Let’s have some linear fun with tom toms.

This week we’re going linear with a 16th note tom tom groove. The last time we did this was on groove of the week #35, check that one out too.

Get The Groove

When I’m thinking up linear grooves, I often start with the snare and bass drum pattern that I want to work with; then I work on filling in the gaps. Let’s take that approach to this groove. Here’s the basic bass and snare drum pattern for this groove.

Hopefully you can play that bass and snare pattern already. By default I always count all the 8th notes and then add in any 16th notes that I play. I find it helps me to be more accurate with my timing at slower tempos.

Now we’ll start to fill in the spaces. On beat 1, we’ll just add in the floor tom with the right hand on the “e” and “ah” of the beat.

For beat two, we’re going to add the floor tom on “&” and “ah” using a Right-Left sticking.

For beat 3, we’re going to let the left hand wander up to the mid tom to add some more colour to the groove; the right hand stays on the floor tom. We’ll use a Left-Right sticking for this.

Finally, for beat 4, we’ll copy the rhythm of beat 2, but the left hand will wander up to the high-tom on the “ah” of 4.

Taking It Further

Now you’ve learnt the groove, try re-orchestrating it around the kit. You can also try adding bass drums or pedalled hi-hat in the 2 remaining spaces (“e” of 2 and 4). Once you’ve played around with that, try filling in the spaces on these bass and snare patterns.

Get comfortable with each of these bass and snare patterns first, and then start filling in the spaces. I suggest going one beat at a time like we did earlier. You don’t have to always hit the snare drum with your left hand, if it makes the groove you’re trying to play easier, then use your right hand.

I hope you’ve enjoyed groove of the week #69. If you’re in Singapore and you’d like a free trial drum lesson, send us a message via the contact us page.