Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression · Emerson, Lake & Palmer

461 bars of 4/4 at 140 BPM, about 12:54 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot.

120 to 149 BPM
TEMPO
140 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
461
LENGTH
12:54
DIFFICULTY
79/100
THE BEAT

One bar, and 6% of the song

The beat the song is built on is a 2-bar phrase, played through bars 13-16, 19-20 and 23-24, and 9 more places -- 5.6% of every bar the kit plays. This one moves around more than most: the beat is where to start, not the whole job.

LOOP · 140 BPM
KARN EVIL 9: 1ST IMPRESSION · BARS 13-14
THE FILLS

Where it comes off the beat

37 fills to learn, played 99 times: bars 31, 32, 36, 37, 39, 45 and 93 more.

LOOP · 140 BPM
BARS 31-32 · LANDS ON BAR 33 · PLAYED 10 TIMES
LOOP · 140 BPM
BAR 39 · LANDS ON BAR 40 · PLAYED 4 TIMES
LOOP · 140 BPM
BAR 45 · LANDS ON BAR 46 · PLAYED 2 TIMES

34 more fills are written out on the fills page.

THE SHAPE

How the song is built

461 bars across 43 sections: 240 keep time, 99 are fills, 45 are stops and 31 are silent. The longest unbroken stretch of time is bars 11-30.

PART C
PART AT
PART DS
CHORUS
37 groovesBVCVDSATJ+32Fill into the next barFill that ends a sectionInto the next partStop / hitRest

Questions

What BPM is Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression?

140 BPM, in 4/4, with the time kept in thirty-second 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 Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression hard to play on drums?

79 out of 100: demanding, mostly on the independence between the hands and the feet. The beat itself is 56 out of 100; the rest of the number is everything around it.

How long is the drum part?

461 bars, about 12:54 at the written tempo. The course breaks it into 179 exercises over 64 sittings, about 25 minutes each.

What do I need on the kit?

crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot. That is most of a full kit; the part moves around it rather than sitting in one place.

How many fills are in Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression?

37 fills to learn, played 99 times: bars 31, 32, 36, 37, 39, 45 and 93 more.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 461 BARS ANALYSED
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