Four-on-the-Floor Rhythm Explained

The four-on-the-floor beat is a common time rhythm pattern that sounds four consecutive quarter notes within a measure of 4/4 music. Sometimes called four-to-the-floor, this beat is played on the bass drum of a drum kit, which explains the "on the floor" phrase.

The four-on-the-floor pattern appears frequently in electronic dance music (EDM), classic rock, mainstream pop music, and disco music. It occasionally appears in funk and jazz drumming, but it rarely sustains for an entire song in those genres.

The four-on-the-floor rhythm pattern provides a steady beat within a piece of music. The constant kick drum pulse can function like a metronome to players in a band and can be particularly useful if the drummer is playing syncopated patterns on hi-hat cymbals, ride cymbals, snare drum, and tom toms.

A four-on-the-floor bass drum pattern also helps a drummer lock in with the song's bass line. When a band's drummer and bassist establish a common groove, other players can freely improvise or take rhythmic liberties in their own parts. During periods of improvisation, a drummer may strongly accent a measure's downbeat so that the steady four-on-the-floor quarter note pulse does not obscure the structure of a song.

The four-on-the-floor drumming style blossomed in the 1970s, but its roots trace to 1960s rock 'n' roll.

• Garage rock: The 1960s democratized popular music. Groups with little formal training found themselves inspired to pick up instruments and learn their craft as they went along. Garage rock bands like the Troggs and the Seeds used a four-on-the-floor pulse on some of their 1960s underground hits.
• Growth in the 1970s: The four-on-the-floor beat became widely popular in the 1970s. Some classic drummers who came of age in the 1960s began experimenting with four-on-the-floor grooves later in their career—including Pink Floyd's Dave Mason ("Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2") and the Rolling Stones' Charlie Watts ("Miss You").
• Disco explosion: Disco music burst into the mainstream in the 1970s, and with it came four-on-the-floor bass drum patterns. Drummer Earl Young helped popularize the pattern on Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes' "The Love I Lost," and it was quickly picked up by other disco artists like Gloria Gaynor, Donna Summer, and the Bee Gees.
• Late ’70s explosion: The disco music of the 1970s influenced many other forms of pop music at the time. Reggae drummer Carlton Barrett from Bob Marley and the Wailers brought four-on-the-floor to the crossover hit "Exodus." Carmine Appice used the pattern to add disco flair to Rod Stewart's "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" Even groups like the Grateful Dead and the Eagles—both of which had roots in country and folk—adopted four-on-the-floor for some of their '70s output.
• Electronic music: In the 1980s, dance clubs began transitioning from disco, which was played by live musicians, to electronic dance music, which is played on synthesizers and drum machines. With this shift, the four-on-the-floor beat became more popular than ever. It remains an integral part of electronic music in the twenty-first century.

The steady throbbing pulse of four-on-the-floor helps define many EDM genres. It can be heard in electro-pop, trap, dubstep, and future bass music in discotheques around the world. Yet no electronic music genre is more commonly associated with the four-on-the-floor beat than house music. From classic Chicago house to ambient house to acid house to garage house, the style runs hand-in-hand with a throbbing quarter note pulse on electronic drums.

Most jazz drumming features a lighter, swinging drum feel, yet four-on-the-floor does appear within the genre. It typically manifests through a technique called "feathering," where a drummer only lightly strikes their kick drum, rather than loudly strike it in the style of EDM.

Some of the jazz drummers best known for four-on-the-floor grooves were those who occasionally crossed into rock music. Buddy Rich, a hero to jazz and rock drummers alike, snuck four-on-the-floor into some of his grooves. Other crossover drummers like Billy Cobham and Tony Williams have been known to feature the rhythm pattern in moderation.

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