Under Pressure · David Bowie

112 bars of 4/4 at 114 BPM, about 3:56 of playing, on crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick.

RockPop90 to 119 BPM
TEMPO
114 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
112
LENGTH
3:56
DIFFICULTY
36/100
THE BEAT

One bar, and 22% of the song

The beat the song is built on is one bar, played through bars 16-24, 26 and 41-42, and 3 more places -- 22.4% of every bar the kit plays. This one moves around more than most: the beat is where to start, not the whole job.

LOOP · 114 BPM
UNDER PRESSURE · BAR 16
THE BEAT, WRITTEN OUT →
THE FILLS

Where it comes off the beat

5 fills to learn, played 15 times: bars 27, 33, 51, 57, 67, 69 and 9 more.

LOOP · 114 BPM
BAR 27 · LANDS ON BAR 28 · PLAYED 2 TIMES
LOOP · 114 BPM
BAR 33 · LANDS ON BAR 34 · PLAYED 3 TIMES
LOOP · 114 BPM
BAR 67 · LANDS ON BAR 68
LOOP · 114 BPM
BARS 69-76 · LANDS ON BAR 77 · PLAYED 8 TIMES

1 more fill is written out on the fills page.

EVERY FILL, WRITTEN OUT →
THE SHAPE

How the song is built

112 bars across 11 sections: 68 keep time, 15 are fills, 14 are stops and 5 are silent. The longest unbroken stretch of time is bars 1-15.

PART B
PART C
PART E
PART B
PART C
PART E
CHORUS
PART C
PART E
OUTRO
6 groovesAECBW+1Fill into the next barFill that ends a sectionInto the next partStop / hitRest

Questions

What BPM is Under Pressure?

114 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 Under Pressure hard to play on drums?

36 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- with how often it moves around the kit the part that decides it. The beat itself is 32 out of 100; the rest of the number is everything around it.

How long is the drum part?

112 bars, about 3:56 at the written tempo. The course breaks it into 26 exercises over 6 sittings, about 28 minutes each.

What do I need on the kit?

crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor 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 Under Pressure?

5 fills to learn, played 15 times: bars 27, 33, 51, 57, 67, 69 and 9 more.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 112 BARS ANALYSED
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