Intro to Snare Movement

While the snare drum is often played on beats “2” and “4”, there are many songs that use additional snare drum strokes or that move the stroke away from “2” and/or “4” altogether. It’s important to become comfortable with these techniques and the unique feel they create. This lesson explores techniques for moving the snare around 8th beat grooves.

Additional Snare Technique

Grooves are sometimes embellished by adding snare strokes, while keeping the snare strokes on beats “2” and “4.” By doing this, the overall feel of the groove is changed but not dramatically.

Embellish the groove with an additional snare, as done in Surfin’ USA—The Beach Boys (1963).

Surfin’ USA – The Beach Boys

Snare Displacement Technique

When the snare stroke is moved from the “2” and/or “4” it’s called displacement. This technique often dramatically changes the feel of the groove. See how the feel of the groove changes when the snare is displaced like in Beast of Burden—The Rolling Stones (1978).