As I Am · Dream Theater

235 bars of 4/4 at a walking 100 BPM, 9:10 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot.

ProgressiveMetal90 to 119 BPMAdvanced
TEMPO
100 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
235
LENGTH
9:10
DIFFICULTY
73/100
THE BEAT

One bar, and 18% of the song

The beat the song is built on is one bar, played through bars 30-32, 34-36 and 38-44, and 14 more places -- 17.5% of every bar the kit plays. This one moves around more than most: the beat is where to start, not the whole job.

LOOP · 100 BPM
AS I AM · BAR 30
THE BEAT, WRITTEN OUT →
THE FILLS

Where it comes off the beat

21 fills to learn, played 39 times: bars 14, 16, 18, 20, 28, 29 and 33 more.

LOOP · 100 BPM
BAR 14 · LANDS ON BAR 15
LOOP · 100 BPM
BAR 16 · LANDS ON BAR 17
LOOP · 100 BPM
BAR 18 · LANDS ON BAR 19
LOOP · 100 BPM
BAR 20 · LANDS ON BAR 21

17 more fills are written out on the fills page.

EVERY FILL, WRITTEN OUT →
THE SHAPE

How the song is built

235 bars across 23 sections: 123 keep time, 39 are fills, 28 are stops and 12 are silent. The longest unbroken stretch of time is bars 145-155.

COUNT-IN
CHORUS
PART J
PART J
CHORUS 5
CHORUS 6
PART J
OUTRO 2
10 groovesGJAAAHBO+5Fill into the next barFill that ends a sectionInto the next partStop / hitRest

Questions

What BPM is As I Am?

100 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 As I Am hard to play on drums?

73 out of 100: demanding, mostly on the independence between the hands and the feet. The beat itself is 41 out of 100; the rest of the number is everything around it.

How long is the drum part?

235 bars, about 9:10 at the written tempo. The course breaks it into 73 exercises over 26 sittings, about 24 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 As I Am?

21 fills to learn, played 39 times: bars 14, 16, 18, 20, 28, 29 and 33 more.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 235 BARS ANALYSED
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