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Lesson 1.3 · First beats

The quarter-note beat

Three limbs at once, all on the beat.

70 BPM 12 bars, about 45 seconds 3 steps Updated

The pattern

One bar of "The groove", the whole groove, as the app's highway asks for it:

One bar of The quarter-note beat: Hi-hat on every beat; Snare on 2 and 4; Kick on 1 and 3 1e&a2e&a3e&a4e&a Hi-hat Snare Kick
  • Hi-hat: every beat.
  • Snare: 2 and 4.
  • Kick: 1 and 3.

The bar repeats in four-bar phrases and the lesson ends on a crash. Count out loud at first: the numbers are the beats, "&" the eighth notes between them, "e" and "a" the sixteenths.

The steps

The app offers the lesson in steps; the last one is the whole groove and the only one that can finish the lesson.

  1. Step 1: Hands only. Open the lesson in WebEDrums, choose step 1 in the Play dialog and loop it in Practice until it is even, slowing the tempo down if it is not.
  2. Step 2: Hi-hat and kick. Open the lesson in WebEDrums, choose step 2 in the Play dialog and loop it in Practice until it is even, slowing the tempo down if it is not.
  3. Step 3: The groove. Play the whole groove. The lesson is done at 90 % accuracy at 70 BPM; a clean pass slower than that counts as steady at that tempo.

Tip

The hi-hat is the clock. Add the snare to it, then the kick, and keep the hi-hat steady while you do.

How to practise it

  • Start slow. The tempo chips under the highway drop the lesson to 60 or 40 BPM without changing the pitch; the "−" and "=" keys step it by five.
  • Let the ramp work. In Practice on a lesson, each whole pass at 90 % raises the tempo five beats a minute towards 70; a pass under 70 % lowers it. Turn it off in the pause dialog if you would rather sit at one tempo.
  • Use the click. Press M for a metronome on every beat; the Audio settings add eighth notes, and a quiet count that drops the click for two bars in four so you can hear whether your time holds.
  • Hear it first. The lesson page in the app has a "Hear the groove" button that plays the drums over the backing track once.

Where the pattern comes from

The levels follow the order the beginner methods share (checked on October 20, 2026); the groove on this page is written as those methods describe it, not copied from any of them.