In this lesson we’ll use a three-rule system to create grooves with 16th notes that are broken up between the hi-hat and snare. Generally I feel that the two cornerstones of any groove are the snare accents and bass drum figures. Often when playing with others, the bass player interacts with the kick pattern, and the guitar sometimes accents beats 2 and 4 with the snare.

The hi-hat pattern and ghost notes tend to characterize a groove’s underlying feel. If you start with a solid foundation in the snare and bass drum, you can incorporate interesting ghost notes and hi-hat figures around it. For this lesson, we’ll build grooves off of the following bass drum and snare pattern.