Take The Time · Dream Theater

256 bars of 4/4 at 120 BPM, about 10:28 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot.

ProgressiveRock120 to 149 BPMAdvanced
TEMPO
120 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
256
LENGTH
10:28
DIFFICULTY
60/100
THE BEAT

One bar, and 11% of the song

The beat the song is built on is one bar, played through bars 26-28, 30-32 and 59-61, and 3 more places -- 10.7% of every bar the kit plays. This one moves around more than most: the beat is where to start, not the whole job.

LOOP · 120 BPM
TAKE THE TIME · BAR 27
THE BEAT, WRITTEN OUT →
THE FILLS

Where it comes off the beat

26 fills to learn, played 81 times: bars 9, 10, 11, 25, 29, 33 and 75 more.

LOOP · 120 BPM
BAR 25 · LANDS ON BAR 26
LOOP · 120 BPM
BAR 29 · LANDS ON BAR 30 · PLAYED 2 TIMES
LOOP · 120 BPM
BARS 33-37 · LANDS ON BAR 38 · PLAYED 5 TIMES

23 more fills are written out on the fills page.

EVERY FILL, WRITTEN OUT →
THE SHAPE

How the song is built

256 bars across 22 sections: 88 keep time, 82 are fills, 2 are stops and 59 are silent. The longest unbroken stretch of time is bars 130-139.

PART AP
PART CG
OUTRO 2
19 groovesS22JAPCGAI+14Fill into the next barFill that ends a sectionInto the next partStop / hitRest

Questions

What BPM is Take The Time?

120 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 Take The Time hard to play on drums?

60 out of 100, a step up from a first song, and the work is in the independence between the hands and the feet. The beat itself is 32 out of 100; the rest of the number is everything around it.

How long is the drum part?

256 bars, about 10:28 at the written tempo. The course breaks it into 99 exercises over 30 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 Take The Time?

26 fills to learn, played 81 times: bars 9, 10, 11, 25, 29, 33 and 75 more.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 256 BARS ANALYSED
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