Lessons  Foundations  Reading & Counting

Counting Sixteenths

Four pulses inside every beat

Duration: 20 min Focus: Counting
Prerequisites

Cut an eighth in half and you get a sixteenth note. The standard count for a beat full of sixteenths is "1 e & a" — one syllable per sixteenth, evenly spaced. The e and the a are the two new pulses that didn't exist when you were just counting eighths.

Sixteenth notes are where funk, R&B, and most modern drumming live. Even when not every sixteenth is played, the grid is what your time is locked to.

Making the e and a Real

At first the e and a are just sounds your mouth makes; the goal is for each to become a distinct place you can aim a stroke at. A good drill on top of the exercises: play straight 16ths and accent only the e for a bar, then only the a. If the accents wander, the positions aren't real yet — drop to ♩=60 and rebuild.

The tell-tale failure is smearing: e-&-a blurring into a fast triple instead of three even positions. Smearing means the tempo is ahead of your counting, never the reverse. Read Ex 4 by counting it, not by memorizing its shape; placing a note on any syllable of "1 e & a" on demand is the skill this lesson exists to build.

Exercises

1 — Straight Sixteenths

4/4 · ♩ = 70
Sixteen even strokes. Count 1 e & a · 2 e & a · 3 e & a · 4 e & a out loud. Every syllable is a stroke.

2 — Eighth + Two Sixteenths

4/4 · ♩ = 75
On every beat: a single eighth followed by two sixteenths. Counts per beat: 1 & a · 2 & a · 3 & a · 4 & a. The e is silent — feel it land between the 1 and the &.

3 — Two Sixteenths + Eighth

4/4 · ♩ = 75
Mirror image of the previous exercise: two sixteenths first, then an eighth. Per beat: 1 e & · 2 e & · 3 e & · 4 e &. The a is now the silent one.

4 — The 'e a' Pattern

4/4 · ♩ = 75
A mixed-density bar combining the patterns from exercises 1–3. Don't memorize the rhythm shape — read it by counting through each beat. 1 & a · 2 & a · 3 e & a · 4 & a.
Move on when
  • All 4 patterns playable at ♩=75 while counting "1 e & a" out loud
  • The e and a feel like distinct positions, not a smear
  • Mixed-density bar (Ex 4) is read by counting, not memorized as a shape
Listening 2 records

Listen for it

  1. 01

    Stevie Wonder Superstition

    Stevie himself on drums. The hi-hat rides the 16th grid and the kick and snare pick syllables out of it — try naming the count of each kick.

  2. 02

    Bernard Purdie Aretha Franklin — Rock Steady

    A masterclass in which 16ths to play and which to leave out. The grid is always there even when the hands rest.

Where Next

Triplet Feel → Mixed Subdivisions →