Writing Better Kick Drum Patterns

Introduction

I’ve written a lot over the years about how to compose drum parts that fit the vibe of the song and how to bring your choruses to life by choosing the correct cymbal but let’s have a conversation today about writing kick drum patterns.  The top two decisions that stand out as amateur drum writing is cymbal choice and kick drum patterns.  For example, when’s the last time you heard a brutal crushing deathcore breakdown using only a ride cymbal?  You haven’t because that would suck.  The right choice is a china, a crash, or in rare cases even  a hi hat.  Same goes for a kick drum pattern that totally ruins the vibe of the song.  Let me explain…

Identifying The Issue

The worst kick drum pattern I see most often is just ignoring the rhythm guitar and picking a random pattern that still “fits”.  It only fits because you're playing at the same tempo and the snare is landing in the right spot within the riff.  But the kick is off wandering around playing whatever it feels like.  Sometimes it’s not even ignorance, the drummer is just new to their instrument and they only really have 2-3 solid beats they’ve mastered.  I remember being there myself, I totally get it.  But what you’re missing out on by not complimenting the rhythm guitar is a lack of power, unity, and musicality.  Instead you just get dissonance, a lack of cohesion, and a mixed message for the listener.  Your kick and snare should line up with your guitar and bass to form a single unit on every hit.  There're three great kick patterns you can rely on to fulfill this goal in a way that always fits the vibe.  

Pattern One: Sparse

The sparse kick drum pattern has an old school feel or when done right can almost have a breakdown or two-step type of feel. This pattern can be as simple as kick on one and snare on three while the rhythm guitars are chugging away.  This really opens up the mix and allows the guitars to shine through.  It also provides the audience with a little breather between a flurry of flying kick patterns everywhere and provides dynamics to the overall song even in a dense metal mix.  Because we’ve reduced the kick pattern to just being a time keeper instead of driving the song, it’s okay that it doesn’t match every note.  Just be careful not to abuse this type of beat by using it in every single song.  Maybe using it in every other song is enough to provide variety without getting overused. Just be forewarned that this can sometimes leave the bass player hanging.  Do they follow the guitar or drums in that situation?  You’re going to have to experiment and find out.  

Examples:  

Pantera - Domination.  The outro has a very sparse 4/4 drum pattern played over a staccato guitar riff.  Kinda makes it sound like a breakdown.  

AC/DC - Back In Black.  This whole song is a pretty standard 4/4 drum pattern played over the guitar riffs and it just works.    

Pattern Two:  Match Every Guitar Note

This one is my favorite.  You can even use this 90% of the time and it doesn’t feel overused.  It’s simple:  just hit your kick or kick and snare whenever the guitar plays a note. This should seem obvious but if it was, I wouldn’t be writing this blog about drummers that play whatever they feel like without giving any thought to what the guitar player is playing.  With the guitar, kick, and bass all hitting notes together and creating a unified, driving rhythm, choosing where to place the snare becomes so much more fun and opens a world of opportunities.  When in doubt, just follow the guitar and you’ll never be wrong.  

Examples:

As I Lay Dying - Through Struggle.  For the majority of the song, the kick drum pattern follows every single note the guitar plays.  

Killswitch Engage - Strength Of The Mind.  The intro starts with every note on the kick matching every note on the guitar. 

Pattern Three:  Play Every Note There Is

This doesn’t always work, but that’s okay because you shouldn’t use it everywhere on every song.  Similar to the sparse kick drum pattern, this is only cool if you use it once per song or even once every other song to add a bit of variety without overusing it.  The trick is:  play a straight kick drum pattern alternating left and right singles throughout the entire bar.  You can play 1/8ths, 16ths, triplets, or sextuplets.  Try them all to see what fits the vibe.  This is easy to write because you don’t have to follow anybody.  It’s also easy to fit with the guitar because it’s not singling out any particular notes, it’s just keeping a steady pattern.  The only time this doesn’t work is when the guitar pattern is way too random/chaotic or just isn’t cool enough to be emphasized like this.  How could the guitar be emphasized with all those kick notes?  Just like the sparse pattern, when the drums hold down a simple yet steady beat, the guitar really stands out against a solid pattern.  In this case, the bassist has next to no choice but to follow the guitar player so the arrangement doesn’t turn into a giant mess.  

Examples: 

As Blood Runs Black - My Fears Have Become Phobias.  Those 215 bpm kicks over the breakdown guitars is just magical.

As I Lay Dying - 94 Hours.  Right in the middle of the song Jordan lets loose some flying kick over metalcore guitar riffs and it’s just perfection.  

Bonus Pattern:  The Combo

Sometimes I’ll use a mixture of the “sparse” pattern and the “match every note” pattern.  But only when it really fits the riff.  This type of pattern would still be pretty sparse compared to the other two busier patterns but it allows you to sneak in a few more kick hits in specific places so long as it accents the guitar.  In no way can you allow this pattern to wander from the guitar notes, they must remain in sync.  But every once in a while you can build a pretty sparse pattern that just fits the riff perfectly and really helps to accentuate just the right couple of guitar notes here and there to give it that extra edge.  Just be careful, you can NOT let the kicks wander off and play their own patterns or accents or fills or runs in between the guitar notes or worse yet, match some notes here and there randomly without really accenting anything in particular.

Examples:  

Deftones - My Own Summer.  You’ll notice the kick doesn’t play every single note the guitar plays but the notes he does play are very deliberate and help to drive the song.  

Kublai Khan - Self-Destruct.  The two step section in the middle is a perfect example.  The kick still matches the guitar, but not on every single note.  

The Wrap

Try out all these ideas next time you have the opportunity so you can see what fits and what doesn’t.  Just use your ears.  And when those fail, go check out some of your favorite albums and really pay attention to those kick drum patterns and how they change the entire vibe by accenting, matching, or playing over the guitar patterns in a pleasing way.  And sometimes it’s all of the above.  It’s up to you to pick what gets accented and what doesn’t.  Remember, you’re having a conversation with the audience.  Do you want your live performance to sound like a synchronized choir or 5 dudes just soloing over the top of each other for 30 minutes straight?