Don't Take Me Alive · Steely Dan

123 bars of 4/4 at 120 BPM, about 4:05 of playing, on crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick.

RockJazz / Blues120 to 149 BPM
TEMPO
120 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
123
LENGTH
4:05
DIFFICULTY
43/100
THE BEAT

One bar, and 16% of the song

The beat the song is built on is one bar, played through bars 14, 34 and 40-43, and 9 more places -- 16.1% of every bar the kit plays. This one moves around more than most: the beat is where to start, not the whole job.

LOOP · 120 BPM
DON'T TAKE ME ALIVE · BAR 41
THE BEAT, WRITTEN OUT →
THE FILLS

Where it comes off the beat

5 fills to learn, played 7 times: bars 10, 11, 21, 23, 31, 65 and 1 more.

LOOP · 120 BPM
BARS 10-11 · LANDS ON BAR 12 · PLAYED 2 TIMES
LOOP · 120 BPM
BAR 21 · LANDS ON BAR 22
LOOP · 120 BPM
BAR 23 · LANDS ON BAR 24
LOOP · 120 BPM
BAR 31 · LANDS ON BAR 32 · PLAYED 2 TIMES

1 more fill is written out on the fills page.

EVERY FILL, WRITTEN OUT →
THE SHAPE

How the song is built

123 bars across 13 sections: 86 keep time, 8 are fills, 9 are stops and 5 are silent. The longest unbroken stretch of time is bars 105-118.

PART C
CHORUS
PART Q
PART H
CHORUS 2
PART H
CHORUS 3
PART I
PART A
CHORUS 4
9 groovesJHAQC+4Fill into the next barFill that ends a sectionInto the next partStop / hitRest

Questions

What BPM is Don't Take Me Alive?

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 Don't Take Me Alive hard to play on drums?

43 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 31 out of 100; the rest of the number is everything around it.

How long is the drum part?

123 bars, about 4:05 at the written tempo. The course breaks it into 42 exercises over 12 sittings, about 25 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 Don't Take Me Alive?

5 fills to learn, played 7 times: bars 10, 11, 21, 23, 31, 65 and 1 more.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 123 BARS ANALYSED
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