The pattern
160 BPM · 4/4 · 16 step
| Instrument | Beat 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | Beat 2 | Step 6 | Step 7 | Step 8 | Beat 3 | Step 10 | Step 11 | Step 12 | Beat 4 | Step 14 | Step 15 | Step 16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kick | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest |
| Snare | hit | rest | hit | hit | hit | rest | hit | hit | hit | rest | hit | hit | hit | rest | hit | hit |
| Closed hi-hat | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest |
How to play it and where it comes from
The country "train beat" (Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues", bluegrass, country-rock): a continuous flow of eighths and sixteenths on the snare (often with brushes) with accents on 2 and 4, imitating the train. Kick on 1 and 3 following the root-fifth bass, foot hi-hat on 2 and 4. The regularity of the flow is everything. Tempo from 110 to 180 (country range 70–160). Variants: "two-beat" with kick and snare alternating on the quarter notes, country shuffle, accents displaced to the "and."