Bo Diddley Beat: An Introduction!

Last Monday (June 2) Bo Diddley passed away at age 79. The singer and guitar player was known to be one of the founders of Rock’n'Roll and he influenced generations of rock musicians.

One of his trademarks was his squared guitar which he had designed by himself.

But Bo Diddley also was most famous because of his typical beat, a “jungle-like” Drum Rhythm, often called the “Bo Diddley Beat”.

The “New York Times” titled “Bo Diddley, who gave rock his beat”, so it’s time to give you an introduction to that groove – in memory of Bo Diddley…

The Bo Diddley Beat!

I’m sure that you’ve heard that groove before, it’s really a standard and should be established in every drummer’s repertoire.

Not only in a drummer’s repertoire, the Bo Diddley Beat (which is pretty much related to the latin/south-american clave rhythm) is interesting for other musicians as well.

So if you are a guitar player just forget about your speed licks for a while and start learning something really cool ;)

This is how it works!

Start playing simple 1/8 note strokes, using just right-left singles. Then you must add the typical accents:

|| R – L – R – L – R – L – R – L – | R – L – R – L – R – L – R – L – ||

Now i understand why the “New York Times” explained this as a “three strokes/rest/two strokes”, though it’s not a very competent explanation :)

Play it as 1/16 notes!

Got it? Then play the Bo Diddley Beat as 1/16th on a High-Tom!

|| R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L ||

As a foot figure, play 1/8th with straight Bass Drum and the Hi-Hat on “and”:

|| b – h – b – h – b – h – b – h – ||

Add some swing!

Well, the Bo Diddley Beat is a 4/4 and i like to play it straight but with a soft shuffled feeling – let it swing a little.

For that bring the 1/16 strokes closer together: bam babam babam babam ba

Also very important: There is another accent, a little upbeat in front of the last 2 accents:

|| R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L ||

I listened to a few of Bo Diddley’s original recordings; the beat always goes this way (and it sound much better than without the additional accent).

Listen to the Bo Diddley Beat!

Here’s a sound file for you. It contains the basic beat and some variations as well. Read the explanations below…

A: Base Beat

Just like described above. The main groove on the High-Tom; Bass and Foot Hi-Hat play 1/8th (the sound file starts with that part)…

B: Base Beat with additional Snare

Add a Snare Stroke (Flam) on the “4+”. This sounds great, reminds me of U2/Desire…

C: Right hand on Floor Tom

Play just the same figure with the same feeling and the same accents. But this time the right hand plays on the Floor-Tom while the left hand stays on the High-Tom.

Also add the Snare Stroke again…

D: The “Normal” Beat

Take the rhythmic pattern and play it the usual way on Bass and Snare. A straight 1/8th Hi-Hat (with the hand) above. Try out what works best for you. Can be funky…

E: Hi-Hat 1/16th

Both hands play 1/16th notes on the Hi-Hat. Play an accent on every first stroke. Bass Drum overtakes most of the rhythmic pattern, Snare only hits the 4…

F: Ride / Foot Hi-Hat

Now the Bass Drum plays the rhythmic pattern and the Snare adds a straight backbeat on 2 and 4.

But also play quarter notes on the Ride Cymbal and hit the Hi-Hat on every “and”. This is always an impressing combination…

Remember Bo Diddley!

There are countless ways to play the Bo Diddley Beat. I only gave you an idea, now it’s your turn to figure out what it can do for you.

And when you’re drumming just remember Bo Diddley. Imagine living in the 50′s and exploring a complete new world of music: Rock’n'Roll!

And why not starting to rebel like in those times? Play the Bo Diddley Beat in your next Heavy Metal Song ;)

Thank you, Bo.

Related Links:

New York Times: Bo Diddley, who gave Rock his Beat, dies at 79

Bo Diddley – The Originator

Social Media Rocks: