Learn how to play this Classic Drum Beat Intro from the song Rock And Roll by Led Zeppelin, performed by the great drummer John Bonham. This drum groove occurs at the beginning of the song
“Rock And Roll” Famous Drum Intro Beat Notation
“Rock And Roll” Free Video Drum Lesson
View the video on YouTube HERE – Learn How To Play Drums Song Rock And Roll Intro Video Drum Lesson (Led Zeppelin & John Bonham)
Start Point: 0:00
Drummer: John Bonham
Artist: Led Zeppelin
It consists of five bars bars containing four counted beats each.
This is the famous drum intro that has so many drummers and air drummers alike scratching their heads in
wonder. It’s not the speed or the number of notes but the counting that makes this drum intro so special.
The fill starts on the ‘+’ of beat 3 and not on beat 1 as most casual listeners might expect. This is why it
seems to finish in a strange place because the listener presumed the first notes they heard fell on beat 1 of
the bar when they didn’t.
Both hands play on the hi-hat and snare drum together at the same time and simply accent (play louder) the
notes indicated.
Notice the two upbeat accents on the ‘+’ of beat 4 in bar 4 and the ‘+’ of beat 1 in bar 5.These two accents can be a little tricky to feel and so you have to rely on your counting to get these until the groove becomes natural to play.
