Build Me Up, Break Me Down · Dream Theater

147 bars of 4/4 at a walking 95 BPM, 5:51 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick.

ProgressiveRock90 to 119 BPM
TEMPO
95 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
147
LENGTH
5:51
DIFFICULTY
57/100
THE BEAT

One bar, and 18% of the song

The beat the song is built on is one bar, played through bars 69-80 and 115-126 -- 17.8% of every bar the kit plays. This one moves around more than most: the beat is where to start, not the whole job.

LOOP · 95 BPM
BUILD ME UP, BREAK ME DOWN · BAR 70
THE BEAT, WRITTEN OUT →
THE FILLS

Where it comes off the beat

13 fills to learn, played 22 times: bars 10, 12, 32, 36, 40, 43 and 16 more.

LOOP · 95 BPM
BAR 10 · LANDS ON BAR 11 · PLAYED 2 TIMES
LOOP · 95 BPM
BAR 12 · LANDS ON BAR 13 · PLAYED 2 TIMES
LOOP · 95 BPM
BAR 32 · LANDS ON BAR 33 · PLAYED 2 TIMES
LOOP · 95 BPM
BAR 40 · LANDS ON BAR 41 · PLAYED 4 TIMES

9 more fills are written out on the fills page.

EVERY FILL, WRITTEN OUT →
THE SHAPE

How the song is built

147 bars across 21 sections: 79 keep time, 22 are fills, 10 are stops and 12 are silent. The longest unbroken stretch of time is bars 70-80.

PART M
PART S
CHORUS
PART AA
PART AE
CHORUS 2
OUTRO 2
13 groovesWOCHX+8Fill into the next barFill that ends a sectionInto the next partStop / hitRest

Questions

What BPM is Build Me Up, Break Me Down?

95 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 Build Me Up, Break Me Down hard to play on drums?

57 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 41 out of 100; the rest of the number is everything around it.

How long is the drum part?

147 bars, about 5:51 at the written tempo. The course breaks it into 57 exercises over 16 sittings, about 26 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 Build Me Up, Break Me Down?

13 fills to learn, played 22 times: bars 10, 12, 32, 36, 40, 43 and 16 more.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 147 BARS ANALYSED
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