John Bonham

ugh.. after watching jason bonham rock out with zepp on youtube


i cant help but say that i am quite down by bonhams death


the man had so much potential..
 
He used Paiste 2002 series later on but started with Giant Beats by paiste. For his hi-hats he used 15" Paiste 2002 sound edge, !8" med crash, 20" medium crash, and a 24" Ride cymbal. On occasion he used a third crash over his floor toms which was also a 18" medium crash. And sometimes he had another crash I'm pretty sure a 16" med on the left side of his hi-hat. But his standard set up was the 18", 24", 20" that is what you see in the Song Remains the Same movie.

Hi chuck do u know anything about bonzo tuning, was it a standard tuning. Do you know ways to tune? I mean notes, like C D E etc?
 
Let's not forget that John didn't play the same thing twice, listen to BBC sessions, or live recording and studio recordings... he always surprises me again and again. What a drummer.

I wonder what was his practice habbits...no teacher, only tips.
 
Bonzo was/is one of the greatests!
Most of the drummers like his style and his creativeness...
He is one of my idols and I like to listen to Led Zeppelin but not only for Bonham but the band rocks...
And he had a nice setup!

Grtz
 
I was reading in Modern Drummer that during "Rock and Roll" Bonham is actually playing a shuffle with 8th notes on the snare. Anyone have a transcription or a better description?

Thanks.
 
Well, from my point of view, a shuffle is using both hands at the same time using a defined time signature. John had his right hand on the hi-hat and his left hand on the snare doing the same thing (on the beginning of the song). But it's not a shuffle (no time signature).

They should have said "the same technique as a shuffle"
 
Well, from my point of view, a shuffle is using both hands at the same time using a defined time signature. John had his right hand on the hi-hat and his left hand on the snare doing the same thing (on the beginning of the song). But it's not a shuffle (no time signature).

They should have said "the same technique as a shuffle"

I always thought that was called playing unisons....

Silly me :D
 
So during the verse he is NOT playing 8th notes on the hi hat with 2 & 4 on the snare... right? On the snare he is playing 8th notes and accenting the 2 & 4... correct?
 
Thanks.

Every drummer I have ever seen play this song only plays 2 & 4 on the snare. So I was just trying to clarify.
 
A true legend - the man that so many of us drummers respect and want to emulate. Thank god for being introduced to bonham; he intrigues and helps me build my own style. Gone way too early.
 
teehawRe: John Bonham
I was reading in Modern Drummer that during "Rock and Roll" Bonham is actually playing a shuffle with 8th notes on the snare. Anyone have a transcription or a better description?

Thanks.

just for kicks here is rock n roll the basic verse pattern.

rocknroll.jpg
 
In the Feb '08 Modern Drummer cover article with Bonzo's son Jason, the present drummer for Led Zepp, Jason says R&R is the most challenging song for him to play correctly.

"MD: Are there any songs you find particularly challenging to play?

Jason: I think they're all challenging in a certain way. That said, the most challenging Led Zeppelin song for me to play correctly is Rock And Roll.

MD: I think everyone realized how deceiving that song was when the Led Zeppelin DVD came out, and we got to see exactly what your dad was playing.

Jason: Oh, yeah, because you can see his hands. The snare is going all the way through the whole song.

MD: That shuffle is hard to play with a relaxed feel.

Jason: Youre telling me! [laughs] I almost want to play it open-handed because I can do it a lot better with my right than I can with my left. .... You have to lead with the snare. Jimmy [Page] also taught it to me. He said it was inspired by a little Richard tune, "Keep A Knockin." It's one of those things that I don't care how confident I'll be, if we do that song live, when it comes, it will be the one where I'm thinking, "Don't mess it up!" Someone once said to me, "Isn't the ending of "Rock And Roll" the most difficult bit?" I said, "No, no, no," because that bit changed every night for dad, so you can get away with just going around the kit doing the triplets or whatever. But most of the time, playing his stuff correctly is the most hardest thing to do- it's the the subtleties you miss."

Anyway, a good article for those of you who can't get enough Bonzo related info. Joey
 
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