By The Way Drum Transcription

The By The Way drum transcription is a lesson in contrast. In one three-and-a-half-minute song, Chad Smith plays two very different drum parts: a soft, light groove at the start, and a fast, driving punk-funk part that hits the moment the band takes off.

By the Way is the title track and first single from Red Hot Chili Peppers’ 2002 album, produced by Rick Rubin. All four band members are credited as writers, Smith included, and the song reached number one on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock and Modern Rock charts.

John Frusciante described the single as a mix of the band’s wild side and its melodic side, and the drum part is exactly that. You can find the album’s history on the band’s official site, redhotchilipeppers.com.

The chart is marked at 116 BPM in 4/4. After eight bars of rest, the first groove comes in: 8th notes on the hi-hat, a cross-stick on beats 2 and 4, and the kick on beats 1 and 3 plus the “and” after each.

It’s quiet and open, and its job is to sit under Anthony Kiedis’s vocal without filling the space. Keep every cross-stick at the same volume. At this dynamic level, any uneven stroke stands out.

Then the song explodes. In the fast sections (marked Bridge and Verse on the chart), your left foot keeps 8th notes on the hi-hat pedal while your hands play 16th-note phrases on the snare and floor tom together, with the kick filling the gaps.

This is the part that makes the song. Played right, the snare and floor tom sound like one big, thick note rather than two separate drums. Practice the hands on their own first, slowly, until both sticks land at exactly the same moment. Any flam between the snare and floor tom blurs the whole pattern.

The hi-hat foot is the hidden challenge. Holding it steady in a slow groove is easy; holding it steady while your hands are busy at 116 BPM is something else. Count out loud, or play the part with a metronome on 8th notes until your foot keeps going on its own.

Our drum lessons section has independence exercises that build exactly this kind of control between your hands and feet.

The chorus switches to a straighter rock beat: 8th notes on the hi-hat, a crash on the one, the snare on 2 and 4, and a syncopated kick pattern that locks in with Flea’s bass line.

The ends of the phrases are where Smith’s personality shows: a quick 16th-note triplet into the next phrase, a grace note on the snare, and kicks that push into the next bar. Learn them exactly as written. They’re small, but they’re what makes the part sound like Chad Smith rather than a generic rock beat.

The break is a set of unison hits with the band, with the hi-hat foot keeping time in the gaps. Near the end, the drums drop out completely for the outro.

Count every rest. Coming in early or late after the bars marked rest is the most common mistake on this chart.

Because the floor tom carries so much of the fast sections, it has to speak clearly. Tune it low but not flabby, so it blends with the snare instead of booming over it.

Our guide to drum heads explains how head choice shapes that kind of tone.

For more Chad Smith, the Can’t Stop drum transcription comes from the same album and mixes tight funk with rock energy. The Californication drum transcription shows his more restrained side.

This chart lives in our free drum transcriptions library alongside 160+ others.

Difficulty: Intermediate to Advanced
Tempo: ~116 BPM
Time Signature: 4/4
Key Technique: Steady 8th-note hi-hat foot under 16th-note snare and floor tom unison patterns, soft and even cross-stick groove, syncopated chorus kick pattern, 16th-note triplet fills and snare grace notes, counting long rests.