Folsom Prison Blues · Johnny Cash

141 bars of 4/4 at a walking 103 BPM, 5:28 of playing, on crash, snare and kick.

Country / FolkJazz / Blues90 to 119 BPMFour drums or fewerBeginner
TEMPO
103 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
141
LENGTH
5:28
DIFFICULTY
26/100
THE BEAT

One bar, and 99% of the song

The beat the song is built on is one bar, played through bars 2-140 -- 99.3% of every bar the kit plays. Learn that one and the song is very nearly finished.

LOOP · 103 BPM
FOLSOM PRISON BLUES · BAR 2
THE SHAPE

How the song is built

141 bars across 2 sections: 139 keep time, 1 is a stop and 1 is silent. The longest unbroken stretch of time is bars 2-140.

OUTRO
2 groovesBS1Fill into the next barFill that ends a sectionInto the next partStop / hitRest

Questions

What BPM is Folsom Prison Blues?

103 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 Folsom Prison Blues hard to play on drums?

26 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 11 out of 100; the rest of the number is everything around it.

How long is the drum part?

141 bars, about 5:28 at the written tempo. The course takes it in a single sitting of 3 exercises.

What do I need on the kit?

crash, snare and kick. Three pieces and no more -- this one is playable on almost anything with a kick, a snare and something to keep time on.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 141 BARS ANALYSED
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