In my world, nothing is more indicative of the popularity of a new tune than when, all at the same time, a number of my drum students ask to learn it. I'm always curious about the latest pop music trends and see my student's request as a potentially powerful teaching/learning opportunity. If I listen to one of these songs and am jazzed about the drumming, I work myself up into a teaching frenzy.
This happened recently with We are Young by the band, Fun. If you're not familiar with this song (which I doubt...), here is the official video.
Sidenote: I would like to give special props to Nate Ruess, singer/songwriter of Fun., who grew up in the Phoenix area. I've followed his career for about a decade now after I heard some songs from his first project, a songwriting duo called The Format. (You may remember their "hit" song, "The First Single.") One of my college friends, super-talented drummer John O'Reilly Jr., played and recorded with The Format. Check out John's website, http://www.jordrum.com/studio.php, to see/hear what I'm talking about.
Before we get to the drum lesson, here are a few things about "We are Young" that strikes and impresses me.
• The songs starts with a drum intro. That's always good!
• Unique Structure-The first 41 seconds of the song is at 117 bpm and the rest of the song is slower at 92 bpm. Not too many megahits use two tempos...
• Cool pauses and melodic passages in between sections provide clever breaks as the song builds and becomes increasingly layered.
• The "combined" verse drum groove (starting at 0:25) uses overlapping claves. The floor tom part accenting outlines the "3 side" of a 3:2 clave, while the snare part is a 3:2 son clave played in double time. These overlapping claves are clearly shown in the first 2 lines of notation below.
The Lesson
To fully comprehend the drumming in "We are Young," you have to understand that during parts of the song (some of the verse and some of the chorus), 2 drummers (or overdubbed drum parts) are playing at the same time. You can see what I'm talking about 34 seconds into this live version of the song, when the guitar player comes over and plays the floor tom part.
Here is my We Are Young video lesson and the corresponding notation.
The first two lines of the notation above show the verse pattern as played by two separate drummers.
Note: The floor tom part is most easily played by using a Moeller motion at each accent. You can use the following stroke-tap instructions: Down, Tap, Up, Down, Tap, Up, Down, Up (repeat).
It becomes a "fun" challenge to attempt to combine the verse parts into one groove. The 3rd line of notation shows the snare pattern played with the left hand only, preparing you to play such a combined groove.
Check This Out: I discovered the following drum cover on YouTube. This drummer does a great (and very passionate) job of combining parts (and making up new ones).
Added Challenge: Notice that the drummer from the YouTube drum cover adds bass drum quarter notes to the combined verse groove. Although not done on the studio version, this does create a pleasing low-end for the listener and contrasts the syncopation. Try straight 8ths on the bass drum. Quarters or 8ths as hi-hat chicks. Now create an ostinato between the hi-hat and bass drum while playing the combined verse groove.
The 4th and 5th lines show two possible ways of playing a combined verse groove. In the 4th line, the continuous stream of floor tom 8th notes is broken in favor of a 5-stroke roll on the snare starting on the "+" of 4. In the fifth line, the 5-stroke roll is sacrificed in favor of the continuous floor tom 8ths.
The basic chorus groove is presented in the 6th line.
The 7th and 8th lines offer two ways to play the layered chorus section as one drummer.
You'll Need This: Here is a link to the amazing Dan Brigstock's note-for-note transcription of the song. http://www.drumscore...weareyoung.html
Business Items
• Lou Gervey (http://www.lougervey.com), clinician/performer, is now using play-along songs from Drum Aerobics for his drum clinics.
• Here is the latest customer review for Drum Aerobics. No, I didn't pay this person to write this. Yes, I read this at least once a week to cheer myself up. http://www.amazon.co...e=&nodeID=&tag=
• Thank you to Music Dispatch for including Drum Aerobics and Daily Drum Warm-Ups in their Spring Drum Catalog Highlights.
• Please "like" the new Manhasset Drummer Stand Facebook page. http://www.facebookM...setDrummerStand
• I'm pleased to mention that more and more drum teachers and music stores are beginning to use and carry Drumset for Preschoolers.
NOTE: If you like the this blog and its content, you can show me support (both economic and moral) by considering or telling others about my products. Thanks!
BOOKS BY ANDY ZIKER
USE CODE AZ3 FOR FREE SHIPPING (USA) BY MUSIC DISPATCH
