Thriller · Michael Jackson

162 bars of 4/4 at 120 BPM, about 5:23 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot.

Funk / SoulPop120 to 149 BPMBeginner
TEMPO
120 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
162
LENGTH
5:23
DIFFICULTY
73/100
THE BEAT

One bar, and 92% of the song

The beat the song is built on is one bar, played through bars 14-162 -- 92% of every bar the kit plays. Learn that one and the song is very nearly finished.

LOOP · 120 BPM
THRILLER · BAR 15
THE BEAT, WRITTEN OUT →
THE FILLS

Where it comes off the beat

1 fill to learn, played 1 time: bar 13.

LOOP · 120 BPM
BAR 13 · LANDS ON BAR 14
EVERY FILL, WRITTEN OUT →
THE SHAPE

How the song is built

162 bars across 2 sections: 159 keep time, 1 is a fill and 1 is a stop. The longest unbroken stretch of time is bars 15-162.

OUTRO
OUTRO 2
2 groovesGDFill into the next barFill that ends a sectionInto the next partStop / hitRest

Questions

What BPM is Thriller?

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 Thriller hard to play on drums?

73 out of 100: demanding, mostly on the independence between the hands and the feet. The beat itself is 58 out of 100; the rest of the number is everything around it.

How long is the drum part?

162 bars, about 5:23 at the written tempo. The course breaks it into 8 exercises over 3 sittings, about 24 minutes each.

What do I need on the kit?

crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, 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 Thriller?

1 fill to learn, played 1 time: bar 13.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 162 BARS ANALYSED
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