Left-hand pattern · Rock drive
Engine 8ths
The lowest note on every eighth: the engine of rock. Musicians call it root bass in 8ths.
Want to mix it with other hands?
How Engine 8ths goes
One bar over a C chord: a row for each key, a column for each step, the finger on each note. Over another chord, move the same shape to its root.
Root bass rhythm: Just the lowest note, played in a rhythm you can dance to.
Songs with Engine 8ths
Each one opens with this pattern in its player.
Often comes next
The patterns songs move to after Engine 8ths, from verse to chorus.
More heartbeats
All patternsQuestions about Engine 8ths
What is Engine 8ths on piano?
The lowest note on every eighth: the engine of rock. Musicians call it root bass in 8ths, one of the root bass rhythm patterns: just the lowest note, played in a rhythm you can dance to.
How do I play root bass · 8ths with the left hand?
Over C major it is C3 (5), then C3 (5), then C3 (5), then C3 (5), then C3 (5), then C3 (5), and so on; the number after each note is the finger (1 is the thumb). Over any other chord, move the same shape to that chord's root.
What songs use Engine 8ths?
It is heard in thousands of songs of the library, as the main groove of thousands, such as Every Breath You Take, Photograph, Bohemian Rhapsody, Mamma Mia.
Is Engine 8ths easy?
It is a medium pattern, in 4/4, usually around 104 beats a minute.