Name That Groove
A drum pattern loops and you say which groove it is. Underneath thousands of records sits one of a handful of skeletons, and once you can name them by ear you start hearing why two songs with the same chords feel nothing alike.
- 4 grooves
- two bars is enough
- the grid stays hidden
at which level
- Beginner to intermediate
- No drum experience needed
A drum pattern loops for two bars and you say which groove it is. Pick the grooves you want in the mix, then start.
What it asks
You hear a drum pattern loop and name the groove. Four on the floor against halftime is the easy pair, because they sit at opposite ends. Backbeat against shuffle is the one that catches people: same skeleton, and only the timing of the offbeats separates them.
The question pool
Four grooves to start with. Four on the floor puts a kick on every beat. Backbeat keeps the snare on two and four with straight eighths above it. Shuffle takes that same pattern and lets the in-between notes arrive late. Halftime moves the backbeat to beat three, so the pattern feels half as fast while the tempo has not changed at all. Tempo varies per question, which matters more than it sounds. The same shuffle reads as obvious at a slow tempo and nearly straight at a fast one.
How you answer
Buttons with the groove names. The step grid is not on screen while the pattern plays.
When the round ends
Ten questions, twenty, or no limit at all. Two bars per question keeps it quick, and a run of ten is a reasonable warm-up before you practice anything else.
When you get it wrong
The grid appears with the kick, snare and hats lit up on the steps where they land, and one line tells you what gave it away. Kick on every beat, that is four on the floor. Play it once more while you watch the playhead move, because seeing what you just heard is most of the lesson here.
Keep going
Everything in rhythm practice
- Name That Groove
- Same Rhythm or Not