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Mastering The Samba Drumbeat For Drumset

    The traditional samba beat is a Brazillian rhythm orginally written in 2/4 time and played on multiple percussion instruments. These included the tamborim, surdo, ganza, ago-go bells, cuica, and pandeiro. This traditional drum beat was later adapted to the drumset, especially by jazz drummers. Today it’s common to see the samba beat written in 4/4 time as well as 2/4 time.

    In today’s lesson, we’ll talk about a simple way of playing the samba drum beat on the drumset for beginners. This is something you can use immediately in your playing.

    Here Are 5 Steps For Samba Drumbeat For Beginners

    1.Learn a basic right hand pattern. Play this on the high-hat or ride cymbal.

    2. Now play quarter notes with your bass drum along with the basic right hand samba pattern.

    3. Next break up the right hand pattern a bit, and add some notes on the snare drum with your left hand. Leave out the bass drum for now.

    4. Now play quarter notes on the bass drum again, along with this pattern.

    5. Practice playing solos and fills to get more control over the beat. Keep the quarter notes going on your bass drum. Start by playing RLRL 16th notes on the snare drum. Start adding accents, double stokes and a few notes on the toms. Practice 1 measure of samba drum beat followed by 1 measure of solo. Then try 2 measures of each, then 4 measures.

    This is the most basic way of playing the samba drum beat for drumset. There are more advanced ways of playing the beat but this will work well in many situations.

    red drum set