The pattern
| Instrument | Beat 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Beat 2 | Step 5 | Step 6 | Beat 3 | Step 8 | Step 9 | Beat 4 | Step 11 | Step 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kick | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest |
| Snare | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest |
| Closed hi-hat | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest |
| Ride | hit | rest | hit | hit | rest | hit | hit | rest | hit | hit | rest | hit |
How to play it and where it comes from
The beat of swung rock and roll (Bill Haley & His Comets — Rock Around the Clock, about 180 BPM according to SongBPM): triplet grid, 3 steps = one quarter note, BPM referring to the quarter note. Ride (or half-open hi-hat) on the first and third triplet of each beat, light kick on 1 and 3 (on the records of the era it is barely audible: the slap double bass supplies it), snare with a dry backbeat on 2 and 4 reinforced by the hi-hat pedal. Variants: straight-eighths version in the style of Little Richard / Chuck Berry (ride in even eighths, snare on 2 and 4 that sometimes doubles all the eighths in the choruses), Bo Diddley beat (3-2 clave on toms and maracas), triplet snare fill before the chorus and stop-time (the whole band on 1 and a rest) in the verses.