It’s time for groove of the week. Let’s get just a little linear.

Groove of the week #33 includes two ways to vary your grooves. The first is interrupting the Hi-Hat flow, the second is adding in linear elements. Let’s get to it.

Get The Groove

Let’s start by looking at the basic groove we’ll be spicing up.

This is easily one of my favourite grooves to play. Hopefully you can play this already. If not, get practicing!

Our groove of the week is a 2 bar pattern, both bars are based on the same groove though. For the first bar, all we’re going to do is remove the hi-hat on beat 4. Interrupting the flow of the hi-hat in this manner adds space to the groove and a sense of anticipation – what’s coming after the space? Who knows? Let’s check the groove first.

Practice this carefully, make sure you get the spacing correct between the bars. Don’t rush to restart the groove.

The second bar of this week’s groove adds a little linear lick and an open hi-hat on the “&” of 2. Let’s check that out.

So we’re getting linear on beat one of the bar. We’re keeping the bass drum groove the same as our basic beat, but instead of playing 8th note hi-hats we’re playing the 16th note hi-hats between the two bass drums notes. I play this Kick-Left-Right-Kick and then play the snare on beat 2 with my Left hand. You could also play it Kick-Right-Left-Kick and then play the snare on beat 2 with your Right hand. Experiment and find which way works for you again.

Let’s put both bars together and get the full groove.

Take It Further

If you’d like more linear grooves, try groove of the week #23.

Let’s take a closer look at interrupting the flow of the hi-hat to create space in our groove. Here’s some ideas for you.

Our first two variations keep our groove the same. The first one skips the hi-hat on the “&” of one. The second one skips the hi-hat on beat 3.

The third and fourth variations alter the groove slightly to create the space. The third variation stops the hi-hat on beat 2, and the final variation stops the flow on beat 3. Try interrupting the flow on other 8th note hi-hat grooves – space can sound great sometimes.

I hope you’ve enjoyed groove of the week #33. If you’re in Singapore and you’d like a free trial drum lesson, send us a message on the Contact Us Page.