Swinging ride cymbal, two-feel, Basie hi-hat, New Orleans trad and a jazz waltz, for standards and walking bass. Press Play and the drums keep going until you stop them. Pick a tempo below or set your own anywhere from 50 to 220 BPM.
How a jazz drum beat works
Swing time comes from the ride cymbal: "ding, ding-a ding, ding-a". The hi-hat closes on beats two and four, and those are the beats to feel. The skipped note of each "ding-a" falls late in the beat, on the last part of a triplet.
How to play along
Bassists: walk a quarter-note line, one note per beat, with the ride. Guitarists: comp short chords around beats two and four, or play four even strums a bar in the Freddie Green style. Horn and piano players: swing your eighth notes to match the ride, and phrase across the barline.
The jazz swing grooves on this page
Jazz Swing is the ride cymbal spang-a-lang with the hi-hat on two and four. Medium Swing with Comping adds conversational snare and kick comping. Jazz Two Feel is the half-note bass feel for the head before the band goes into four. Kansas City Hi-Hat Swing is the Jo Jones Count Basie sound, played on the hi-hat. New Orleans Trad is the Baby Dodds style bass drum on every beat. Bebop Up-Tempo Ride is the fast Max Roach and Kenny Clarke ride. Jazz Waltz swings in three for tunes like Bill Evans's waltzes.
Common practice tempos
Start with 100, 120, 140, 160, 180 and 200 BPM. Each tempo has its own page with the right groove already selected, so you can bookmark the one you are working on.