Online drum machine
Practise with a real groove instead of a click. Pick the rock or pop beat, set the tempo and swing, and edit any step — kick, snare, hats, clap and tom. Grooves shared from the FRET app open here too.
How to use the drum machine
- Press Play to start the rock groove, or choose Pop.
- Drag the tempo slider to match your song or exercise (40–240 BPM).
- Add swing for a shuffled, laid-back feel — 15–35% suits blues, hip-hop and funk.
- Click any square to add or remove a hit. The grid is one bar of sixteenth notes.
- Press Clear to start from an empty bar and build your own beat.
Why practise with drums instead of a metronome?
A click tells you where the beat is; a drum groove tells you how it feels. Playing over a beat teaches you to sit in the pocket, lock in with the kick drum and hear where the backbeat (beats 2 and 4) falls — the way you will play with a real drummer. It is also simply more fun, which means you practise longer.
Reading the 16-step grid
Each row is one drum sound, each column one sixteenth note. Columns 1, 5, 9 and 13 are the four beats of the bar; the shaded blocks help you count “1 e & a, 2 e & a…”. In a basic rock beat the kick plays on 1 and 3, the snare on 2 and 4, and the hi-hat on every eighth note.
- Kick: the low thump that anchors the groove
- Snare: the backbeat on 2 and 4
- Closed hat: steady eighths or sixteenths
- Open hat, clap and tom: accents and fills
What swing does
Swing delays every second sixteenth note, turning straight rhythms into a shuffle. At 0% the groove is straight; around 30% it feels like hip-hop or funk; at 50% and above it becomes a triplet shuffle for blues. Try the same pattern at different swing settings to hear how much the feel changes.
Shared grooves from the app
In the FRET app, tap Share in the drum machine to send a link to your groove. Anyone who opens it can play it here, in the browser — tempo, swing and pattern included.
Tips for practising with a beat
Lock to the kick. Bass players and rhythm guitarists: make your notes start exactly with the kick drum.
Start slow. Set the tempo 20% below the song and only speed up when it feels easy.
Change the feel. Play the same riff over straight and swung grooves to stretch your timing.
Improvise over it. Loop a groove and solo with the minor pentatonic scale — then try a full jam track with bass in the app.
Drum machine questions
Is the online drum machine free?
Yes. Rock and pop grooves, the 16-step editor, tempo and swing are free here with no account.
Where are funk, hip-hop, bossa nova and the others?
Funk, hip-hop, bossa nova, shuffle, reggae and metal are in the FRET iPhone app, along with jam tracks that add a bass line in any key.
Can I save my beat?
Not in the browser yet. In the app you can save grooves and share them as links that open on this page.
Does it work on phones?
Yes. On iPhone, turn off silent mode to hear it. Scroll the grid sideways on small screens.
Why is there a slight delay when I press Play?
The browser needs a moment to start audio the first time. After that, the beat is scheduled ahead on the audio clock and stays steady.