This was really well explained. I have been trying to learn this song for about 3 weeks. My son-in-law whom I jam with loves to play this and I have been deficient in keeping the time/rhythm so I'm figuring that after your excellent video and some practice, I can somewhat bring-it. Thanks and great job
This is really flipping cool. I've loved listening to Zeppelin since I was little. A few years ago it suddenly clicked that I had been hearing it "wrong" the entire time....and now I hear the correct "groove." SO happy to see you explain the time signatures in this video (with the written music too, bless!!!) and getting to hear how each part fits together in the song. It makes so much more sense to me now and just makes me appreciate music even more.
There are a lot of transcriptions for the guitar and drum parts of Black Dog. They all differ from one another, sometimes wildly so, and most simply fail to provide a comprehensive road map for playing this damn song the way it's heard on Led Zep IV. I think you've succeeded where others have failed in nailing down the key elements in music notation and accounting for the oddities in beats and measures. Good job!
@@MattPriceDrumming -- You're very welcome, was glad to do it. I was just now watching it a second time and I have to correct you on how you describe the guitar part in the interlude section. That section starts off as a transposition a 4th down of the main riff with the 3 note lead-in. But they only play the first 7 notes and then repeat this fragment two more times. In so doing the second iteration gets shifted an eight note so that it is playing off the beat. But then the third iteration it aligns with the beat again and it amounts to the same # of measures as the main riff, and thereby works out with Bonham keeping 4/4 pattern going. The guitar part in live versions of Black Dog are quite sloppy and I can see how you might have gotten that impression, but it was conciously composed to sound off-kilter. This comes from John Paul Jones discussing the use of hemiola in that section of Black Dog. I can't find this article right now but will reference it if and when I do.
Matt, Your tutorial is very well explained. And Lord knows how this drum cover is a master piece, so difficult to decode and understand when you are not a professional. Thanks for detailed informations. I finish to view your video and definitly will go further and look at your MP Drumming site.
Very enlightening, thanks ! Never noticed the drum stick clicks before in the solo vocal parts, you are absolutely right. For the "interlude" part, I think this "dragging" feeling comes from the fact that the guitar/bass riff is slightly rushed off-beat, I read somewhere they advance 1/16th every bar... anyway it's this "sloppy" genius interaction of Bonham and Page/Jones that makes this song so great ! Cheers !
To me this is the best timing ever cuz page was definitely playing faster rhythm guitar than bonahm was on drums but it syncs perfectly like a down beat or breakdown sort of like how metal bands do drums slow down but guitar still goes fast but grooves
Hey man, great video - but I’d like to correct one thing. The “calypso” section isn’t being counted in properly. You have the “ONE” in the wrong place. Believe it or not (and I know it doesn’t really feel/sound this way), the ONE is a “rest.” So it’s actually a rest on the 1 (or just a high-hat hit), the snare hit on the 1e, the kick on the 1&, a snare hit on the 2, and a kick on the 2&. Following through the counting this way, those accent hits you mention ARE actually on the e’s and not the ah’s. Seriously, I know this for a fact. It’s easier to hear it played this way on live performances. On the record it’s damn near impossible to hear this section “correctly.” So those two big accent hits are on a 3e and a 4e, then a rest on the following 1, and the whole riff kicks back in with the snare hit on the 1e. Try it. It also syncs up perfectly with the ending hit. There isn’t a random measure of 7 at the end of that section. I know, it’s crazy. Anyway, I have to say that otherwise this video is really great and you do a nice job overall of explaining the rest of the song. Cheers.
Yeah this definitely makes a lot of sense. All those weird little timings are so interesting and I always wonder how much thought they put into it vs. just feeling it out and jamming.
@@MattPriceDrumming Haha, yeah I know what you mean. Did they do it this way on purpose or was it all just happenstance? Maybe Bonzo himself was hearing it “wrong.” 😆
I've been listening to this song since I was a child. The problem with that is I had a lot of time to incorrectly establish the "feel" of the guitar riff without understanding where it was falling on the beat. Thanks!
The second measure starting at beat three is two triplets in a row: snare-kick-kick / kick-kick-snare . It is classic bonham. (See video at 2:20) Listen to the song.
Thanks for the input. I suppose you can hear the 32nd notes as evenly spaced 32 triplets instead but thats kind of a subtle difference. I wouldn't call it two triplets in a row though because that would sound like 6 evenly spaced notes.
I like counting it it in a weird way... (drum stick tic) and three and four and ONE TWO...(three). FOUR...(one) TWO (three) FOUR ...(one) TWO (three) AND four ONE......... It will work all the way through, even the second riff on E....try it. (Even though the Cymbal Crash at the end of the E riff will now count on Beat Four....but counting it as I mentioned will all work out to the one.)
Matt Price ok....count all of the pick ups to the kick drum...there are five...(Dbl time counting...) and three and four and... Now the kick is ONE Snare is TWO Kick is FOUR Snare TWO And so on... alternating that way. The full lick to the riff: And Three and Four and ONE (Kick)TWO (Snare) three and FOUR (Kick) an a One and TWO (Snare) Three FOUR (Kick) and one and TWO (Snare) an three AND (Kick) four (Snare) ONE Sing the riff Smack your leg on each CAPITALIZED Number. The First Capitalized number is kick, Then snare Then kick in alternation. Then to it all the way through the riff and onto the second riff in E that turns around. You’ll still come out on ONE at the end. (Even though those two cymbal crashes will now be on FOUR instead of ONE when you count it this way.) It’s like when drummers move the kick and snare ahead by an 1/8 note when they “turn beats” upside down... Like Gordy Knutson does back and forth on Ben Sidran’s album...Ricky Peterson arrangement of Freedom Jazz Dance.
Matt Price Sure Matt! Anytime I can count a strong ONE and wind up on a One at the end of it all, it feels good. Here’s that groove that goes upside to normal to upside down...while the Bass and Melody stays right side up... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LOuRj51yKoo.html
