Chris Frazier: Transcriptions of the Whitesnake Drummer!
Posted on May 30, 2008
Chris Frazier is the current drummer of Whitesnake, actually touring to promote their latest album “Good To Be Bad” which is a very good piece of solid Hard Rock.
I’m going to present you some snippets of the first 3 songs “Best Years”, “Can You Hear The Wind Blow” and “Call On Me” and i hope you enjoy it.
The page contains Soundfiles and Notes so expect some loading time!
And well, even if you don’t like Whitesnake or Hard Rock at all, i promise you will learn something anyway, so keep on reading…
Good To Be Bad - The Album
If you are a drummer who loves to play everything from Rock to Hard Rock, Whitesnake’s new album is a good choice.
You will find many different styles of songs, slow and fast, straight or bluesy, fat beats, breaks and all that.
And Chris Frazier is a tasteful and tight player - so what do you want more? Go and buy Good To Be Bad here.
Song 1: Best Years
The first song is a Heavy Blues Tune, powerful 12/8 beat.
The song starts with a fat Tom-Tom Intro but i will show you the main groove of the song…
Chris Frazier plays one and the same groove most of the song BUT he adds numerous little variations to the main rhythm - so listen carefully.
I’ve chosen the first 4 measures of the second verse (what comes after the first chorus) and hope it will give you an idea. It’s fun to play such a beat.
How to count the 12/8
The tempo of “Best Years” is (more or less) 208 Beats (1/8 notes) per minute. Count 1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2-3 to get the feel.
And here are the notes:
Listen to it:
Song 2: Can You Hear The Wind Blow
The second song is what i call a straight classical Hard Rock. Happy dancefloor tempo 128 BPM (1/4).
The song starts with a big guitar riff, David Coverdale starts singing and in the middle of the first verse the rest of the band joins (my transcription starts here).
There comes a short half-time bridge after the verse and leads into the chorus where Chris leaves the straight stuff behind and “copies” the rhythm of the guitars…
Okay, better listen to it *lol*
Here are some notes of the chorus including the little Bass Drum Jump and some typical Crash Cymbal accents Chris Frazier uses quiet often in this song.
The triangular sign means Crash. Always on a quarter note and together with a snare beat - it’s a very comfortable position to make a crash.
Song 3: Call On Me
A slow heavy rock (100 BPM) with a typical Whitesnakish Guitar Riff. Again, a very good arrangement - such songs always work!
Pay attention how Chris Frazier plays an open 1/4 Hi-Hat during the heavy riff and closes the Hi-Hat when DC is singing the verse. This gives room for the vocals…
Also very nice, the chorus with its 1/4 note snare and the bass drum somewhere “between”. Reminds me of “1987″: Still of the night, Here i go again, Don’t turn away…
The transcription starts at the beginning of the Drum Part (with a brutal fill-in) and ends after the first chorus.
And because it looks so nice, here the whole part. Try to read while listening to the file (and the song).
Additional Stuff
You are not listening to real live recorded drums, i “re-recorded” the Drum Parts with my Steinberg Cubase, using sounds of their Drum Agent 1.
The note sheets were also made with the help from Cubase.
Don’t miss to buy Whitesnake’s “Good To Be Bad” here and also visit the band’s official website www.whitesnake.com
Thanks for reading, i hope you like it and are begging for more ;)
» Filed Under Chops of Gods
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