Forty Six & 2 Steady Groove — Danny Carey (Tool) Drum Lick | MetalForge
Learn the Forty Six & 2 Steady Groove drum lick by Danny Carey of Tool. From Forty Six & 2 (Ænima (1996)). While Forty Six & 2's drum solo outro is the moment that attracts most attention in drum circles, it...
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1. Danny Carey's Signature Licks — While Forty Six & 2's drum solo outro is the moment that attracts most attention in drum circles, it is the song's main verse groove that best illustrates Danny Carey's gift for making genuinely unusual time feel completely natural. The central groove operates on a 13-beat modular cycle — a pattern that never quite resolves where a listener expecting 4/4 or even 6/8 would predict, yet flows with such authority and steadiness that the odd measure feels like the most inevitable thing in the world. Carey constructs the groove around a steady ride pattern that emphasises the pulse of each 13-beat phrase, with the snare and kick defining specific landing points within the cycle that create a feeling of groove and forward motion rather than metric confusion. The bass drum in particular is carefully placed to anchor the groove at key points in the phrase, giving the pattern a physical drive that works even for listeners who cannot count the underlying structure. This is the lesson that makes studying this groove so valuable for developing players: metre does not have to be audible to be effective. Carey's commitment to the groove's internal logic — its own sense of downbeat and pulse — is what makes it feel compelling rather than academic. The 13-beat cycle means the pattern shifts gradually relative to any external pulse grid, creating a slowly evolving, modular feel before it finally resolves to a common phrase ending. Drumming students should approach this by first clapping the full 13-beat phrase repeatedly until it becomes a body memory rather than an intellectual count, then slowly adding hi-hat before bringing in snare, and finally the kick. The goal is to feel the phrase as one complete unit — thirteen beats that breathe together — so the groove drives hard precisely because it refuses to compromise its unusual pulse for the comfort of common time. Related licks: [Forty Six & 2 Outro Solo](/drummers/danny-carey/licks/danny-carey-forty-six-and-2-outro) and [Schism Odd Meter Groove](/drummers/danny-carey/licks/danny-carey-schism-odd-meter-groove).2. Danny Carey Profile — Clap the 13-beat phrase repeatedly until it becomes body memory rather than an intellectual count Add hi-hat first, then snare, then kick — building the groove one limb at a time Anchor the ride pattern to the phrase's own internal downbeat, not an external 4/4 reference Place the kick at the same structural points within each 13-beat cycle for consistency Feel the complete 13-beat unit as one phrase — let it breathe rather than subdivide it mentally
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