50 ways to leave your lover


So, decades ago a bunch of drummer friends and me — well before the interweb — struggled to figure out this classic drum riff and none of us got close.  Years later I saw a local band play it and I knew right away the drummer had no idea what he was doing and was just mailing it in and it pissed me off because it’s such an integral part of the song.  Right after the “performance” I went home determined to learn how to do it right.  After consulting the Google machine I learned how to do it — it’s not all that hard but it ain’t easy, and the amazing thing is that Gadd even came up with this and how it ultimately ended up defining the song.  The drummers out there will especially appreciate this I think, and I challenge you to learn it because it’s pretty rewarding to be able to play.

https://youtu.be/Ou70vvjE8k4?si=2yfPiHB4Oems22-C

soix

Showing 3 responses by clydeactor

The drum part is based on an Army funeral drum pattern, only played at a faster tempo.  You can hear that drum pattern played at John F. Kennedy's funeral procession (and in the movie JFK).  Happy Holidays!

This was not uneducated quarterbacking, Steve Gadd mentioned this in an interview years ago, also discussing his time in the U.S. Army Band.