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Berklee Practice Method

Drum Set
Get Your Band Together
Ron Savage, Casey Scheuerell, and
the Berklee Faculty

Chapter VI
Playing Hard Rock

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 PLAYING ROCK
HARD ROCK CHAPTER
CHAPTERVI1
Dont Look Down is a hard rock tune. Hard rock first appeared in the late
,,d ,t
on
1960s. It has characteristic heavy bass, long, drawn-out chords, and amplified
instruments. To hear more hard rock, listen to artists such as Aerosmith,
Metallica, Powerman 5000, the Allman Brothers Band, Rob Zombie,
Godsmack, 311, Stone Temple Pilots, Black Crowes, Steve Vai, and Smashing

look
Pumpkins.

LESSON 21
TECHNIQUE/THEORY
down ,,
LISTEN
23 P L AY

Listen to Dont Look Down, and then play along with the recording. Try to match the drum part. This tune
has two parts.

LEARNING THE BEAT

To learn the beat, follow these three steps:

1. Start with the hi-hat.

2. Add the snare drum.
3. Add the bass drum.

This is the beat to the first part:

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3

Hi-Hat

Snare Drum
Bass Drum
This is the beat to the second part (also the intro):
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3

Hi-Hat

Snare Drum
Bass Drum

Play Dont Look Down along with the recording. Hook up with the groove.

57
RIDE HAND

Listen to the continuous eighth notes. Each downbeat (eighth note on the beat) uses a downstroke, and each upbeat
(eighth note off the beat) uses an upstroke. Practice playing the bass drum without affecting the feel of the ride
hand, especially in the second beat.

Keep the hi-hat closed during the first part. During the second part, play it with the foot on beats 2 and 4.

PRACTICE TIP

Vary your intensity on the hi-hat notes. Develop your sense of where on the surface to play,
and how open to keep the cymbals. This will help you create different levels of wash.

SNARE HAND

Play a solid snare backbeat.

FOOT

The bass drum part in the second beat is syncopated, which makes it tricky. Keep your foot independent of your
hands, so that your eighth notes dont get louder when they coincide with the bass drum.

FLAMS

A flam is a normal stroke closely preceded by a softer stroke (grace note). One reason that the ending of Dont
Look Down sounds so powerful is that the drummer is playing flams. Flams are two attacks played so closely
together that they sound like one big attack.

Practice flams, alternating hands.

L R L R
R L R L

58
LESSON 22
LEARNING THE GROOVE

HARD ROCK

LISTEN 23 P L AY

Listen to Dont Look Down. This tune has a standard rock/metal groove. It is a heavy feel, with very simple
drum and bass parts. These parts must be simple because they are intended to be played in large arenas, where
echoes would make busier parts sound muddy. Its a case of less is more.

Eighth notes are played straight, not with a swing feel. The bass drum plays on beats 1 and 3, which is typical
of rock drum beats.

HOOKING UP WITH THE BAND

This tune has an active bass part and a relatively straight-ahead drum part, which is different than the other
tunes weve been playing. On the second part, the guitar and bass play the riff in unison (together). This is a
big, powerful sound. The keyboard plays long, sustained chords. The drums are the glue, keeping the strong
backbeat on the snare, and crashing on each bars downbeat.

LESSON 22: LEARNING THE GROOVE 59

LESSON 24
READING

DRUM PART
1 2 First and second ending markings. The first time you play these measures, play the first
endingthe measures under the number 1.

Then return to the begin-repeat sign (  ). The second time, skip the first ending and play the
second endingthe measures under the number 2. Then, continue through the rest of the form.

Play Dont Look Down along with the recording. Use the written drum part.

LISTEN
26 P L AY
,
Dont Look Down
Drum Part By Matt Marvuglio
"Hard Rock" = 88
C G C G C G C G
Intro Ride fill

A 1
% F C G F C G
Hi-Hat

(2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)

2
A17 To Coda
G C G C G C G C G
Ride
fill fill

(15) (16) (18) (19) (20)

B Solos B17
F C G C G
Hi-Hat Ride
14 Bars Groove fill

(16) (18)
CODA
After solos, D.S. al
C G C G G
Hi-Hat fill

(19) (20)

62
LEAD SHEET

LISTEN 26 P L AY

Play your own part to Dont Look Down and follow the lead sheet.

,
Don t Look Down
"Hard Rock" = 88 By Matt Marvuglio
(Bass & Guitar Riff)
Intro C G C G C G C G

A F C G

F C G

F C G

F C G

B C G C G C G C G

Ending
G Unison: bass, keys & guitar

LESSON 24: READING 63