House drum beat at 128 BPM
Press Play for a house drum beat at 128 BPM. It starts with Four-on-the-Floor. One beat lasts 469 ms.
Playing over a house drum beat at 128 BPM
128 BPM is at the fast end for house and dance. Stay relaxed: if your hands tense up or you start rushing, drop back ten BPM, play the part cleanly for a few minutes, then come back up.
What plays at 128 BPM
Four-on-the-Floor is written at 124 BPM, so 128 BPM is its home tempo. In 4/4 at this tempo a quarter note lasts 469 ms, an eighth note 234 ms and a sixteenth 117 ms, which is the spacing of the hi-hat you hear.
How long is a phrase at 128 BPM?
Knowing how long a phrase lasts helps you plan a song, a solo or a recording take. The drums play a fill at the end of every four or eight bars, so these are the lengths you will hear.
| Length | Time |
|---|---|
| One bar of 4/4 | 1.9 seconds |
| Four-bar phrase | 7.5 seconds |
| Eight-bar section | 15 seconds |
| Three-minute song | about 96 bars |
How a house drum beat works
Four-on-the-floor puts the kick on all four beats, with an open hi-hat between them and a snare or clap on two and four. It is completely regular, which makes it a good pulse for practising syncopated parts on top.
How to play along
Keys players: play off-beat chord stabs and let the kick carry the downbeat. Bassists: try an off-beat octave line between the kicks. DJs and producers: use it to check a phrase lasts exactly eight or sixteen bars.