This excerpt is taken from the complete article that appears in the July 2016 issue, which is available here.

Basics

Advanced Disco

Beyond Four on the Floor

Disco, a style of music popularized in the 1970s, launched dance crazes, drove up record sales, and sometimes caused a lot of frustration among the era’s working drummers. (Some players found the repetitive rhythm to be mind numbing.) Much of today’s music also heavily relies on repetition. Pop, dance, R&B, and even country music make use of strong four-on-the-floor pulses. In this lesson we’ll explore ways to spice up the basic disco feel.

The following hi-hat ostinatos tip a hat to the traditional open/closed disco pattern—we’ll accent or open the hi-hat on the “&” of each beat while closing it on the quarter-note pulse. This gives each groove a strong upbeat pulse or lope.

Rich Redmond
 
For the complete lesson with transcriptions, check out the July 2016 issue, which is available here.