Note-for-note transcription of Dominic Howard’s drum part on Hysteria from Muse’s Absolution (2003).
Around 130 BPM, 4/4. The groove is built to lock in tight with that famous sliding bass riff, a driving eighth-note pulse on the kick and hi-hat that barely lets up, punctuated by sharp, well-placed snare accents.
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The Hysteria drum transcription is really a lesson in staying out of the way of a riff while still driving the whole song forward. Everyone remembers the bass line here, and rightly so, but Dominic Howard’s part is doing just as much work.
It’s a relentless, almost mechanical eighth-note pulse that locks so tightly with the bass it’s easy to forget the drums are even there until you try to play it yourself.
That’s the trap with this one. The groove looks simple on paper, kick and hi-hat grinding away in steady eighths, but the endurance and precision it demands are anything but beginner-friendly.
Any wobble in the tempo and the whole interplay between bass and drums falls apart. The snare comes in sparingly, landing on the backbeat with real snap, which is what gives the track its aggressive, coiled-spring feel rather than turning it into a straight four-on-the-floor slog.
The pre-chorus and chorus sections open things up slightly with fuller cymbal work and a heavier backbeat, but the core discipline never really lets go.
It’s a great track for working on stamina and consistency, since the payoff for staying locked in is so audible. If you’re still figuring out how those steady eighth-note kick patterns translate to the page, our drum notation guide will help you read through it cleanly.
Once Hysteria feels comfortable, our Uprising drum transcription is a natural next step, same band, same knack for turning a repetitive groove into something huge, but with a different rhythmic backbone underneath. If the stamina side of this one is giving you trouble, our guide on how to build drumming stamina is worth going through before you attempt playing it start to finish.
A groove this repetitive also lives or dies on your kick drum’s consistency and attack, so if your bass drum tends to lose definition at speed. This chart lives in our free drum transcriptions library alongside 160+ others.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Tempo: ~130 BPM
Time Signature: 4/4
Key Technique: Steady eighth-note kick/hi-hat drive, tight backbeat snare, tempo consistency
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Rock and Roll Drum Transcription Led Zeppelin Note-for-note transcription of John Bonham’s drum part on Rock and Roll from Led Zeppelin’s Led Zeppelin IV album (1971). Around 170 BPM, 4/4. The intro is one of the most recognizable drum parts in rock history. The main groove is a high-energy shuffle that drives one of the
Sultans of Swing Drum Transcription Dire Straits Note-for-note transcription of Pick Withers’ drum part on Sultans of Swing from Dire Straits’ debut album Dire Straits (1978). Around 148 BPM, 4/4. A rolling, pub-rock groove that breathes and swings underneath one of the most recognizable guitar parts in classic rock. The hi-hat drives the energy forward
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“9 Powerful Tips To Get Faster On The Drums (And The Mistakes To Avoid!)”
