Roads · Portishead

78 bars, 4:10, at 75 BPM: slow enough that every note is exposed. Hi-hat, snare and kick and nothing else.

ElectronicUnder 90 BPMFour drums or fewer
TEMPO
75 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
78
LENGTH
4:10
DIFFICULTY
76/100
THE BEAT

One bar, and 95% of the song

The beat the song is built on is one bar, played through bars 6-20, 22-52 and 54-77 -- 94.6% of every bar the kit plays. Learn that one and the song is very nearly finished.

LOOP · 75 BPM
ROADS · BAR 6
THE BEAT, WRITTEN OUT →
THE FILLS

Where it comes off the beat

1 fill to learn, played 1 time: bar 78.

LOOP · 75 BPM
BAR 78
EVERY FILL, WRITTEN OUT →
THE SHAPE

How the song is built

78 bars across 2 sections: 73 keep time, 1 is a fill and 4 are silent. The longest unbroken stretch of time is bars 5-77.

COUNT-IN
OUTRO
2 groovesCS1Fill into the next barFill that ends a sectionInto the next partStop / hitRest

Questions

What BPM is Roads?

75 BPM, in 4/4, with the time kept in thirty-second notes. Slow enough to hear every mistake, which is why the room lets you sit at the written tempo rather than under it.

Is Roads hard to play on drums?

76 out of 100: demanding, mostly on how much of it falls off the beat. The beat itself is 68 out of 100; the rest of the number is everything around it.

How long is the drum part?

78 bars, about 4:10 at the written tempo. The course breaks it into 5 exercises over 3 sittings, about 19 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.

How many fills are in Roads?

1 fill to learn, played 1 time: bar 78.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 78 BARS ANALYSED
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