What this map is for
Every genre has a rhythmic signature: BPM, kick and snare placement, hi-hat subdivision, swing. Knowing it lets you recognize a groove by ear and program it in a few seconds. Positions are in steps 1 to 16 (sixteenth notes of a 4/4 bar: 1 = beat 1, 5 = beat 2, 9 = beat 3, 13 = beat 4). Values are typical, not laws.
Groove table
| Genre | BPM | Kick | Snare/clap | Hi-hat | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rock / pop rock | 100–140 | 1, 9 (+ 11 or 12) | 5, 13 | eighth notes | 0 |
| Funk | 95–115 | 1, 4, 11 | 5, 13 + ghosts | accented sixteenth notes | 52–58% |
| Disco / nu-disco | 115–125 | quarter notes | 5, 13 | open hat on the “&”s (3, 7, 11, 15) | 0–54% |
| House | 120–128 | quarter notes (four on the floor) | clap 5, 13 | open hat on the offbeat, closed in sixteenth notes | 54–58% |
| Techno | 125–140 | quarter notes | clap 5, 13 or absent | offbeat eighth notes, ride | 0–52% |
| UK garage / 2-step | 130–136 | 1, 11 (skips 9) | 5, 13 | heavily swung sixteenth notes | 58–66% |
| Drum and bass | 170–176 | 1, 11 | 5, 13 | eighth or sixteenth notes | 0–54% |
| Dubstep | 140 | 1 | 9 | triplets, eighth notes | 0 |
| Boom bap | 85–95 | 1, 8, 11 | 5, 13 | eighth or sixteenth notes | 55–65% |
| Trap | 130–150 (half) | sparse, follows the 808 | 9 (on 3) | sixteenth notes + triplet rolls | 0 |
| UK drill | 140–145 | sparse, sliding 808s | 9 + syncopated hits before/after | sixteenth notes with “holes” and triplets | 0 |
| Reggaeton / dembow | 88–100 | quarter notes | 4, 7, 12, 15 | sixteenth notes | 0 |
| Afrobeats | 100–115 | 1, 7, 9 (3+3+2) | rim/clap 5, 13 or on the clave | sixteenth-note shaker | 54–58% |
| Amapiano | 110–115 | soft quarter notes | shaker, triplet rim | shaker | 54–58% |
| Reggae one drop | 70–80 | 9 | 9 (cross-stick) | swung eighth notes | 60–66% |
| Jersey club | 140 | 1, 4, 7, 9, 11 (“bouncing” pattern) | triplet clap/snare | — | 0 |
| Metal | 90–200+ | double kick in sixteenth notes/triplets | 5, 13 or 9 (half) | crash/china | 0 |
How to read and use the table
- Kick and snare define the genre; hi-hats define the energy; swing defines the “feel.”
- The same BPM with different positions changes the genre: 140 BPM can be dubstep, trap, UK drill, fast garage, jersey club.
- The bass almost always follows the kick (funk, boom bap, trap with 808) or fills it in (house: offbeat bass between the kicks).
- In the Armonia rhythm library you will find the complete patterns: r-rock, r-funk, r-4otf, r-tech-house, r-ukgarage, r-dnb, r-dubstep, r-boombap, r-trap, r-drill-uk, r-dembow, r-afrobeats, r-amapiano, r-reggae-onedrop, r-metal.
Conversion example on a single progression (A minor, Am – F – C – G)
- House 124: kick on quarter notes, clap 5 and 13, open hat 3, 7, 11, 15; offbeat A bass (steps 3, 7, 11, 15) following the chords.
- Boom bap 90: kick 1, 8, 11; snare 5, 13; hi-hat swing 60%; bass doubling the kick.
- Reggaeton 96: kick on quarter notes, dembow snare 4, 7, 12, 15; bass on tresillo (1, 4, 7).
- Trap 140: snare 9, sixteenth-note hi-hats with triplet roll before the 9; 808 playing A on 1, F gliding toward the second chord.
Sound and tuning
- House/techno: short kick with a 150–300 ms tail, tuned or neutral; techno more distorted.
- Trap/drill: long 808s tuned to the key (A1 = 55 Hz in A minor), short kick or none under the 808.
- Funk/rock: acoustic drums, ghost notes, ambience.
- Reggaeton: dry kick and snare, “snappy” snare carrying the dembow.
Typical mistakes
- Getting the BPM right and the groove wrong (e.g. kick on 9 in a garage track: it becomes house).
- Same swing on everything: in swung genres only hi-hats and percussion carry the full swing.
- Forgetting that perception depends on the backbeat: a snare on 9 at 128 BPM is not house, it is half-time.
Exercise
In FL Studio, on the same chord progression, program eight grooves from the table (8 bars each) and export them as stems: it is a personal library to start new tracks from and a comparative listening study.
Connections
“Shuffle and swing: percentages”, “Advanced half-time and double-time”, “Brazilian rhythms”, “Clave families”, “Ghost notes and dynamics”, “Designing 808s and basses”.