S.O.S. · ABBA

81 bars of 4/4 at 115 BPM, about 2:49 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom and kick.

Funk / SoulPop90 to 119 BPM
TEMPO
115 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
81
LENGTH
2:49
DIFFICULTY
36/100
THE BEAT

One bar, and 22% of the song

The beat the song is built on is a 2-bar phrase, played through bars 7-9, 11 and 13, and 4 more places -- 21.7% of every bar the kit plays. This one moves around more than most: the beat is where to start, not the whole job.

LOOP · 115 BPM
S.O.S. · BARS 38-39
THE BEAT, WRITTEN OUT →
THE FILLS

Where it comes off the beat

3 fills to learn, played 4 times: bars 36, 43, 58 and 65.

LOOP · 115 BPM
BAR 36 · LANDS ON BAR 37
LOOP · 115 BPM
BAR 43 · LANDS ON BAR 44 · PLAYED 2 TIMES
LOOP · 115 BPM
BAR 58 · LANDS ON BAR 59
EVERY FILL, WRITTEN OUT →
THE SHAPE

How the song is built

81 bars across 7 sections: 21 keep time, 4 are fills, 31 are stops and 21 are silent. The longest unbroken stretch of time is bars 5-11.

PART C
CHORUS
PART S4
CHORUS 2
OUTRO
OUTRO 2
5 groovesES4CS6S1Fill into the next barFill that ends a sectionInto the next partStop / hitRest

Questions

What BPM is S.O.S.?

115 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 S.O.S. hard to play on drums?

36 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- with how many limbs land on the same note the part that decides it. The beat itself is 39 out of 100; the rest of the number is everything around it.

How long is the drum part?

81 bars, about 2:49 at the written tempo. The course breaks it into 16 exercises over 4 sittings, about 28 minutes each.

What do I need on the kit?

crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid 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 S.O.S.?

3 fills to learn, played 4 times: bars 36, 43, 58 and 65.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 81 BARS ANALYSED
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