Montana · Frank Zappa

142 bars of 4/4 at a walking 90 BPM, 6:19 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot.

RockProgressive90 to 119 BPM
TEMPO
90 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
142
LENGTH
6:19
DIFFICULTY
65/100
THE BEAT

One bar, and 7% of the song

The beat the song is built on is one bar, played through bars 11-12, 27-28 and 95-96, and 1 more place -- 7.3% of every bar the kit plays. This one moves around more than most: the beat is where to start, not the whole job.

LOOP · 90 BPM
MONTANA · BAR 11
THE BEAT, WRITTEN OUT →
THE FILLS

Where it comes off the beat

17 fills to learn, played 34 times: bars 4, 5, 6, 13, 14, 18 and 28 more.

LOOP · 90 BPM
BARS 4-6 · LANDS ON BAR 7 · PLAYED 3 TIMES
LOOP · 90 BPM
BARS 13-14 · LANDS ON BAR 15 · PLAYED 2 TIMES
LOOP · 90 BPM
BARS 18-22 · LANDS ON BAR 23 · PLAYED 5 TIMES
LOOP · 90 BPM
BARS 29-30 · LANDS ON BAR 31 · PLAYED 2 TIMES

13 more fills are written out on the fills page.

EVERY FILL, WRITTEN OUT →
THE SHAPE

How the song is built

142 bars across 16 sections: 56 keep time, 34 are fills and 32 are silent. The longest unbroken stretch of time is bars 75-81.

PART A
CHORUS
BREAK
PART AB
PART AF
CHORUS 3
PART AI
OUTRO 2
9 groovesS7MJABAF+4Fill into the next barFill that ends a sectionInto the next partStop / hitRest

Questions

What BPM is Montana?

90 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 Montana hard to play on drums?

65 out of 100: demanding, mostly on how fine the subdivision is. The beat itself is 32 out of 100; the rest of the number is everything around it.

How long is the drum part?

142 bars, about 6:19 at the written tempo. The course breaks it into 57 exercises over 19 sittings, about 26 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 Montana?

17 fills to learn, played 34 times: bars 4, 5, 6, 13, 14, 18 and 28 more.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 142 BARS ANALYSED
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