Did I just figure something out?

FrontierGibberish

Senior Member
Ok first a confession - until today I always said John Bonham was my favorite drummer because I was told basically that he was my favorite drummer - make sense? I mean I always loved Led Zeppelin in general and Bonzo specifically even before I picked up sticks. But when someone would ask me why he was my favorite I had no reason to say he was my favorite other than I liked the way he beat the drums - he sounded "cool". Today while transcribing "Your Time Is Gonna Come" I may have figured out to ME why he is my favorite drummer but I suspect it is only a small slice of why the man was great. While transcribing the song I noticed that the bass part never seemed to repeat. There were these subtle little 16th notes crammed in here and there - on the A of 2 - on the A of 3 just before a snare hit that also was followed by a 16th note on the e of 4. But these patterns did not repeat much if at all, and when they did there were always some sort of variation no matter how subtle that may be. Like he would play the measure and in his mind go "okay that was cool - NOW let's do this next measure almost exactly like that last one but lets pull this note out and put it..... here! Yeah - ok NEXT! And so on. I don't have any questions really - the title is a rhetorical ploy. I just think it is cool that I love John Bonham's composition style I guess is the best way to phrase it and am looking forward with great enthusiasm to trying to play this song as close to JHB as is humanly possible. After what I think I learned today I am not going to approach this as a note for note endeavor but try to find that feel. I imagine there are several thousand other drummers trying to find that same feel - happy to join you all.

M
 
His drumming idols were titans of jazz, so it makes sense that he would improvise his part in some respects.
 
Like he would play the measure and in his mind go "okay that was cool - NOW let's do this next measure almost exactly like that last one but lets pull this note out and put it..... here! Yeah - ok NEXT! And so on.

M

Hmmmm, I don't think he gave it any thought, not one. What I mean is it was all feel what he laid down.

Interesting all the same that you transcribed it all. My guess is that you, like me and many, like Bonham so much just because of what he did in that and many tunes. He felt what the tune called for ...and just played to his feel.

If you're curious of his other influences, somebody put this up once

http://www.drummagazine.com/features/post/john-bonhams-influe
 
Cool. I am still learning why I like my favorite drummers! Care to share what you transcribed?
 
Cool. I am still learning why I like my favorite drummers! Care to share what you transcribed?

Russ I will be very happy to share my transcription - right now all I have is the first 5 or 6 measures! I have to get the headphones on and REALLY listen for some of those kick drum notes. It is an awesome project though and I will be proud to share my secret code when done :)

M
 
Back
Top