Aerials · System of a Down

154 bars, 8:19, at 74 BPM: slow enough that every note is exposed. Crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot and nothing else.

MetalAlternative / IndieUnder 90 BPMIntermediate
TEMPO
74 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
154
LENGTH
8:19
DIFFICULTY
43/100
THE BEAT

One bar, and 18% of the song

The beat the song is built on is one bar, played through bars 23, 26-27 and 29, and 18 more places -- 17.6% of every bar the kit plays. This one moves around more than most: the beat is where to start, not the whole job.

LOOP · 74 BPM
AERIALS · BAR 29
THE BEAT, WRITTEN OUT →
THE FILLS

Where it comes off the beat

4 fills to learn, played 13 times: bars 19, 20, 24, 28, 32, 40 and 7 more.

LOOP · 74 BPM
BARS 19-20 · LANDS ON BAR 21 · PLAYED 2 TIMES
LOOP · 74 BPM
BAR 24 · LANDS ON BAR 25 · PLAYED 5 TIMES
LOOP · 74 BPM
BAR 28 · LANDS ON BAR 29 · PLAYED 4 TIMES
LOOP · 74 BPM
BAR 64 · LANDS ON BAR 65 · PLAYED 2 TIMES
EVERY FILL, WRITTEN OUT →
THE SHAPE

How the song is built

154 bars across 10 sections: 103 keep time, 13 are fills, 9 are stops and 18 are silent. The longest unbroken stretch of time is bars 106-127.

COUNT-IN
CHORUS
PART G
CHORUS 2
PART S
OUTRO
9 groovesESMGS1+4Fill into the next barFill that ends a sectionInto the next partStop / hitRest

Questions

What BPM is Aerials?

74 BPM, in 4/4, with the time kept in sixteenth notes. Slow enough to hear every mistake, which is why the room lets you sit at the written tempo rather than under it.

Is Aerials hard to play on drums?

43 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- with the independence between the hands and the feet the part that decides it. The beat itself is 19 out of 100; the rest of the number is everything around it.

How long is the drum part?

154 bars, about 8:19 at the written tempo. The course breaks it into 36 exercises over 9 sittings, about 27 minutes each.

What do I need on the kit?

crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot. That is most of a full kit; the part moves around it rather than sitting in one place.

How many fills are in Aerials?

4 fills to learn, played 13 times: bars 19, 20, 24, 28, 32, 40 and 7 more.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 154 BARS ANALYSED
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