Press Play for a punk drum beat at 170 BPM. It starts with D-Beat Hardcore, and you can switch to Ramones-Style Punk Eighths, Pop-Punk Skate Beat, Fast Eighths and Thrash Skank Beat. One beat lasts 353 ms.
Playing over a punk drum beat at 170 BPM
170 BPM is a comfortable middle tempo for punk and metal. Use it to play whole songs or long improvisations without stopping; the fills every few bars tell you where each phrase ends.
What plays at 170 BPM
D-Beat Hardcore is written at 170 BPM, so 170 BPM is its home tempo. In 4/4 at this tempo a quarter note lasts 353 ms, an eighth note 176 ms and a sixteenth 88 ms, which is the spacing of the hi-hat you hear. Switch to Ramones-Style Punk Eighths, Pop-Punk Skate Beat, Fast Eighths and Thrash Skank Beat on the page and the tempo stays at 170 BPM.
How long is a phrase at 170 BPM?
Knowing how long a phrase lasts helps you plan a song, a solo or a recording take. The drums play a fill at the end of every four or eight bars, so these are the lengths you will hear.
Phrase lengths at 170 BPM
Length
Time
One bar of 4/4
1.4 seconds
Four-bar phrase
5.6 seconds
Eight-bar section
11 seconds
Three-minute song
about 127 bars
How a punk drum beat works
Straight eighths at high speed. The kick and snare alternate or double with the hi-hat, and every note is on the grid. At these tempos any tension in your hands shows up as rushing or dropped notes.
How to play along
Guitarists: this is the tempo range for down-picking and fast alternate picking. Start at the lowest tempo you can play perfectly, then move up in small steps. Bassists: match the picking hand of the guitarist, not just the notes.