Astronomy · Blue Öyster Cult

142 bars of 4/4 at a walking 87 BPM, 6:17 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, mid tom and kick.

RockProgressiveUnder 90 BPM
TEMPO
87 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
142
LENGTH
6:17
DIFFICULTY
59/100
THE BEAT

One bar, and 15% of the song

The beat the song is built on is one bar, played through bars 52-54, 56-58 and 60-66, and 2 more places -- 15% of every bar the kit plays. This one moves around more than most: the beat is where to start, not the whole job.

LOOP · 87 BPM
ASTRONOMY · BAR 52
THE BEAT, WRITTEN OUT →
THE FILLS

Where it comes off the beat

12 fills to learn, played 23 times: bars 42, 50, 55, 59, 67, 71 and 17 more.

LOOP · 87 BPM
BAR 42 · LANDS ON BAR 43
LOOP · 87 BPM
BAR 50 · LANDS ON BAR 51
LOOP · 87 BPM
BAR 55 · LANDS ON BAR 56 · PLAYED 2 TIMES
LOOP · 87 BPM
BAR 59 · LANDS ON BAR 60

8 more fills are written out on the fills page.

EVERY FILL, WRITTEN OUT →
THE SHAPE

How the song is built

142 bars across 15 sections: 84 keep time, 23 are fills, 18 are stops and 2 are silent. The longest unbroken stretch of time is bars 1-21.

PART B
PART E
PART J
CHORUS
PART E
CHORUS 2
PART AL
OUTRO 2
12 groovesPEBJAQ+7Fill into the next barFill that ends a sectionInto the next partStop / hitRest

Questions

What BPM is Astronomy?

87 BPM, in 4/4, with the time kept in sixteenth 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 Astronomy hard to play on drums?

59 out of 100, a step up from a first song, and the work is in the independence between the hands and the feet. The beat itself is 44 out of 100; the rest of the number is everything around it.

How long is the drum part?

142 bars, about 6:17 at the written tempo. The course breaks it into 54 exercises over 18 sittings, about 24 minutes each.

What do I need on the kit?

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

How many fills are in Astronomy?

12 fills to learn, played 23 times: bars 42, 50, 55, 59, 67, 71 and 17 more.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 142 BARS ANALYSED
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