The Kit — Pieces and Limbs
Five pieces do almost all the work. Learn what each one is for and which limb plays it, and most of a drum part explains itself.
The five that matter
| Piece | Limb | Job in the groove |
|---|---|---|
| Kick | Right foot | The floor. Lands with the bass guitar; tells you where the bar starts. |
| Snare | Left hand | The backbeat. In most Western music it is beats 2 and 4, and it is what makes people nod. |
| Hi-hat | Right hand, left foot | The clock. Keeps the subdivision audible so everyone agrees where the beat is divided. |
| Ride | Right hand | The hat's louder, longer relative. Same job, more room; usually for busier or quieter music. |
| Crash | Right hand | Punctuation. Marks a landing — the first beat after a fill, or the top of a section. |
| Toms | Either hand | Not part of the groove. They are what you play instead of it, in a fill. |
Hear each piece
Click any mark to hear it on its own. Each row is one piece of the kit playing on every beat, so you can compare tone rather than pattern.
× cymbal or closed hat · ○ open hat · + hi-hat pedal · ◆ ride bell · ● drum · ◦ ghost note · a bar under the mark is an accent · · is a rest. Press ▶ to loop a groove at the tempo in the bar below; click any single mark to hear just that voice.
Both feet are busy
The right foot plays the kick. The left foot sits on the hi-hat pedal and holds it shut — that is what makes the hat a short × rather than a wash. Lift it and the same stroke becomes an open ○. Tapping the pedal on its own gives the quiet hat-foot sound you will meet on the dynamics page.
Before you go on
- Name all five pieces and the limb that plays each
- Play four quarter-note kicks that sound the same as each other
- Play four snare hits with your left hand, relaxed, no forearm
- Keep the hat shut with your left foot while your right hand plays it