P-Funk Stomp drum pattern
A two-bar Parliament-Funkadelic style stomp: a fat kick on 1 and 3 with pickups, a wide backbeat laid well behind the beat and open hats that splash on the and of 2 and the and of 4. Press Play to hear it with a sampled drum kit at 100 BPM, change the tempo or swing, and follow every hit on the grid.
How to count the P-Funk Stomp
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 heavy funk pocket).
The P-Funk Stomp 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--- |
| Ghost snare | ---- ---o ---- ---- | ---- ---- ---- ---o |
| Closed hat | x-o- x--- x-o- x-o- | x-o- x-o- x-o- x--- |
| Open hat | ---- --x- ---- ---- | ---- ---- ---- --x- |
| Pedal hat | o--- ---- o--- ---- | ---- ---- ---- ---- |
Tempo and feel
Heavy, wide and unhurried. The backbeat sits late and fat, and the open hats breathe instead of cutting. The default tempo is 100 BPM. It plays with 53% 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 P-Funk Stomp
Play kick and snare only and leave the snare clearly behind the click. Add eighth hats with the bar-one open hat on the and of 2 closed by the foot on 3. Open the bar-two hat on the and of 4 and close it on the next 1.
Variations to try next
Keep the hat closed throughout for a drier verse. Add a kick on every quarter note for a chant section. Move the bar-one open hat to the and of 4.
Where to hear this feel
Records in this family include Parliament - Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker), Parliament - Flash Light and Funkadelic - One Nation Under a Groove. This is a style study written for practice, not a transcription of any one recording.