The pattern
150 BPM · 7/8 · 14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kick | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest |
| Snare | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest |
| Closed hi-hat | hit | rest | hit | rest | hit | rest | hit | rest | hit | rest | hit | rest | hit | rest |
| Ride | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest |
How to play it and where it comes from
A bar of 7/8 in sixteenths (14 steps, BPM referring to the divided eighth: here the eighth is worth two steps) grouped 2+2+3: accents on steps 1, 5 and 9 (ride), snare on the second group and on the last eighth of the group of 3 to “trip” toward the next bar. Typical of Don Caballero, Battles, Toe, TTNG, Covet: the drums play the guitar's figures (tapping, open-string arpeggios) instead of an independent groove. Variants: 3+2+2, alternating 7/8–4/4, 5/4 and 11/8, snare ghost notes on all the free sixteenths.