Folsom Prison Blues
Johnny Cash · 1968
The definitive country train beat, a staple for learning the driving snare-and-hi-hat freight-train groove.
- Artist
- Johnny Cash
- Year
- 1968
- Genre
- classic country
- Drummer
- W.S. Holland
- Tempo
- 170 bpm
- Time
- 4/4
- Feel
- train beat
- Difficulty
- intermediate
Drummer's Quick-Start
Practice tempos
Woodshed
102bpm
Building
136bpm
Target
170bpm
The feel
A train beat in 4/4 around 170 BPM. It's fast — economy of motion is everything; speed comes from relaxation, not force.
What to watch
- •Keep the quarter-note kick relentless and even — it's the engine.
How to learn it
Well-known tutorials exist for this one — use the links below, and play along from your own copy.
Generated from this song's groove profile — analysis only, no notation. A human-reviewed AI brief with a full groove breakdown, key moments and song map replaces this as briefs roll out.
Learn it
Find drum tutorials on YouTube ↗iDrum links to where lessons already live — we don't host recordings or publish transcriptions. Play along from your own music.
Discussion
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