Traditional Blast Beat drum pattern
A two-bar traditional blast beat: kick and ride together on every eighth, the snare alone on every 16th in between and a crash at the top of the phrase. Press Play to hear it with a sampled drum kit at 180 BPM, change the tempo or swing, and follow every hit on the grid.
How to count the Traditional Blast 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 alternating 16th-note blast).
The Traditional Blast 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- X-X- | X-X- X-X- X-X- X-X- |
| Snare | -X-X -X-X -X-X -X-X | -X-X -X-X -X-X -X-X |
| Open hat | X--- ---- ---- ---- | ---- ---- ---- ---- |
| Ride | --x- x-x- x-x- x-x- | x-x- x-x- x-x- x-x- |
Tempo and feel
A continuous roar. Kick and snare never land together; if they start to flam, drop the tempo. The default tempo is 180 BPM. Slow it down until every hit is controlled, then raise the tempo a few BPM at a time.
How to practise the Traditional Blast Beat
Play kick and snare alternating in 16ths at 100 BPM with no cymbal. Add the ride with the kick so right hand and right foot move together. Raise the tempo five BPM at a time and hold each step for a minute.
Variations to try next
Move the cymbal from the kick notes onto the snare notes. Play the cymbal on quarter notes only to save the right hand. Alternate two bars of blast with two bars of skank beat.
Where to hear this feel
Records in this family include Death metal, black metal and grindcore blast sections from the late 1980s on. A practice study of the traditional blast beat of death metal, black metal and grindcore: kick and cymbal together on every eighth note and the snare alone on every 16th in between, so kick and snare alternate in a 16th-note stream. Each limb plays only eighths. The open hi-hat stands in for the crash at the top of the phrase. The ride is an informed choice; many drummers blast on a crash, a china or the hi-hat. The default 180 BPM is a practice tempo well below the 220 BPM and faster of many records. It is authored for practice, not transcribed.