Rock & pop · pop punk · 4/4 straight

Pop-punk eighths

176 bpm
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16ths

Pop-punk eighths — the wall of downstrokes from the Ramones through Green Day, blink-182 and every garage band since: power chords on every eighth note, the bass hammering the root underneath, the drums driving straight ahead.

How it sits: the guitar plays root–fifth–octave power chords (no third, so major or minor doesn't matter) on all eight eighths per bar, all downstrokes — that is what makes the sound aggressive and even. The bass plays the same eighths on the root. The kit plays the punk rock beat: hi-hat (or crash-ride) eighths, snare on 2 and 4, kick on 1, 3 and the and-of-3. The progression is the I–V–vi–IV loop in C.

Listen for guitar, bass and hat landing as one sound on every eighth, and the chord changes happening exactly on the beat with no gap.

Practice: downstrokes at 176 tire the wrist fast; start at 130, stay loose, move from the elbow, and add 5 bpm a day.

Sources

  • standard practice; no transcribed source