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Dance-pop drum pattern

Straight four on the floor at club tempo, felt as written; a machine-tight kick and clap, the bass and pads pumping with the kick, a sung hook in verse, pre-chorus and chorus. Here are its drums on a step grid, at the tempo it starts at, to hear and to change.

124 BPM · 909 kit · 1 bar

The pattern, step by step

Each step is a sixteenth note, four to a beat: step 1 is beat 1, 5 is beat 2, 9 is beat 3 and 13 is beat 4. A lit square is a hit; a fainter one is played softer.

  • Hit
  • Softer hit
The dance-pop drum pattern: the steps each drum plays
DrumSteps
Open hat3, 7, 11, 15
Closed hat1, 2 (soft), 4, 5, 6 (soft), 8, 9, 10 (soft), 12, 13, 14 (soft), 16
Clap5, 13
Snare5, 13
Kick1, 5, 9, 13
Open these drums in the editor

They open as one drum lane on a step grid, at 124 BPM. No account needed to start.

How dance-pop drums go

A four-on-the-floor kick, the clap and snare layered on 2 and 4, closed sixteenth hats that skip each and, an open hat on every and; a snare build (quarters, eighths, sixteenths) into the chorus, a fill every fourth bar.

Questions about dance-pop drums

What BPM is dance-pop?

Usually 115 to 130 BPM. This pattern plays at 124 BPM.

How do you make a dance-pop drum pattern?

Start with the kick on steps 1, 5, 9 and 13, the snare and clap on steps 5 and 13, the closed hi-hat on steps 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14 and 16 and the open hi-hat on steps 3, 7, 11 and 15. Each step is a sixteenth note, four to a beat: step 1 is beat 1, 5 is beat 2, 9 is beat 3 and 13 is beat 4. Open it in the free editor to change any step.

Do dance-pop drums swing?

No: every hit lands straight on the grid. The editor’s Steps view can add swing if you want the groove to bounce.

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Make a dance-pop beat

The free editor opens with a whole dance-pop beat: drums, bass and chords, each part yours to change, add to or take away.

Make a dance-pop beatAll drum patterns

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