Aja · Steely Dan

230 bars of 4/4 at 120 BPM, about 7:35 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot.

Jazz / BluesPop120 to 149 BPMIntermediate
TEMPO
120 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
230
LENGTH
7:35
DIFFICULTY
70/100
THE BEAT

One bar, and 12% of the song

The beat the song is built on is one bar, played through bars 19-22, 24-25 and 27-29, and 6 more places -- 12.2% of every bar the kit plays. This one moves around more than most: the beat is where to start, not the whole job.

LOOP · 120 BPM
AJA · BAR 20
THE BEAT, WRITTEN OUT →
THE FILLS

Where it comes off the beat

13 fills to learn, played 59 times: bars 26, 56, 66, 73, 74, 78 and 53 more.

LOOP · 120 BPM
BAR 26 · LANDS ON BAR 27 · PLAYED 3 TIMES
LOOP · 120 BPM
BAR 66 · LANDS ON BAR 67
LOOP · 120 BPM
BARS 73-74 · LANDS ON BAR 75 · PLAYED 2 TIMES
LOOP · 120 BPM
BAR 78 · LANDS ON BAR 79 · PLAYED 2 TIMES

9 more fills are written out on the fills page.

EVERY FILL, WRITTEN OUT →
THE SHAPE

How the song is built

230 bars across 21 sections: 130 keep time, 59 are fills and 11 are stops. The longest unbroken stretch of time is bars 192-202.

PART J
PART J
CHORUS
CHORUS 2
PART AO
PART AJ
PART J
OUTRO
10 groovesUJBNG+5Fill into the next barFill that ends a sectionInto the next partStop / hitRest

Questions

What BPM is Aja?

120 BPM, in 4/4, with the time kept in thirty-second notes. The room plays it at any tempo from a quarter of that up to the written one, against the record where the record can follow.

Is Aja hard to play on drums?

70 out of 100: demanding, mostly on the independence between the hands and the feet. The beat itself is 51 out of 100; the rest of the number is everything around it.

How long is the drum part?

230 bars, about 7:35 at the written tempo. The course breaks it into 64 exercises over 21 sittings, about 25 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 Aja?

13 fills to learn, played 59 times: bars 26, 56, 66, 73, 74, 78 and 53 more.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 230 BARS ANALYSED
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