Under Pressure · Queen, David Bowie

118 bars of 4/4 at 114 BPM, about 4:08 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick.

RockPop90 to 119 BPMIntermediate
TEMPO
114 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
118
LENGTH
4:08
DIFFICULTY
40/100
THE BEAT

One bar, and 16% of the song

The beat the song is built on is one bar, played through bars 16-24, 26 and 40-42, and 2 more places -- 16.2% 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

3 fills to learn, played 11 times: bars 33, 57, 68, 69, 70, 71 and 5 more.

LOOP · 114 BPM
BAR 33 · LANDS ON BAR 34 · PLAYED 2 TIMES
LOOP · 114 BPM
BARS 68-75 · LANDS ON BAR 76 · PLAYED 8 TIMES
LOOP · 114 BPM
BAR 85 · LANDS ON BAR 86
EVERY FILL, WRITTEN OUT →
THE SHAPE

How the song is built

118 bars across 14 sections: 82 keep time, 11 are fills, 13 are stops and 1 is silent. The longest unbroken stretch of time is bars 17-26.

PART C
CHORUS
PART F
CHORUS 2
PART F
PART J
PART S
PART U
PART V
PART W
OUTRO
11 groovesDJCFA+6Fill 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?

40 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- with how often it moves around the kit the part that decides it. The beat itself is 28 out of 100; the rest of the number is everything around it.

How long is the drum part?

118 bars, about 4:08 at the written tempo. The course breaks it into 37 exercises over 10 sittings, about 25 minutes each.

What do I need on the kit?

crash, ride, 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?

3 fills to learn, played 11 times: bars 33, 57, 68, 69, 70, 71 and 5 more.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 118 BARS ANALYSED
AT THIS LEVEL

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