Pop / Rock Drum Pattern — Free MIDI & Breakdown
A pop / rock drum pattern at 118 BPM: kick on beat 1, beat 3 and the and of 3, snare on the backbeat, beats 2 and 4. Free MIDI download, no sign-up.
The standard rock backbeat — kick on 1, snare on 2 and 4, 8ths on the hat — has been the default of popular music since the 1950s because it is the simplest pattern that still makes people move. The pattern on this page is 4 voices on a 16-step grid at 118 BPM — straight 16ths, no swing — and the tempo, length and humanisation are yours to change before you download it as General MIDI.
The pop / rock pattern, step by step
| Drum | 1 | · | · | · | 2 | · | · | · | 3 | · | · | · | 4 | · | · | · |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kick | ||||||||||||||||
| Snare | ||||||||||||||||
| Closed hi-hat | ||||||||||||||||
| Crash |
One bar of 16th notes. Solid cells are accented hits, faded cells are ghost notes played softer — the download keeps those velocities. straight 16ths, no swing.
What each drum is doing
| Drum | Where it falls | Hits per bar | GM note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kick | on beat 1, beat 3 and the and of 3 | 3 | 36 |
| Snare | on the backbeat, beats 2 and 4 | 2 | 38 |
| Closed hi-hat | straight 8th notes, two to a beat | 8 | 42 |
| Crash | on beat 1 | 1 | 49 |
Written to MIDI channel 10 on the General MIDI drum map, so any GM-compatible drum plugin, sampler or hardware module loads it with the right sounds on the right notes.
Tempo and feel
Pop / Rock is normally played between 100 and 130 BPM. This pattern defaults to 118 BPM and the tool will write it anywhere from 60 to 200. The feel is straight 16ths, no swing.
How it works
Each genre comes with a curated groove — kick, snare or clap, hats, and percussion — programmed on a 16-step grid at the genre's natural tempo. The pattern is written using the General MIDI drum map on channel 10, so it triggers the right sounds in any GM-compatible drum plugin, sampler, or hardware module. Swung genres like hip-hop and lo-fi include their characteristic shuffle, and the humanize option adds subtle velocity variation so the groove breathes. Press play preview to hear two bars of the pattern before downloading. This page arrives preset to Pop / Rock, whose groove defaults to 118 BPM — inside the 100–130 BPM pocket the genre lives in — though the slider lets you drag it anywhere from 60 to 200.
Using the MIDI in your DAW
- Drag the file onto a drum instrument track — the GM mapping places kick at C1 and snare at D1.
- Swap individual hits or double the pattern to build fills and variations.
- Layer two genres (say house kicks under funk hats) for hybrid grooves.
Set your project tempo to 118 BPM before dragging the file in and the pop / rock pattern will land at its intended feel — then nudge the tempo to taste once the rest of the track is sketched.
These are starting points — for evolving, arrangement-aware pop / rock drum programming across a whole track, open the MIDI Maker studio and generate a full song.
Drum MIDI patterns for other genres
- House drum MIDI
- Techno drum MIDI
- Boom Bap Hip-Hop drum MIDI
- Trap drum MIDI
- Drum & Bass drum MIDI
- Funk drum MIDI
- Reggaeton drum MIDI
- Lo-fi drum MIDI
- Afrobeat drum MIDI
Or head back to the drum MIDI generator to tweak the length, tempo, and feel yourself.
Keep building: scales, chords and more
Frequently asked questions
What tempo is a pop / rock drum pattern?
Pop / Rock is normally played between 100 and 130 BPM; this pattern defaults to 118 BPM and the tool lets you set anywhere from 60 to 200 before downloading. The feel is straight 16ths, no swing.
Where do the kick and snare fall in a pop / rock beat?
Kick on beat 1, beat 3 and the and of 3; Snare on the backbeat, beats 2 and 4; Closed hi-hat straight 8th notes, two to a beat; Crash on beat 1. That is 14 hits across the bar.
What drum sounds does the MIDI file trigger?
The pattern is written on MIDI channel 10 using the General MIDI drum map (kick at 36, snare at 38, closed hi-hat at 42, crash at 49), so it triggers the right sounds in any GM-compatible drum plugin, sampler, or hardware module.
Is this pop / rock drum MIDI free to use?
Yes — the download is free, requires no sign-up, and the generated groove is royalty-free for personal and commercial tracks.
Want full tracks, not just drum grooves?
The MIDI Maker studio rolls complete, editable arrangements — melody, chords, bass and drums — you can export to any DAW. Free, in your browser.
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