Billie Jean (Acoustic) · Michael Jackson

152 bars of 4/4 at 120 BPM, about 5:04 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick.

Funk / SoulPop120 to 149 BPMBeginner
TEMPO
120 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
152
LENGTH
5:04
DIFFICULTY
65/100
THE BEAT

One bar, and 74% of the song

The beat the song is built on is one bar, played through bars 3-5, 8-33 and 35, and 27 more places -- 74.3% of every bar the kit plays. Learn that one and the song is very nearly finished.

LOOP · 120 BPM
BILLIE JEAN (ACOUSTIC) · BAR 3
THE BEAT, WRITTEN OUT →
THE FILLS

Where it comes off the beat

2 fills to learn, played 5 times: bars 41, 42, 81, 82 and 152.

LOOP · 120 BPM
BARS 41-42 · LANDS ON BAR 43 · PLAYED 4 TIMES
LOOP · 120 BPM
BAR 152
EVERY FILL, WRITTEN OUT →
THE SHAPE

How the song is built

152 bars: 147 keep time and 5 are fills. The longest unbroken stretch of time is bars 83-151.

OUTRO
1 grooveBFill into the next barFill that ends a sectionInto the next partStop / hitRest

Questions

What BPM is Billie Jean (Acoustic)?

120 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 Billie Jean (Acoustic) hard to play on drums?

65 out of 100: demanding, mostly on how many notes a second it asks for. The beat itself is 45 out of 100; the rest of the number is everything around it.

How long is the drum part?

152 bars, about 5:04 at the written tempo. The course breaks it into 11 exercises over 7 sittings, about 20 minutes each.

What do I need on the kit?

crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor 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 Billie Jean (Acoustic)?

2 fills to learn, played 5 times: bars 41, 42, 81, 82 and 152.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 152 BARS ANALYSED
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