Down with the Sickness – Disturbed
Drummer, Mike Wengren, kicks off this fan-favourite with a killer tribal beat which utilizes all four limbs.
The beat looks quite difficult at first glance, but can be broken up into smaller pieces to learn it more efficiently. Practice each step slowly and repetitively before increasing the tempo.
Step 1: play the eighth note pulse with right bass drum and floor tom (with right hand).
Step 2: add the mid-tom part with your left hand – playing every third 16th note to create the cross-rhythm.
Step 3: add the left bass drum notes.
Step 4: Play a left flam on beat 1 and add accents as seen in the top image. Enjoy!
What’s next?
Coupled with technique-building coordination exercises and hundreds of motivational examples, our method books guide you from beginner level to advanced drumming. Enjoy hundreds of examples taken from chart-topping songs from the 60s through today:
Author
Steve Ley is a professional drummer, teacher, writer and Sheet Music Team Director for Online Drummer. He studied at the Australian National University, graduating with a Diploma of Music specializing in jazz performance.
