How To Play Sunday Bloody Sunday on Drums

Sunday Bloody Sunday features a sixteenth note military style groove played between the snare and hi-hats. The hi-hats are played dirty with the shaft of the stick and the bass drum plays four on the floor throughout. The beat should be played with some aggression and a hard edge to capture the political nature of the song.

Verse
During the verse the snare drum hits are quite sparse appearing on the and of four on bar one then the and, a of four on bar two. This two bar pattern repeats three times. The last two bars of the chorus are played on the hi-hat and crescendo with slushy hats leading into the next section.

Chorus
The chorus of the song is much the same as the verse but with more frequent snare hits. Try to bring up the energy and volume when you play the chorus to give it a boost.

Notes
This track doesn’t have an obvious structure or repeating pattern to it so working with the sheet music will keep you at the right place. There aren’t any big fills or section changes either so focus on getting the many variations of the groove technically sound and bringing the right attitude to the song.

Now Kill It! DN

Download the full transcription here