Press Play for a rock drum beat at 80 BPM. It starts with Grunge Sludge Pocket, and you can switch to Basic Rock, Back in Black Pocket, Smells Like Teen Spirit, Ringo-Style Loose Backbeat, Bonham-Style Triplet Kick, Southern Rock Drive and Britpop Tambourine Drive. One beat lasts 750 ms.
Playing over a rock drum beat at 80 BPM
80 BPM is at the slow end for rock. Slow tempos show every timing slip, so it is the best place to learn a new part: play it until it feels boring, then move up.
What plays at 80 BPM
Grunge Sludge Pocket is written at 88 BPM, the closest of this style's grooves to 80 BPM, so it opens first and plays a little slower than written. In 4/4 at this tempo a quarter note lasts 750 ms, an eighth note 375 ms and a sixteenth 188 ms, which is the spacing of the hi-hat you hear. Switch to Basic Rock, Back in Black Pocket, Smells Like Teen Spirit, Ringo-Style Loose Backbeat, Bonham-Style Triplet Kick, Southern Rock Drive and Britpop Tambourine Drive on the page and the tempo stays at 80 BPM.
How long is a phrase at 80 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 80 BPM
Length
Time
One bar of 4/4
3 seconds
Four-bar phrase
12 seconds
Eight-bar section
24 seconds
Three-minute song
about 60 bars
How a rock drum beat works
A rock beat is built on the backbeat: the snare on beats two and four. Lock your strumming or picking hand to the hi-hat eighths and let your accents land with the snare. When the backbeat feels heavy and even, the band sounds tight even if the parts are simple.
How to play along
Guitarists: play down-strokes on the beat and up-strokes on the "and" so your hand moves with the hi-hat. Bassists: sit on the root with the kick drum and leave space where the kick rests. Singers: breathe on the snare, not in the middle of a bar.