Metalcore Breakdown drum pattern
A two-bar metalcore breakdown: a china on every beat, one snare on beat 3, a kick that follows a syncopated guitar chug and a 16th-note double-kick run into the loop. Press Play to hear it with a sampled drum kit at 140 BPM, change the tempo or swing, and follow every hit on the grid.
How to count the Metalcore Breakdown
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 half-time 16th-note breakdown).
The Metalcore Breakdown 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- XXXX |
| Snare | ---- ---- X--- ---- | ---- ---- X--- ---- |
| Open hat | X--- x--- x--- x--- | X--- x--- x--- x--- |
Tempo and feel
Heavy and stop-start. The china and the snare on 3 are the grid; the kicks punch the chugs and leave space between them. The default tempo is 140 BPM. Slow it down until every hit is controlled, then raise the tempo a few BPM at a time.
How to practise the Metalcore Breakdown
Play the china on every beat and the snare on beat 3 only. Add the bar-one kicks while counting 16ths aloud. Add the bar-two run on beat 4, right-left, and land back on 1 with the china.
Variations to try next
Play the kick with the china on every beat for the simplest breakdown. Leave out the run and let beat 4 of bar two ring. Move the china to a crash on beat 1 only for a sparser drop.
Where to hear this feel
Records in this family include 2000s metalcore and deathcore breakdowns. A practice study of a metalcore breakdown: a half-time feel with one snare on beat 3, a china on every quarter note and a kick that doubles a syncopated guitar chug, ending bar two with a 16th-note double-kick run. The open hi-hat stands in for the china, which the kit does not have, and the one kick sample stands in for a double pedal. The chug rhythm is an informed choice, because every breakdown follows its own riff; the half-time snare and quarter-note china are the parts that stay constant. It is authored for practice, not transcribed.