Level 3 · Your First Groove
3-1 - The groove
Boom - tick - crack - tick. Half of pop music lives here.
How to practice it
Eighth notes: bass on 1, snare on 2, bass on 3, snare on 4, with quiet ghost taps on every 'and'. Suggested hands: Right plays B/S on the beats, Left plays the ghosts - or alternate naturally. Start painfully slow; clean beats before speed.
Suggested take: ~90s · start 60 BPM → pass around 85 BPM
1
B
&
g
2
S
&
g
3
B
&
g
4
S
&
g
60 BPM
Start at 60, exercise passes around 85. Legend: B bass · S snare · g ghost · - rest
Tips
- • Say 'BOOM-tick-CRACK-tick' while playing.
- • Ghosts are whispers; bass and snare are the sentence.
- • If it falls apart, drop the ghosts, get B-S-B-S solid, add ghosts back.
Watch out for
- • Ghosts as loud as the main strokes (groove turns into porridge)
- • Rushing the 'and' after the snare
- • Snare quality degrading once the pattern flows
Record your take
Aim for ~90s. Put the phone ~1m away, facing the front plate. You'll get Rafa's feedback within a minute of submitting.
Up next after this: 3-2 - Boom-boom crack