Cat's In The Cradle · Harry Chapin

67 bars of 4/4 at a walking 78 BPM, 3:26 of playing, on crash, hi-hat, snare, floor tom and kick.

Country / FolkRockUnder 90 BPM
TEMPO
78 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
67
LENGTH
3:26
DIFFICULTY
37/100
THE BEAT

One bar, and 17% of the song

The beat the song is built on is one bar, played through bars 35-39, 52 and 54, and 1 more place -- 16.7% of every bar the kit plays. This one moves around more than most: the beat is where to start, not the whole job.

LOOP · 78 BPM
CAT'S IN THE CRADLE · BAR 35
THE BEAT, WRITTEN OUT →
THE FILLS

Where it comes off the beat

3 fills to learn, played 9 times: bars 26, 47, 48, 62, 63, 64 and 3 more.

LOOP · 78 BPM
BAR 26 · LANDS ON BAR 27
LOOP · 78 BPM
BARS 47-48 · LANDS ON BAR 49 · PLAYED 2 TIMES
LOOP · 78 BPM
BARS 62-67 · PLAYED 6 TIMES
EVERY FILL, WRITTEN OUT →
THE SHAPE

How the song is built

67 bars across 9 sections: 35 keep time, 9 are fills, 1 is a stop and 13 are silent. The longest unbroken stretch of time is bars 18-25.

COUNT-IN
PART D
PART H
PART J
CHORUS
PART E
CHORUS 2
OUTRO
8 groovesMHS1ED+3Fill into the next barFill that ends a sectionInto the next partStop / hitRest

Questions

What BPM is Cat's In The Cradle?

78 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 Cat's In The Cradle hard to play on drums?

37 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- with the independence between the hands and the feet the part that decides it. The beat itself is 33 out of 100; the rest of the number is everything around it.

How long is the drum part?

67 bars, about 3:26 at the written tempo. The course breaks it into 28 exercises over 7 sittings, about 29 minutes each.

What do I need on the kit?

crash, hi-hat, snare, floor tom and kick. Nothing in the part asks for anything else.

How many fills are in Cat's In The Cradle?

3 fills to learn, played 9 times: bars 26, 47, 48, 62, 63, 64 and 3 more.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 67 BARS ANALYSED
AT THIS LEVEL

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