Playing accents and regular notes together can elevate your progress as a drummer to new heights. Today, we learn to play accents over a sixteenth note groove as a louder note when compared to an entire bar, only when necessary. Let’s dig in!

What are Accents?

Now, you may ask, we’ve learnt to play rudiments for great hand technique and grooves such as eighth notes and sixteenth notes, what are accents? In simple terms, accents are certain notes that are played loud while the other notes are spaced out equally.

16th Note Accents

For the first part, let’s count out a bar of a sixteenth note groove – (1-e-&-a). To start with, play an accent or a louder note on count 1 and the rest remains the same. So, a loud single stroke with your right hand followed by e, & and a of 1 at the usual tempo. Practise this using a metronome, get comfortable at a slower pace and build your speed. Make sure that your single strokes and accents do not seem rushed at any point in time.

When you get good at playing the accent on 1, try switching the accent to the e of 1 and play it for an entire bar. Similarly, try moving the accent to the & of 1 and to the a of 1 and see how it feels. Remember, if it is too hard on your muscle memory, stay relaxed and play as slow as possible so you get the counting right.

Adding the Kick Drum with Accents

Now, for some challenge, try adding the kick drum while you are shifting accents on a sixteenth note groove. That is, on count 1, play a kick drum with a loud accented note with your right hand followed by regular single strokes on the e, & and a of 1. This might seem tricky as the kick drum is just for the first count. Start practising at a slower tempo, try avoiding flams and breathe easy.

Accents are all about bringing ideas in your head and most importantly, learning to play loud when required. It’s a great way to add some dynamism to your music. As for the next blog post, we transition to playing the shuffle groove!