Four to the floor

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This article is about the dance music beat. For other uses, see Four on the floor.

Four to the floor or four on the floor is a rhythmic pattern in dance music in which the kick drum falls on each beat of the measure in 4/4 time. The four to the floor beat was popularized in the 1960s and in the disco music of the 1970s. Other music genres based on the beat include house, techno and trance.

[edit] Four to the floor v.s. 4/4 time

There is a common misconception that the time signature 4/4 and "four to the floor" can be used interchangeably. However, one must differentiate between the time signature and the rhythmic programming of a song. The large majority of popular music (including most rock, country and jazz) is written in 4/4 time (also known as "common time"), but much of it does not use the "four to the floor" drum pattern.

[edit] Meaning in jazz

In jazz drumming, the term "four to the floor" usually refers to feathering (striking very lightly) the bass drum for all the beats of a 4/4 bar.^{[citation needed]}