don’t let the right foot interfere with it. Take it slow – 50bpm – and count out loud. I’ve beamed them together to make the relationship more obvious.

Once you can do that, throw in a snare drum on 2 & 4 and you’re all set to rock!

Taking It Further

If you’re trying to learn the song Monsters by Shinedown then you’ll need this variation on the groove:

Adding an additional bass drum on the “ah” of 4 gives the groove a little extra forward momentum. Listen to the song and try to hear where it happens.

If you’re trying to play This Love by Maroon 5, then you’ll need to be able to add an open hi-hat on the “&” of 4, like so:

You’ll hear the open hi-hat every other bar in the song. Another variation that you’ll need for the This Love is this one – you’ll hear it at the end of each chorus and during the bridge.

In this variation the hi-hat is replaced with crashes that copy the bass drum pattern. This is a cool way to create interesting variations on a groove. Substitute the crash for the bell of the ride cymbal or a stack and it creates more options. Try the whole of groove 9 like this:

Try playing 2 bars of the groove normally & then 2 bars with the right hand following the right foot. To hear this idea in action listen to Absolution Blues by Coverdale Page.

I hope you’ve enjoyed Groove of the Week 9. If you’re in Singapore and would like a free trial lessons, send us a message via the contact us page.

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