Cissy Strut Pocket drum pattern
Zigaboo's linear New Orleans pocket: kick, snare and a two-handed hi-hat mostly taking turns, with the kick pair and hat accent around beat 3 and two snares on beat 4. Press Play to hear it with a sampled drum kit at 92 BPM, change the tempo or swing, and follow every hit on the grid.
How to count the Cissy Strut Pocket
Count it as: 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a · two bars. The pattern is a 2-bar phrase in 4/4 (two-bar linear New Orleans 16th-note pocket).
The Cissy Strut Pocket pattern, hit by hit
Each character is one step of the grid and each group is one beat. X is an accented hit, x a normal hit, o a quiet or ghost note and - a rest.
| Voice | Bar 1 | Bar 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Kick | X--- ---- Xx-- ---- | X--- ---- Xx-- ---- |
| Snare | ---- X--- ---- X-X- | ---- X--- ---- X-X- |
| Closed hat | -oxo -o-x -oXo -o-o | -oxo -oox -oXo -o-o |
Tempo and feel
Lazy 16ths, halfway between straight and swung. The accents on the a of 2 and the and of 3 are the groove; everything else stays soft. The default tempo is 92 BPM. It plays with 59% swing by default; move the Swing control toward 50% to hear it straight. Slow it down until every hit is controlled, then raise the tempo a few BPM at a time.
How to practise the Cissy Strut Pocket
Play the hats alone: left hand on every e and a, right hand on the and of 1 and the and of 3. Put the right hand on the snare for 2, 4 and the and of 4. Add the kick on 1, 3 and the e of 3, then bring out the hat accents on the a of 2 and the and of 3.
Variations to try next
Leave out the kick on the e of 3. Play bar one twice for a sparser feel. Open the hat on the a of 2.
Where to hear this feel
Records in this family include The Meters - Cissy Strut, The Meters - Look-Ka Py Py and The Meters - Sophisticated Cissy. Reference-informed two-bar study of Zigaboo Modeliste's verse groove in The Meters' "Cissy Strut", after published lesson descriptions: a near-linear, two-handed hi-hat pattern with the left hand on every e and a, kick on 1, 3 and the e of 3, snare on 2, 4 and the and of 4, an accented hat on the a of 2, a ghosted hat on the e of 3 before an accented hat on the and of 3, and bar two adding a ghosted hat on the and of 2 so every 16th is filled. The 16ths sit between straight and swung. Guitar, organ and bass are omitted.