Heaven Can Wait · Michael Jackson

134 bars of 4/4 at 118 BPM, about 4:33 of playing, on hi-hat, snare and kick.

Funk / SoulPop90 to 119 BPMFour drums or fewer
TEMPO
118 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
134
LENGTH
4:33
DIFFICULTY
27/100
THE BEAT

One bar, and 46% of the song

The beat the song is built on is one bar, played through bars 9, 11 and 13, and 54 more places -- 46.3% of every bar the kit plays. Learn that one and most of the song is already under your hands.

LOOP · 118 BPM
HEAVEN CAN WAIT · BAR 9
THE BEAT, WRITTEN OUT →
THE SHAPE

How the song is built

134 bars across 9 sections: 120 keep time and 11 are silent. The longest unbroken stretch of time is bars 27-74.

COUNT-IN
CHORUS
CHORUS 2
OUTRO 2
5 groovesBAS1S4S7Fill into the next barFill that ends a sectionInto the next partStop / hitRest

Questions

What BPM is Heaven Can Wait?

118 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 Heaven Can Wait hard to play on drums?

27 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 15 out of 100; the rest of the number is everything around it.

How long is the drum part?

134 bars, about 4:33 at the written tempo. The course breaks it into 11 exercises over 4 sittings, about 22 minutes each.

What do I need on the kit?

hi-hat, 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 · 134 BARS ANALYSED
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