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The PDF file above contains the notation for a level 1 drum solo. This piece combines various ideas learned in level 1 lessons and focuses on basic grooves and fills. Below is a list of recomended lessons to help with this solo along with a brief breakdown of each section. The intention with this piece is to give you an idea of how individual ideas from this level can be combined to create a piece. Whilst this piece isn't particularly exciting or flashy, it is a good starting point to create more complex solos as your playing develops.


Recomended Reading


Piece Breakdown

Intro

The intro is a simple four bar pattern where you will be playing a single stroke roll for the first three bars, starting moderately soft and getting louder for each bar. In the bar you hit an accented snare with a kick on beat 1 then counting the remaining quarter notes with the left foot. When increading the dynamic level remember that lifting the stick height can really help.

A (bars 5 - 20)

This section is built of four 'A B A C'. The first three bars of each line are the same with the fourth containing a simple 16th note fill. All of these fills and grooves have been covered in the lessons linked above. Just remember that it is highly important to maintain the tempo when transitioning from groove to fill. If you find you are pausing to get into or out of a fill then spend some time working on that short section.

B (bars 21 - 36)

You will continue with the 'A B A C' structure used in the A section but with a new groove using quarter notes on the ride cymbal. Crash accents are added throughout the whole section.

C (bars 37 - 52)

This section doesn't follow any of the ideas for building up a part covered so far. Here the basis of the section is the one bar pattern shown in bar 37 with the short 16th note fill at the end. Every other bar is a variation on this. For the first two lines this involves always playing a fill on the snare, but with varying lengths. For the second two lines the right hand moves over to the ride and rhythmically the fills are the same, but re orchestrated to include toms.

Intro (bars 53 - 56)

This is almost an identical copy of the first time the intro is played only a fill moving round the toms in odd groupings is played instead of the stop.

D (bars 57 - 72)

For the first line the snares have been removed. Quarter notes are played on the bass drum, eighths on the ride with the right hand then toms are added on the '+' counts at the end of the bar. The snares are bought back in on beat 2 in the second line then a standard back beat for the second to lines. A four on the floor feel is created as the quarter note kicks continue through the whole section.

B (bars 73 - 88)

Again, similar to the first B section but this time many of the crash accent based fills have been replaced for floor tom and snare or flam based fills.

Outro (bars 89 - 93)

The outro is based around crashes being struck on the first beat of each bar. Fills are then placed around this. The piece ends with a crash and bass drum.

Lessons

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