No Excuses · Alice in Chains

117 bars of 4/4 at 117 BPM, about 4:00 of playing, on crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot.

Alternative / IndieRock90 to 119 BPMIntermediate
TEMPO
117 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
117
LENGTH
4:00
DIFFICULTY
69/100
THE BEAT

One bar, and 23% of the song

The beat the song is built on is one bar, played through bars 7, 9 and 11, and 24 more places -- 23.1% of every bar the kit plays. This one moves around more than most: the beat is where to start, not the whole job.

LOOP · 117 BPM
NO EXCUSES · BAR 9
THE BEAT, WRITTEN OUT →
THE FILLS

Where it comes off the beat

7 fills to learn, played 15 times: bars 1, 2, 3, 4, 28, 36 and 9 more.

LOOP · 117 BPM
BARS 1-4 · LANDS ON BAR 5 · PLAYED 4 TIMES
LOOP · 117 BPM
BAR 28 · LANDS ON BAR 29 · PLAYED 4 TIMES
LOOP · 117 BPM
BAR 36 · LANDS ON BAR 37
LOOP · 117 BPM
BARS 75-76 · LANDS ON BAR 77 · PLAYED 2 TIMES

3 more fills are written out on the fills page.

EVERY FILL, WRITTEN OUT →
THE SHAPE

How the song is built

117 bars across 9 sections: 88 keep time and 15 are fills. The longest unbroken stretch of time is bars 11-27.

PART A
CHORUS
PART K
CHORUS 2
PART K
PART G
PART K
OUTRO
OUTRO 2
5 groovesFKYAGFill into the next barFill that ends a sectionInto the next partStop / hitRest

Questions

What BPM is No Excuses?

117 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 No Excuses hard to play on drums?

69 out of 100: demanding, mostly on how fine the subdivision is. The beat itself is 40 out of 100; the rest of the number is everything around it.

How long is the drum part?

117 bars, about 4:00 at the written tempo. The course breaks it into 33 exercises over 12 sittings, about 24 minutes each.

What do I need on the kit?

crash, 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 No Excuses?

7 fills to learn, played 15 times: bars 1, 2, 3, 4, 28, 36 and 9 more.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 117 BARS ANALYSED
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