THE KIT · TIME FEEL 2 · 3/4

The 3/4 Feel

Three-four is three quarter-note beats to the bar. On the kit it splits into two very different feels. The straight 3/4 on this page is the country, folk and ballad feel: even eighths on the hi-hat, kick on 1, snare on 2 and 3. The jazz waltz is swung, with the time on the ride and the comping loose, and it is covered with the swing material.

What both share is the weight on beat 1. The bar has one strong beat and two weak ones, and the whole feel depends on keeping it that way.

Open this feel on the kit →

Reading it

The time signature is 3/4: three beats to the bar, the quarter note gets the beat. The hat plays six eighths per bar, so the bar line comes around two eighths sooner than players raised on 4/4 expect.

Don't confuse it with 6/8. Both bars hold six eighth notes, but 3/4 groups them in three pairs (1 & 2 & 3 &) while 6/8 groups them in two threes (1 2 3 4 5 6, felt in two). Same notes on the page, completely different pulse.

Counting

Count 1 & 2 & 3 &. Beat 1 gets the weight; 2 and 3 answer lighter than a rock backbeat would. If 2 and 3 get as strong as 1, the feel stiffens into a march.

The four variations

Each variation changes one thing in the kick or snare. The hat stays put.

1. The basic straight 3/4. Kick on 1, snare on 2 and 3.Play variation 1 →
2. Kick pickup on the & of 3. It pushes into the next downbeat, so use it at phrase endings rather than every bar.Play variation 2 →
3. Kick adds the & of 2. The snare on 2 and 3 doesn’t move; that’s the independence check.Play variation 3 →
4. Snare roll-in on 2, the & of 2 and 3. Keep it under the hat, as a lift into the next bar, not a fill.Play variation 4 →

Common mistakes

• Counting to four. The first time through, the body wants a fourth beat. Count out loud until it stops.
• Heavy 2 and 3. Beats 2 and 3 are the lighter answer to beat 1.
• Rushing the downbeat. The & of 3 leads into 1, and it tends to arrive early.
• Pickups every bar. Save variation 2 for the end of a four-bar phrase.

Practice plan

5 min	Count 1 & 2 & 3 & aloud against the click. Foot on beat 1 only.
5 min	Variation 1 at 80, twenty bars without stopping.
10 min	Variations 2 to 4, phrased in four-bar groups: three bars of variation 1, the fourth bar with the new figure.
5 min	Push the tempo: 120, then 160. At faster tempos 3/4 starts to feel in one, one pulse per bar.

Start slower than you think you need. Tempo comes from playing it right many times, not from playing it fast once.