Hold Back the River · James Bay

158 bars of 4/4 at 133 BPM, about 4:45 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick.

PopAlternative / Indie120 to 149 BPM
TEMPO
133 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
158
LENGTH
4:45
DIFFICULTY
41/100
THE BEAT

One bar, and 13% of the song

The beat the song is built on is one bar, played through bars 17-34 -- 13.4% of every bar the kit plays. This one moves around more than most: the beat is where to start, not the whole job.

LOOP · 133 BPM
HOLD BACK THE RIVER · BAR 17
THE BEAT, WRITTEN OUT →
THE FILLS

Where it comes off the beat

5 fills to learn, played 7 times: bars 74, 98, 114, 128, 129, 130 and 1 more.

LOOP · 133 BPM
BAR 74 · LANDS ON BAR 75
LOOP · 133 BPM
BAR 98 · LANDS ON BAR 99
LOOP · 133 BPM
BAR 114 · LANDS ON BAR 115
LOOP · 133 BPM
BARS 128-130 · LANDS ON BAR 131 · PLAYED 3 TIMES

1 more fill is written out on the fills page.

EVERY FILL, WRITTEN OUT →
THE SHAPE

How the song is built

158 bars across 14 sections: 101 keep time, 7 are fills, 16 are stops and 24 are silent. The longest unbroken stretch of time is bars 17-34.

COUNT-IN
PART B
PART C
PART G
PART D
PART N
PART V
CHORUS 2
OUTRO
13 groovesJBGNS1+8Fill into the next barFill that ends a sectionInto the next partStop / hitRest

Questions

What BPM is Hold Back the River?

133 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 Hold Back the River hard to play on drums?

41 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 6 out of 100; the rest of the number is everything around it.

How long is the drum part?

158 bars, about 4:45 at the written tempo. The course breaks it into 42 exercises over 12 sittings, about 26 minutes each.

What do I need on the kit?

crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, 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 Hold Back the River?

5 fills to learn, played 7 times: bars 74, 98, 114, 128, 129, 130 and 1 more.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 158 BARS ANALYSED
AT THIS LEVEL

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