Careless Whisper · George Michael

113 bars of 4/4 at a walking 77 BPM, 5:52 of playing, on crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick.

Funk / SoulPopUnder 90 BPMBeginner
TEMPO
77 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
113
LENGTH
5:52
DIFFICULTY
65/100
THE BEAT

One bar, and 38% of the song

The beat the song is built on is one bar, played through bars 9-17, 19 and 21-23, and 24 more places -- 38.1% of every bar the kit plays. Learn that one and most of the song is already under your hands.

LOOP · 77 BPM
CARELESS WHISPER · BAR 10
THE BEAT, WRITTEN OUT →
THE FILLS

Where it comes off the beat

5 fills to learn, played 9 times: bars 32, 52, 60, 67, 68, 72 and 3 more.

LOOP · 77 BPM
BAR 32 · LANDS ON BAR 33 · PLAYED 3 TIMES
LOOP · 77 BPM
BAR 60 · LANDS ON BAR 61 · PLAYED 2 TIMES
LOOP · 77 BPM
BARS 67-68 · LANDS ON BAR 69 · PLAYED 2 TIMES
LOOP · 77 BPM
BAR 72 · LANDS ON BAR 73

1 more fill is written out on the fills page.

EVERY FILL, WRITTEN OUT →
THE SHAPE

How the song is built

113 bars across 7 sections: 94 keep time, 9 are fills and 1 is a stop. The longest unbroken stretch of time is bars 98-112.

PART A
CHORUS
PART E
CHORUS 2
PART E
OUTRO
OUTRO 2
4 groovesBREAFill into the next barFill that ends a sectionInto the next partStop / hitRest

Questions

What BPM is Careless Whisper?

77 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 Careless Whisper hard to play on drums?

65 out of 100: demanding, mostly on how much of it falls off the beat. The beat itself is 48 out of 100; the rest of the number is everything around it.

How long is the drum part?

113 bars, about 5:52 at the written tempo. The course breaks it into 22 exercises over 9 sittings, about 22 minutes each.

What do I need on the kit?

crash, 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 Careless Whisper?

5 fills to learn, played 9 times: bars 32, 52, 60, 67, 68, 72 and 3 more.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 113 BARS ANALYSED
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