When the Levee Breaks drum pattern
John Bonham's monumental groove: a heavy kick on 1 with a soft kick straight after, a kick pair around beat 3, a late full backbeat with ghost notes after it, and an open hat lifting bar two. Press Play to hear it with a sampled drum kit at 72 BPM, change the tempo or swing, and follow every hit on the grid.
How to count the When the Levee Breaks
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 swung 16th-note groove).
The When the Levee Breaks 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 | Xo-- ---X --Xx ---- | Xo-- ---X --Xx ---- |
| Snare | ---- X--- ---- X--- | ---- X--- ---- X--- |
| Ghost snare | ---- -o-- ---- -o-- | ---- -o-- ---- -o-- |
| Closed hat | X-o- x-o- X-o- x-o- | X-o- x-o- X--- x-o- |
| Open hat | ---- ---- ---- ---- | ---- ---- --x- ---- |
| Pedal hat | ---- o--- ---- o--- | ---- o--- ---- o--- |
Tempo and feel
Heavy without dragging. The 16ths swing close to triplets, the snare arrives late, and the soft kick after beat 1 is felt more than heard. The default tempo is 72 BPM. It plays with 65% 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 When the Levee Breaks
Play the eighth-note hats and the late 2 and 4 alone. Add the kick on 1, the a of 2, the and of 3 and the a of 3. Add the soft kick after beat 1 and the ghost notes after each backbeat last.
Variations to try next
Remove the ghost notes for the opening cell. Leave out the soft kick after beat 1. Play the hats on ride.
Where to hear this feel
Records in this family include Led Zeppelin - When the Levee Breaks, Beastie Boys - Rhymin & Stealin and Led Zeppelin - Kashmir. Reference-informed two-bar study of John Bonham's opening groove, following published drum tabs: kick on 1 with a soft kick on the e, then the a of 2, the and of 3 and the a of 3; snare on 2 and 4 with a ghost after each; straight-eighth hats over swung 16ths. The Headley Grange room, echo and compressed master recording are not reproduced.