The Amen Break Drum Beat

Learn the Amen Break – One of the most sampled grooves in history

The Amen Break is a four bar passage of music from the song Amen Brother which was recorded as an instrumental track by The Winstons. It was released as a B-side to the track Color Him Father in 1969. But from this unsuspecting B-side arose a drum break which was to become one of the most sampled drum breaks in the history of recorded music. It was to become the foundation of a new genre of music. It was to have an impact that no one could have predicted.

The beat is a funk beat and because the whole band stop for four bars leaving just the drummer, it meant that hiphop and rap artists could easily take this drum groove and mix between two records of the same song to keep that four bar beat playing indefinitely in order to rap over it. As time went on technology changes meant that the beat could be manipulated by speeding it up or slowing it down. Slowing it down creates that classic hiphop groove and speeding it up gives us nearly every song in the jungle and drum & bass genres.

Some of the bands and artists that have sampled the Amen Break include:

• Oasis
• David Bowie
• The Prodigy
• NWA
• Kanye West
• Slipknot
• Jay-Z
• Skrillex
• Primal Scream
• Tinie Tempah

And many, many more. In fact more than two thousand other examples and rising all the time.

Unfortunately the system wasn’t ready for this yet and therefore the writers of the music weren’t able to get compensation for their efforts from all the artists that were selling records with Coleman’s grooves all of it. In fact it was reported that he died homeless and broke in Atlanta. This is obviously devastating and unfair but the best we can do now is to appreciate the funk that he left the world and learn how to play it ourselves.

And let’s face it, if this Amen Break drum groove (or variations of it) appear in well over two thousand songs, it is worth learning as we’ll probably need to play it at some point. I know I have!

Watch the video below to hear how it sounds and then scroll down to click through and grab the lesson.

p.s. If you want to learn the other most sampled drum beat ever then check out The Funky Drummer too.

So if you want to get super funky and learn this groove (which you definitely should!) then click below to start.

Faster Hands in 7 Days FREE Drum Course

Improve your drum hand speed in a week to get Faster Hands

We all want faster hands on the drums but so many drummers I see are missing the basic aspects of drumming that will take them to the next level.

Many of those drummers are not lazy. In fact it's the opposite. They are putting in the work but they are missing the fundamental techniques that will allow them to play faster and smoother. This leads to inevitable frustration and despondency.

In effect they are wasting their time!

By clicking below you can gain access to a FREE '7 days to faster hands' drum course that will guarantee to raise your speed by the end or your money back (yes it is free so not the best guarantee ever!). But seriously, it will make a difference in a really short space of time.

But more than trying to create unrealistic miracles in a short space of time, it will also set up long term habits that will help you find your full potential as a drummer long into the future. And that is way more important.

It will show you:

1. The fundamental techniques to play at your best level
2. How to properly grip the sticks
3. How to prepare yourself properly to drum
4. How to make the stick do the work so you don't have to
5. How to set your drums up for optimum speed
6. How to apply this around the kit
7. Exercises to develop control as well as speed
8. How to take this on into the future to become awesome!

And more than that you will also get a ton of other great free drum resources to make you a better drummer such as playalong tracks, articles, exclusive video lessons and more. And it's all free!

Watch the video to get a feel for what the seven day course entails and then scroll down to get the course immediately.

Start today and build your hand speed up

So let's start the course today. Do it now and begin your 7 day process to get faster hands. This time next week you'll be enjoying the results and thinking about how you can take it to the next stage (by the way, the course helps with that too as we'll be checking speed progress over the next 12 months).

So click the big blue button below. Let's get started!