Studio Drummer – Intro to Rock and Roll by Led Zeppelin
We all have names for this musical device, I call it “Time Flips” just as a general term that I use at e-studio-drummer.com.
In other words the initial down beat is not where you think it is! Having been one of the first online studio drummers, I’m happy to share my knowledge of the drumming trade with others. So let’s look at “Time Flips”…
One of the greatest examples of this is the great drum intro to Rock And Roll by John Bonham of Led Zeppelin.
The band, on first listen to the song Rock And Roll, gives the indication that the song is starting on beat 1 of bar 1. It has the feel and attitude of starting on beat one, when in fact, Bonham’s drum intro actually starts on the ‘3 And’ of the previous bar. I’ve included a click track count-in and example of this.
Most people as initially did I when I bought the album in the 70’s, heard this intro as Bar 1/Beat one. But check this out.
This is the wrong, it is NOT bar one beat one!
Notice how the intro extends beyond the downbeat of the 4 bar phrase here. That is because we are not hearing it in the proper time context and no, it’s not an 11/8 bar! There’s a very simple way to hear this..
NOW!
This is the correct drum intro to the song starting on the ‘3 And’ of the previous bar. The drums start as a ‘3 And’ pick up to the down beat of the 4 bar drum phrase. You will hear how it aligns with the click track to then be a perfect 4 bar intro and the band falls in on bar 5 beat 1.
Something interesting of note for all of us humans! See if you agree with this..
The mind hears this intro differently just by shifting the ‘time’ forward by a dotted quarter note as we’ve done here and yet the drum part is exactly the same. It’s exactly the same! I simply moved it in relation to the click count in
But here’s the dilemma!
If you’re setting up this song as the drummer and the band members are not focused and exactly on the same page and don’t understand this intro? MASSIVE Train wreck! Every band member has to be aware.
This is especially ingrained and true if you’ve been listening to, and playing this song incorrectly for years.
More studio-drummer info of this nature to follow!!
