Post-Punk Dance Beat drum pattern
A two-bar post-punk dance beat: machine-tight 16th-note hats, a dry backbeat, a kick that barely moves and floor-tom answers on the last 16ths of the beats. Press Play to hear it with a sampled drum kit at 138 BPM, change the tempo or swing, and follow every hit on the grid.
How to count the Post-Punk Dance Beat
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 machine-tight 16th-note hat beat).
The Post-Punk Dance Beat 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--- ---- |
| Snare | ---- X--- ---- X--- | ---- X--- ---- X--- |
| Closed hat | xoxo xoxo xoxo xoxo | xoxo xo-o xoxo xoxo |
| Open hat | ---- ---- ---- ---- | ---- --x- ---- ---- |
| Low tom | ---- ---x ---- ---x | ---- ---- ---- --xx |
Tempo and feel
Cold, tight and danceable. The hats never vary; tension comes from the floor-tom answers and from holding back. The default tempo is 138 BPM. Slow it down until every hit is controlled, then raise the tempo a few BPM at a time.
How to practise the Post-Punk Dance Beat
Play steady 16th-note hats with a light accent on each beat. Add the backbeat and the kick. Add the floor-tom answers with the left hand without disturbing the hats.
Variations to try next
Play the hats on eighths only for the verse. Move the backbeat to floor-tom and snare together. Open the hat on every & of 2.
Where to hear this feel
Records in this family include Joy Division - She's Lost Control, Gang of Four - Damaged Goods and Joy Division - Transmission. A practice study of late-70s post-punk dance drumming: tight 16th-note hats played like a machine, a dry backbeat, a kick that barely moves and floor-tom answers that stand in for the tom-heavy patterns of the era. The studio treatments that gave these records their cold, clipped sound are not reproduced; it is authored for practice, not transcribed.