Gravequake

Black Metal Drum Rudiments

Very often, the drums in Black Metal are too fast for a beginning drummer to easily pick out what's being played. Don't worry -- that won't last long. Once you know how to play a few patterns you will be able to hear them in the music. I will start this section with a selection of beats often heard in Black Metal drums. I will skip the basics of drum technique because you can pick that up anywhere. The information here is information that is not easily available from other sources. I learned it through twelve years of trial and error; I want you to be able to play Black Metal without having to practice for twelve years!

Download the wav files listed above each pattern to hear what the pattern sounds like. Not all of the patterns have wav files yet, but they will soon... I am also working on making the file sizes smaller. I seem to have an unanticipated disk quota of 6.5 MB.

[The Thrash Beat][The Super Thrash][The Bass Ruff]
[Quads][Triplets]

Beat 1 - The Thrash Beat

This is a beat which is common in Thrash, Death and Black Metal. To hear this beat in music, I suggest listening to Slayer with Dave Lombardo at the drums. There
are three basic patterns of the thrash beat. Each of these patterns is written in sixteenth note increments

Pattern 1) download wav
Hat/Ride x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Snare x x x x x x x x
Bass x x x x x x x x
Pattern 2) download wav
Hat x x x x x x x x
Snare x x x x x x x x
Bass x x x x x x x x
Pattern 3) download wav
Hat x x x x x x x x
Snare x x x x x x x x
Bass x x x x x x x x
Patterns 1 and 2 sound basically the same, and so 1 is used when the music is sufficiently slow to not wear your hand out, and 2 is used when the music is fast. Pattern 3 is used when it seems appropriate to put the snare on the down beat -- if you play drums with a band that does not normally play metal, you will find that this beat throws them off; they will try to fit their parts in so that they count "one" with the bass drum. It is worthwhile to explain to them the concept of up and down beats and how the snare does not always have to be on the up beat.

Beat 2 - The "Super Thrash"

Very often a black metal drummer plays a thrash beat that is really, really fast. If you try playing it like the thrash beat, only sped up, your arm will fall off. I have seen drummers play it this way with success, but they often sacrifice versatility. The correct way to play this beat is somewhat tricky, but it is worth the effort. At first you will have a very hard time getting the snare drums in the right place, but keep working at it. This pattern is shown in thirty-second note increments. L and R mean that you should play with your right or left hand (foot), respectively.

Snare R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L
Bass R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L
The basic idea is, you play a ruff on both your hands and feet, but the hands lag the feet by a thirty-second note. It's tricky, but once you get the hang of it it will be like breathing.

Beat 3 - The Bass Ruff

Like beat 1, this beat has a few different styles. In sixteenth notes:

Pattern 1) download wav file
Hat/Ride x x x x x x x x
Snare x x
Bass R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L
Pattern 2) download wav file
Hat/Ride x x x x x x x x
Snare x x x x
Bass R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L
Pattern 3) download wav file
Hat/Ride x x x x x x x x
Snare x x x x
Bass R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L
And in twenty-fourth notes (sixteenth-note triplets):

Pattern 4)
Hat/Ride x x x x x x x x x x x x
Snare x x
Bass R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L
Pattern 5)
Hat.Ride x x x x x x x x x x x x
Snare x x x x
Bass R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L
Fill 1 - Quads

This is an easy way to make killer sounding fills. When you play this in a fill it sounds like you're really blazing down the toms! I'll start with quads between the bass and the snare, and then I'll show you a couple of simple fills. In thirty-second notes:

Pattern 1) download wav
Snare R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L
Bass R L R L R L R L R L R L L R R L
Pattern 2)
Hightom R L R L
Midtom R L R L
Floortom R L R L
Snare R L R L
Bass R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L
Pattern 3)
Hightom L L L L
Midtom R R L R R
Lowtom R
Snare R L R L R L
Bass R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L
Pattern 1 is the basic rudiment, use it to get the hang of playing quads, and also use it for really quick fills. Patterns 2 and 3 are for more normal fills. If you want to impress someone, for a long fill play pattern 3 thrice, then pattern 2 once.

Fill 2 - "Triplets"

"Triplets" is not a good name for this rudiment, but I did not name it, so I abdicate responsibility. Triplets are good for quick fills or to add emphasis to a beat.

I will add patterns for triplets shortly.