Jazz Drum Backing Track (Swing) for Practice

The swing groove

In the 1940s, with bebop, Kenny Clarke and Max Roach moved the time from the bass drum to the ride cymbal, and the ride has been the main voice of the jazz kit ever since. Swing is in 4/4, but each beat is split into three (a triplet) and the off-beat eighth note falls on the last part, which gives it that long-short lilt.

Here you hear a medium swing. Counting triplets, 1 · & 2 · &…:

• Ride: the swing pattern, “ding, ding-da-ding”. Quarter notes on all four beats, a little stronger on 2 and 4, and a soft note on the “&” of 2 and 4. Every hit lets its tail ring into the next one, like a real ride.
• Hi-hat: closed with the foot on 2 and 4, the “chick” that marks the backbeat.
• Kick: on all four beats, so soft you can barely hear it (feathering): you feel it more than you hear it.
• Snare: comping with single strokes in a fixed four-bar cycle. On the “&” of 4 in the first bar, the “&” of 2 in the second and the “&” of 3 in the third. In the fourth, on the “&” of 1 and the middle triplet of 4, just before a kick bomb on the “&” of 4. The cycle never changes, so you can use it to count the phrases.

Swing: automatic or by hand

How late the off-beat eighth falls depends on the tempo. At slow tempos drummers play it very late, almost a dotted eighth and a sixteenth. At medium tempo it lands on the triplet, and at very fast tempos it gets close to two even eighths. Automatic, following the tempo does exactly that, always the same for each tempo:

• Up to 90 BPM: heavy swing, 71% of the beat.
• 120 to 180 BPM: exact triplet (66.7%).
• 240 BPM: 60%, straighter.
• 280 BPM: 57%, almost straight.

For a different feel, turn automatic off and choose the value yourself, from 50% (straight eighths) to 75% (dotted eighth and sixteenth). It applies straight away, is kept in the link you share and also sounds that way in the downloads.

Sticks or brushes

In the Sound menu you choose how the drummer plays. With sticks the ride is bright with a long tail, the sound of medium and fast swing. With brushes, the ride pattern is played with a brush on the ride, a softer, darker stroke, and the snare comps with brush taps. The hi-hat foot and the kick stay the same. It is the intimate sound of ballads, relaxed medium tempos and trios.

You can switch sounds while the groove plays. The chosen sound is kept in the link you share and in the downloads. The brushes do not play the continuous circular sweep on the snare: you only hear their strokes.

Jazz tempos

• 60–100 BPM: ballads and slow medium tempos, often with brushes. A good place to listen to the ride and hi-hat calmly.
• 120–180 BPM: medium swing, where most standards live. The generator starts at 130.
• 200–280 BPM: up-tempo and bebop. Work up to it gradually.

Exercises with the jazz groove

1. Listen for the hi-hat on 2 and 4. Snap your fingers or tap 2 and 4 with your foot along with the hi-hat. If you get lost, go back to that “chick”: it is the backbeat that holds the swing together.
2. Bass: walk with the ride. Play a walking bass line in quarter notes, one note per beat, locked to the ride.
3. Phrase with swing. Improvise or play a scale in eighth notes and make the second of each pair land with the ride’s “&”. Then turn the ride off and keep the swing yourself.
4. Count phrases with the snare. The comping repeats every four bars: use it to feel the four- and eight-bar phrases of the standards.
5. Drums: play what you mute. Turn the ride off and play it yourself over the hi-hat and kick, or turn the snare off and make up your own comping.
6. Try different swings. Play the same phrase with swing on automatic, then at 60% and 72%. Listen to how the lilt changes while the tempo stays the same.

Frequently asked questions