Country Two-Step drum pattern
A bright two-bar country two-step: kick on 1 and 3 with the bass, a crisp snare on 2 and 4, lilting eighth-note hats and a kick pickup on the & of 4 in bar two. Press Play to hear it with a sampled drum kit at 168 BPM, change the tempo or swing, and follow every hit on the grid.
How to count the Country Two-Step
Count it as: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & · two bars (felt in two). The pattern is a 2-bar phrase in 4/4 (two-bar eighth-note grid · felt in two).
The Country Two-Step pattern, hit by hit
Each character is one step of the grid and each group is one beat. X is an accented hit, x a normal hit, o a quiet or ghost note and - a rest.
| Voice | Bar 1 | Bar 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Kick | X- -- X- -- | X- -- x- -x |
| Snare | -- X- -- X- | -- X- -- X- |
| Closed hat | xo xo xo xo | xo xo xo xx |
Tempo and feel
Quick and light on its feet: boom, chick, boom, chick, felt in two. Dancers step on the kick, so keep 1 and 3 dead steady and let the hats float. The default tempo is 168 BPM. It plays with 55% swing by default; move the Swing control toward 50% to hear it straight. Slow it down until every hit is controlled, then raise the tempo a few BPM at a time.
How to practise the Country Two-Step
Play the kick on 1 and 3 and the snare on 2 and 4 until it feels like walking. Add the hats on the eighths, leaning on the beats. Add the bar-two kick pickup on the & of 4.
Variations to try next
Play the backbeat as a cross-stick in the verses. Straighten the hats for a more modern, rock-leaning sound. Play the snare on every & for a driving train-beat chorus.
Where to hear this feel
Records in this family include George Strait - All My Ex's Live in Texas, Alan Jackson - Chattahoochee and Brooks & Dunn - Boot Scootin' Boogie. A practice study of the dancehall two-step, the boom-chick that runs under Texas and Nashville dance records such as George Strait's All My Ex's Live in Texas, Alan Jackson's Chattahoochee and Brooks & Dunn's Boot Scootin' Boogie. It is not a transcription of any of them. The kick doubles the bass on 1 and 3, the snare answers on 2 and 4, the hats carry a light lilt, and in bar two the kick picks up on the & of 4 the way the bass walks into the next chord.