Compound time - 6/8

This is the second in a series of three quick lessons which will focus on three areas of drumkit playing:

1)Paradiddle beats
2)Compound time - 6/8
3)Swing/shuffle notation

In this quick lesson, I am going to give two examples of beats on 6/8, which is a form of compound time. The phrase compound time describes a time signature where the upper number of the two numbers which represent the time signature is a subdivision of 3, instead of 2, which is known as common time.


1) The first exercise is a simple example of a 6/8 beat:






Below is a video demonstration:






2) Here is a slightly more difficult example:







along with a video demonstration:




These are only ideas, aimed at developing some sort of approach to the concept. Hopefully, you will be able to use these examples to sharpen your own skills and create your own ideas.