Beginner Curriculum · Stage 6 · ~3–4 weeks
First Fills & Style Sampler
You can hold a groove — now learn to leave it and return, and taste the genres intermediate players are expected to know.
6.1 · Triplet Feel & 6/8 Time
Hear and play three-against-the-beat, and read compound time.
Drill: Eighth-note triplets on the snare over a basic rock beat, then a 6/8 groove.
Notation: 6/8 — Kick 1, 4 · Snare 3 (count two groups of three). · Tempo: 70 BPM
✓ Advance when: 8 bars of even triplets at 100 BPM; 16 bars of 6/8 at 70 BPM holding the “two groups of three” feel.
Open the interactive lesson →Book: Ted Reed — Syncopation
6.2 · Blues Shuffle
Apply the triplet feel to a real groove.
Drill: Shuffle the hi-hat (first + third triplet partial), kick 1 & 3, snare 2 & 4.
Notation: Hi-hat shuffle · Kick 1, 3 · Snare 2, 4. · Tempo: 120 BPM
✓ Advance when: 8 bars at 120 BPM with an even, swinging shuffle and a steady backbeat.
Open this beat in the machine →6.3 · The Single-Bar Fill
Play your first fill — a clean exit from and return to the groove.
Drill: Three bars groove, bar four a fill around the kit: snare → high tom → mid tom → floor tom.
Notation: Bars 1–3 groove; bar 4 fill (snare, hi-tom, mid-tom, floor-tom across the bar); back to the groove. · Tempo: 90 BPM
✓ Advance when: 1 clean fill bridging back into the basic rock beat at 90 BPM, no stumble on the “1” of the return.
Open the interactive lesson →6.4 · Linear 16th-Note Fills
Build a fill into a four-bar phrase with seamless entry and exit (no two limbs at once).
Drill: Three bars groove → bar four linear 16ths distributed across the toms → return on bar one.
Notation: Bar 4 — 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a across hi/mid/floor toms. · Tempo: 100 BPM
✓ Advance when: The 4-bar phrase performed 5× consecutively at 100 BPM with a seamless kick/snare entrance and exit.
Open the interactive lesson →6.5 · Sixteenth-Note Hi-Hat & Trap Rolls
Play 16th-note hi-hat patterns and the stutter/roll feel of modern trap.
Drill: 16th-note hi-hat with kick 1 & 3, snare 2 & 4; then add hat-roll bursts.
Notation: Hi-hat 16ths — 1 e & a … · Kick 1, 3 · Snare 2, 4. · Tempo: 100→140 BPM
✓ Advance when: 8 bars of clean 16th-note hi-hat at 100 BPM with even spacing; reproduce a simple hat-roll burst in time.
Open this beat in the machine →6.6 · Four-Way Independence
All four limbs on separate jobs — the core intermediate marker. Add the hi-hat foot under the groove.
Drill: Hold the ghost-note groove with the hi-hat foot keeping time underneath on 2 and 4.
Notation: RH hi-hat eighths · LH snare 2, 4 · Kick 1, 3 · Hi-hat foot 2, 4. · Tempo: 80→100 BPM
✓ Advance when: Hold the groove 60 sec at 80 BPM without the foot collapsing into lock-step with the kick; push to 100 BPM for 30 sec.
Open this beat in the machine →Book: Gary Chester — The New Breed
6.7 · Style Sampler: Bossa, Jazz, Cha-Cha
Play at least three more distinct styles fluently for genre fluency.
Drill: Bossa nova (cross-stick clave over steady hi-hat), jazz ride swing, cha-cha-cha Latin pulse.
Notation: Bossa — cross-stick clave + steady eighth hi-hat + light two-feel kick. · Tempo: 120–140 BPM
✓ Advance when: Play one minute of each of three styles at the marked tempo with no timing breakdowns.
Open this beat in the machine →Book: Tommy Igoe — Groove Essentials