6 8 Drum Beat
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6/8 Drum Beat Bila
For last week's drum lesson, Jordan broke down a drum groove called the 'King Kong' beat, first popularized in the 1970s by Redbone. The groove is very paradiddle-like when played straight, but Jordan also taught drummer David Garibaldi's interpretation, which works in ghost notes for a funkier rhythm.
This week, Jordan is back with another groove that gets funkier with added ghost notes. According to Jordan, this 6/8 groove is a 'guilty pleasure' of hers, as she finds herself working it into almost everything she plays. The alternative time signature makes it sound super polyrhythmic and dynamic, even when it's played in a standard way without ghost notes.
As Jordan demonstrates, the standard grove is broken into three main components: the right hand is generally played on the ride cymbal, the back beat is played with the left hand, and the kick can be played in either a 4/4 or 6/8 feel. Once players are comfortable with this, Jordan demonstrates how you can start incorporating ghost notes around the kit for added nuance.
Follow along with Jordan's full lesson above, and stay tuned for another drum lesson next Thursday right here on Reverb.
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Objective: To develop a vocabulary of various bass drum and snare variations that are usable when playing in the 6/8 time signature.
Variations: The right hand could be moved to the floor tom or ride, and accents / ride bell / open hi hats could be added
About the drum beats in 6/8
The first drum beat is the standard beat to play for many when playing in 6/8 and is a good place to start. The bass drum is on the first beat of the bar, and the snare drum is on the 4th quaver beat of the bar – these are the beats where the emphasis is in 6/8. You tend to count it with emphasis like 1 2 3 4 5 6.
The hi hats are playing on all 6 quaver beats of the bar, which is the same on all of these drum beats.
About the 6/8 time signature
Beat 3, 4, 5 and 6 all give a strong indication of a ‘swing’, or ‘shuffle’ feel to the beats. This is easy to do in 6/8 because it can easily feel like you are playing triplets, with a perceived time signature of 2/4 or 4/4. This is why the 6/8 time signature is sometimes used in blues and jazz music. It is also a popular time signature in musicals, especially in slower pieces where the crotchet beat would be too slow if notated with triplets. The same goes for blues, where instead of having a very slow “1 trip let 2 trip let” feel, the slow 1 2 3 4 5 6 is sometimes preferred, especially if staying in that feel for the whole song. Going back to musicals, and also for classical songs or any groups with a conductor, a 6/8 time signature is more efficient and clear for a conductor to beat, than a slow piece in 2/4 or 3/4.
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Related:Practice sheet for learning to play drum beats in 6/8 time