Linear patterns drums
However, do not sacrifice the feel of a beat in order to keep the pattern linear. So if you have that in mind, you should be able to play a basic beat in linear fashion. The first thing you need to realize when starting these grooves, is that no limbs match up.
#Linear patterns drums how to#
So now that you have a further understanding of linear drumming, let me explain a little on how to play these unique beats. Also, these beats are a lot more creative to play, since you do not have a static hi hat or ride cymbal in the background that is always changing with linear grooves. This style adds a lot of groove to the beat as it keeps the listener interested because it is harder to distinguish a solid pulse. These beats can be hard to distinguish in the middle of a song, but you can notice them. If you look at a linear beat on sheet music you will notice the notes form a line because each note is to the right of the next hence the term linear drumming. This means you never play your hands or feet at the same time. What a linear drum beat is is a groove played where no two limbs match up. So take a few minutes to read up on linear drumming, the idea is very cool!įirst off, there are a lot of drummers who may be unfamiliar with the term linear drumming. This style is also popular in Latin music.
![linear patterns drums linear patterns drums](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TSyNmepnZ40/V8CP4vMiLJI/AAAAAAAAHh4/uWWs8_evoUkrm8g59Ho0saV5x3SRlW6OgCLcB/s1600/7-8_linear-patterns_4.jpg)
New rock these days requires a lot of variety and fresh ideas in order to sound unique that is why most drummers are taking advantage of this popular style of drumming. Linear drumming also gives you a totally different feel for the drum set. Learning how to play linear drum patterns and grooves will increase the amount of different styles of music you can play. Also everything I've said here is then applied to grooves too, I just thought it was slightly easier to get across thinking about fills to begin with, as this is generally the area where people tend to rely just on the two hands initially.Linear drumming is a very unique style that is becoming more and more popular with modern music. Obviously then you add the left foot into the mix too, and it goes up another notch.
![linear patterns drums linear patterns drums](https://cdn.onlinedrummer.com/gadd-style-thumb.gif)
There's also a nice little visual illusion that happens where people see your hands in the air but notes still being played, and the ears don't seem to match up to what the eyes are seeing, but that's just a bonus, it's more about the sound, control, and time it gives you. To me there's slightly more "space" in a bass drum sounding during a fill than constant toms, while still sounding exciting and creating a good flow. It also adds a nice subtle new texture to your fills which you won't have encountered before. This leads to a much smoother, relaxed and controlled looking, and sounding transition across the kit, rather than rushing your hands across as fast and as hard as you can (which totally has it's place too in certain situations). Put two notes on the bass drum on your way over (with some technique, a double bass drum hit can be done at warp speed!) and you've got even more time!
![linear patterns drums linear patterns drums](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/3mZm2DvgiZ8/maxresdefault.jpg)
Well on your journey over to the floor tom, if you stick in a bass drum note, it gives you an extra note to make the transition. That's a fairly big gap for your hands to travel over at speed, and you only get one "resting note" to move each hand in a regular single stroke roll (the right hand moves across while the left is playing etc.). Say for example you play R L on the snare at high speed, and you now want to move to the floor tom. Have you ever thought to yourself as a drummer "I wish I had three arms"? Well you kinda do - four in fact, once you get going! Where as a lot of players only consider themselves having two limbs to fill with, start treating your bass drum like an extra tom which is controlled by a "third hand" (your foot!) and your speed and creativity goes up a notch. The "deal" with it, or an advantage, is that with all four limbs playing independent parts but working together to create a complete pattern, you can creatively get across different sound sources much more quickly, yet with super slick smoothness. I think a lot of people are missing the point here, because everyone's kinda just saying "it's really cool" or it's a coordination challenge.