Inverted double (R-L-L-R) grooves

Right hand on the hi-hat, the left-hand double as snare ghosts. The hands roll like a four-16th wave. Then turn one right-hand note into a kick and accent 3: a half-time groove is born.

1. Etude 1
2. Etude 2

Insert inverted-double figures into the marked slots of a simple half-time groove: half a bar, a single beat, or upbeat to upbeat. The groove comes first, the ornament second.

1. Etude 1
2. Etude 2
3. Etude 3
4. Etude 4
5. Etude 5

Fill the bar with groups of four (R-L-L-R) and two (R-L). The numbers are your map: 4-4-2-4-2. Groups may cross the bar line — don't lose your count.

1. Etude 1
2. Etude 2
3. Etude 3
4. Etude 4
5. Etude 5
6. Etude 6
7. Etude 7
8. Etude 8
9. Etude 9
10. Etude 10
11. Etude 11
12. Etude 12
13. Etude 13
14. Etude 14
15. Etude 15

Decorate the same 4/2 phrases with kick. Then alternate two bars of a plain groove with two bars of a phrase — the tempo must not budge at the switch.

1. Etude 1
2. Etude 2
3. Etude 3
4. Etude 4
5. Etude 5
6. Etude 6
7. Etude 7
8. Etude 8
9. Etude 9
10. Etude 10
11. Etude 11
12. Etude 12
13. Etude 13

The group of two becomes L-R and the left hand plays an accented snare, so the accents shift by themselves. The order of the groups decides where they fall — change the order, change the song.

1. Etude 1
2. Etude 2
3. Etude 3
4. Etude 4
5. Etude 5
6. Etude 6

Arrange the 4/2 phrases so the backbeat always lands on 3. The two that carries the backbeat is always L-R, the others R-L. Free flow, fixed backbeat.

1. Etude 1
2. Etude 2
3. Etude 3
4. Etude 4
5. Etude 5
6. Etude 6
7. Etude 7
8. Etude 8