The snare drum is the second most important sound in a drum groove (the first is the kick). It helps to establish and maintain the tempo and the rhythmic foundation of rock and blues-based music, especially when it plays a backbeat on the beats 2 and 4.

In this essential guide, we’ll cover the basics of programming snares as well as variations you can use to add spice to your music.

As a drummer with over 20 years of experience, I know a thing or two about how to make drums sound good and I’ll walk you through this with plenty of detail. At the end you’ll find a video where I cover most of these concepts.

My goal is for you to start using this in your music immediately.

Let’s get to it!

Essential Snare Patterns

1. Snare on the “2 & 4” (aka rock and roll backbeat)
   1. Set your MIDI grid to ¼ (quarter notes) and enter a note on the second and fourth beats of the bar
   2. This pattern is characteristic of rock, pop, country and most styles of electronic music
   3. The backbeat will sound good on any track at any tempo
2. 8th Note Variations
   1. Create a basic “2 & 4” pattern. Then set your grid to 8ths. Double up notes after a snare hit or find places in between that sound good. Listen to pop and rock for inspiration. Be careful not to make the groove sound too busy or awkward, less is more.
3. 16th Note Variations
   1. Create a basic “2 & 4” pattern. Then set your grid to 16ths. Double up notes after a snare hit or find places in between that sound good. Listen to pop and rock for inspiration. Just as with 8th note variations, be careful not to make the groove sound too busy or awkward, less is more.
4. In Practice- Variations every 2nd bar
   1. A great strategy for implementing these variations in a musical way is not to use them on every bar, but every second bar
5. In Practice – Variations every 4th bar
   1. Another great strategy is to use the variations on every 4th bar. This gives the music a little more space to breathe. While we’re at it, you may even want to space out the variations even further by implementing them on the 7th bar of an 8-bar section.
6. In Practice- Displacement
   1. Instead of adding more notes to the snare pattern, you can try displacing one or both notes by an 8th or 16th note either before or after the 2 & 4.
   2. If you displace the snare hit before it’s expected, it introduces tension and a sense of forward momentum. Some examples:
      1. Displace the snare hit from the 2 to “1 &”
      2. Displace the snare hit from the 2 to “1 e” (the second 16th note after beat 1)
      3. Displace the snare hit from the 4 to “1 a” (the fourth 16th note after beat 1)
   3. If you displace the snare hit after it’s expected, it creates a sense of temporary rest and space. Some examples:
      1. Displace the snare hit from the 2 to “2 &”
      2. Displace the snare hit from the 2 to “4 &”
      3. Displace the snare hit from the 2 to “2 e” (second 16th note after beat 2)
      4. Displace the snare hit from the 4 to “4 a” (fourth 16th note after beat 4)

If you try out these patterns and variations in your music, I’m certain that you’ll see how much of a difference a tiny change can make in the groove and overall feel.

Also, if you use these ideas, especially the variations, you’ll stand out from the pack since very few synthwave producers take the time to give their snare patterns the attention they deserve.

Takeaways

To recap, you can safely use a standard back beat on the 2 and 4 on pretty much any and every track you make.

Regarding variations, if playing them on every bar gets a bit tiring, experiment with placing them on the 2nd or 4th bars.

Of course, you can always leave these variations for specific sections of your track; you don’t have to use them from start to finish.

Experiment and have fun!