How to play This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race on Drums
Drum Songs
Introduction:
Ninjas! In this lesson we’ll be learning how to play This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race by Fall Out Boy which was the lead single from the bands fourth studio album, Infinity On High. The song was released in January 2007 and peaked at #2 on the US Billboard 200, #1 In New Zealand and #2 in the UK. It is currently Fall Out Boy’s highest charting song, and also earned the band their first #1 US Billboard Hot Digital Song.
This Ain’t A Scene is a high energy track that switches between a pounding verse groove and a double-time chorus. Andy Hurley is on the skins and serves up a tasty fusion of musicality and raw emotion.
Verse
The song goes straight into the first verse in which the bass drum plays four on the floor and eighth-notes are played on the hi-hats. It is a two bar phrase and at the end of the second bar the bass drum plays the ‘a’ of 3, ‘4’, ‘and’.
Chorus
The chorus is double time with heavy eighth-notes played on the crash cymbal. There is a thirty-second note fill at the end of bar four which is quite nippy so make sure you have your singles together.
Shifting between the two feels is the biggest challenge with this track so spend some time working on the transitions. You might also want to spend some extra time with the broken sixteenth-note fills at the end of verse two and the end of the bridge.
Now Kill It! DN