Linear drumming exercises for beginners

Sep 24, 2026

Drummer

Rhythma team

Linear drumming is a way of building grooves and fills where no two voices ever sound at the same time. At every point on the grid you play exactly one thing: kick, snare or hi-hat, never a combination. Drummers like David Garibaldi and Gary Chaffee made the approach famous, and you hear it all over funk, fusion and gospel playing.

It sounds busy, but it is surprisingly friendly to learn, because every note has one clear owner. That makes it one of the best ways to build limb independence and sixteenth-note time.

How to read the exercises

Every exercise below is one bar of sixteenth notes in 4/4, counted:

1 e & a  2 e & a  3 e & a  4 e & a

Each position gets exactly one letter:

• H = closed hi-hat (right hand)
• S = snare (left hand)
• K = kick drum (right foot)

Start at 60 BPM with a metronome. Only move up 5 BPM once you can play the exercise four times in a row without flams (two voices landing at nearly the same time) or rushing.

1. The hand stream

count: 1 e & a  2 e & a  3 e & a  4 e & a
play:  H S H S  H S H S  H S H S  H S H S

Just alternate hi-hat and snare. The goal is even spacing: the gap between each hi-hat and the next snare should be exactly the same. Keep the snare soft. This is the base every other exercise builds on.

2. Kick replaces the downbeat

count: 1 e & a  2 e & a  3 e & a  4 e & a
play:  K S H S  K S H S  K S H S  K S H S

Swap the hi-hat on every beat for the kick. The hands keep the same motion; only the right hand “skips” each downbeat while the foot takes over. If the snare after the kick drifts, slow down.

3. Snare backbeat shape

count: 1 e & a  2 e & a  3 e & a  4 e & a
play:  K H H H  S H H H  K H H H  S H H H

Now it starts to sound like a groove: kick on 1 and 3, snare on 2 and 4, and hi-hat filling every other space. There are no hi-hats on 1, 2, 3 or 4, because those spots belong to the kick and snare.

4. Two-beat phrase

count: 1 e & a  2 e & a  3 e & a  4 e & a
play:  K H S H  H K S H  K H S H  H K S H

A two-beat pattern that repeats twice per bar. Notice the kick moves from 1 to the e of 2. Count out loud while you play: it keeps you honest about where each note lands.

5. Moving the kick

count: 1 e & a  2 e & a  3 e & a  4 e & a
play:  K H S H  K H S K  H S H K  H S H H

The kick now shows up in less predictable places (the a of 2 and the a of 3). This is where linear playing really starts to train independence: your foot has to know its own part, rather than following the hands.

6. Four-bar phrase

Put exercises 3, 3, 4 and 5 in a row as a four-bar loop. Moving between patterns without stopping is what turns exercises into music.

Common mistakes

• Flamming the kick and hand. In linear playing two notes should never land together. If you hear a “double” sound, one limb is late.
• Hi-hat too loud. Linear grooves sound best with a quiet hi-hat and clear kick and snare accents.
• Speeding up. Busy sixteenths invite rushing. Record yourself, or practise with something that measures your timing for you.

Practise with instant feedback

If you play an electronic kit, the free Linear Drumming 1 course in Rhythma walks through these ideas in eight graded lessons, from a simple hand stream up to a full linear groove loop. Plug your kit into your computer over USB and Rhythma shows you, note by note, whether each hit was early, late or on time. See New courses: Jazz Drumming 1 and Linear Drumming 1 for the full lesson list.

Tags:

• Linear drumming
• Technique
• Exercises

How to practise drums with an electronic kit and your computer

New courses: Jazz Drumming 1 and Linear Drumming 1