Gospel Chops Funk drum pattern
A two-bar church-funk groove: bar one is a busy 16th-hat pocket with ghost notes, and bar two breaks into a tom, snare, kick grouping of three that runs over the bar line and lands on beat 1. Press Play to hear it with a sampled drum kit at 103 BPM, change the tempo or swing, and follow every hit on the grid.
How to count the Gospel Chops Funk
Count it as: 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a · two bars. The pattern is a 2-bar phrase in 4/4 (two-bar 16th-note groove with a three-note chops fill).
The Gospel Chops Funk 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--x --x- --X- -X-- |
| Snare | ---- X--- ---- X--- | ---- X--- -X-- X--X |
| Ghost snare | --o- ---o -o-- ---o | --o- ---o ---- ---- |
| Closed hat | xooo xooo xooo xooo | xooo xooo ---- ---- |
| High tom | ---- ---- ---- ---- | ---- ---- X--X ---- |
| Low tom | ---- ---- ---- ---- | ---- ---- ---- --X- |
Tempo and feel
Tight groove, then a flash of chops. The three-note grouping should cut across the beat without ever losing where 1 is. The default tempo is 103 BPM. It plays with 52% 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 Gospel Chops Funk
Say the grouping out loud as tom, snare, kick from beat 3 of bar two. Play the grouping alone slowly until it lands the kick on the next beat 1. Put bar one in front of it and keep the tempo the same through the fill.
Variations to try next
Start the grouping on the and of 3 instead of beat 3. Replace the toms with the snare for a tighter sound. Loop bar one only as the verse groove.
Where to hear this feel
Records in this family include Kirk Franklin - Stomp and Kirk Franklin - Looking for You. A style study of gospel-chops funk: a church-funk groove that breaks into the tom, snare and kick groupings known as chops. On the gridless records these often run as sextuplets; here the three-note grouping is set across straight 16ths so it fits the kit grid.