Slow Blues (12/8) drum pattern
A slow two-bar 12/8 blues: ride on every eighth, kick on 1 and 3, a heavy, late backbeat on 2 and 4 and a snare drag with a kick pickup that turns bar two around. Press Play to hear it with a sampled drum kit at 72 BPM, change the tempo or swing, and follow every hit on the grid.
How to count the Slow Blues (12/8)
Count it as: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 · two bars (big beats on 1, 4, 7 and 10). The pattern is a 2-bar phrase in 12/8 (two-bar 12/8 on a 16th-note grid · four slow beats).
The Slow Blues (12/8) 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- |
| Snare | -- -- -- X- -- -- -- -- -- X- -- -- | -- -- -- X- -- -- -- -- -- X- -- x- |
| Ghost snare | -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- | -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- oo -- |
| Ride | x- o- o- x- o- o- x- o- o- x- o- o- | x- o- o- x- o- o- x- o- o- x- o- o- |
Tempo and feel
Slow, heavy and patient. Every eighth is there but only the backbeat is loud; sit on the back of it and let the guitar take the space. The default tempo is 72 BPM. Slow it down until every hit is controlled, then raise the tempo a few BPM at a time.
How to practise the Slow Blues (12/8)
Count the four big beats, then play the ride on all twelve eighths, loud on the big beats. Add the kick on 1 and 7 and the snare on 4 and 10, as late as you dare. Add the bar-two drag on 11 and the kick on 12 that pulls into the top.
Variations to try next
Play the eighths on a half-open hat for the guitar solo. Add a kick on 12 in every bar to push the band. Leave out the backbeat for the first two bars of a quiet verse.
Where to hear this feel
Records in this family include T-Bone Walker - Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just as Bad), Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood and Led Zeppelin - Since I've Been Loving You. A practice study of the slow 12/8 blues, in the tradition of T-Bone Walker's Call It Stormy Monday, Chris Layton behind Stevie Ray Vaughan on Texas Flood and John Bonham on Led Zeppelin's Since I've Been Loving You. It is not a transcription of any of them. The ride carries all twelve eighths, the backbeat on big beats 2 and 4 lands late and heavy, and bar two ends with a snare drag and a kick into the next chorus. The BPM counts quarter notes, as in every x/8 groove here, so the dotted-quarter pulse is two thirds of it; switch the metronome beat unit to dotted to count the four big beats.