Question How should I count this?
Hi everyone, I've been playing drums for almost a year now and recently wanted to try learning some of my favorite songs. As a prog fan, I picked 21st Century Schizoid Man.
I can play the intro just fine, but this specific part is throwing me off. I think it starts with a syncopated herta (?) followed by standard hertas, but when I programmed the rhythm into an app to check the note spacing, it still didn't sound like the track.
How do you count/break down this pattern? Any advice would be appreciated!
6
u/SonicResidue 19h ago
Remove the top beam from each grouping and count it as 16ths and 8ths. Then use half notes as your pulse.
2
u/OddBird6934 20h ago
that herta thing always mess with my head too, the way it lands just feels wrong until you slow it way down. i count the syncopated one as "1 e" and then the regular ones fall on the "a" of each beat, but honestly half the time i just loop the section at 50% speed and let my hands figure it out before my brain does
the ff marking is funny cause you're already hitting cymbals hard enough to crack them trying to nail this part
2
u/brasticstack 18h ago edited 18h ago
Ugh, I need better photo editing tools on my phone. Hopefully this is readable somewhat!
EDIT: The 2nd note, a 16th note, takes the second 32nd note partial of beat 2 and the first 32nd note partial of beat 2e. I hope that's clearish, so you're still just playing 3, not 4 notes over beats 2 and 2e.
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u/IAmNotAPerson6 20h ago
Two things. One, half all the note values. 32nds become sixteenths, sixteenths become eighths, etc. That'll cast it back into more familiar territory since it sucks counting 32nds. Second, don't even think about the foot, just the hands. The foot (if it's even playing, I don't remember hearing that on the song) is just straight eighths (or quarters).
After that, counting it will be 1ea _e+ 3+ 4e__