Purdie-Style Straight Funk drum pattern
A two-bar straight session-funk groove: eighth hats with an open-hat bark on the and of 4, a syncopated kick, soft ghost pickups and a tom-to-snare fill that hands bar two back to the top. Press Play to hear it with a sampled drum kit at 97 BPM, change the tempo or swing, and follow every hit on the grid.
How to count the Purdie-Style Straight 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 straight 16th-note session-funk pocket).
The Purdie-Style Straight 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 |
| Ghost snare | ---- ---o -o-- ---o | ---- ---o -o-- -o-- |
| Closed hat | x-o- x-o- x-o- x--- | x-o- x-o- x-o- x--- |
| Open hat | ---- ---- ---- --x- | ---- ---- ---- ---- |
| Pedal hat | o--- ---- ---- ---- | ---- ---- ---- ---- |
| High tom | ---- ---- ---- ---- | ---- ---- ---- --x- |
Tempo and feel
Relaxed and sure-footed. Nothing is hurried; the open hat barks and closes cleanly, and the fill sounds like part of the groove rather than a break from it. The default tempo is 97 BPM. It plays with 51% 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 Purdie-Style Straight Funk
Play the eighth hats with the open bark on the and of 4 and close it with the foot on beat 1. Add the kick and backbeat at a comfortable volume. Play the bar-two high tom and snare pickup without speeding up into beat 1.
Variations to try next
Leave the hat closed and keep the fill. Replace the fill with a single open hat on the and of 4. Add a ghost note on the e of 3 in both bars.
Where to hear this feel
Records in this family include Aretha Franklin - Rock Steady and King Curtis - Memphis Soul Stew. A style study of the straight-16th session funk associated with Bernard Purdie, as opposed to his half-time shuffle, which the library covers separately. The open-hat bark and the tom-and-snare pickup are authored figures, not a transcription.