Drum Related

Below is a breakdown of Living in America by James Brown, it shows the section name and number of bars.

Section        No. of Bars

Fill                     1

Intro                   16 (*Stabs in 8th bar)

1st Verse         12 (#Stabs in 12th bar)  

Chorus             12 (*Stabs in 12th bar)

Instrumental    4

2nd Verse        16 (#Stabs in 16th bar)

Chorus             12 (*Stabs in 12th bar)

Middle 8            8

Bridge               14

Sax Solo          12

Chorus              8

Outro Chorus
& solo                16…. To fade

The very first bar (the fill) has the pattern of “1  +  2 e  a 3 e    a 4     ” try and figure out the sounds that are applied.

* Stabs = “1  +   2   + a                ”

# Stabs = “1  +  2    +    3             ”

As far as the hi hat goes, as there’s a lot of over-dubbing with synthesisers and what not, you can either choose 8ths, 16ths or the broken line of “1  + a”, which is what I used to play in the band when I did it. There are some hi hat lifts in various bars too, so see if you can pick them out!

This weeks “Track of the week” is Living in America by James Brown, I’ve decided to move away from the ¼ note hi hat run I’ve had going for the past few weeks and venture towards a broken hi hat line instead, but keeping the ¼ note bass drum from last week’s track. The broken hi hat line in this track is “1  +a” however just play 8th notes if you’re not onto broken lines yet. Try, if you can, to get the stabs, it’s a real good challenge for your counting and “locking in” skills! Have a good listen through and I’ll give you the break down with some notes tomorrow.