50 Ways to Leave Your Lover drum notation
Paul Simon
The famous intro is a sticking puzzle more than a hard groove: paradiddle-ish figures between snare and hi-hat, kick underneath, all at a tempo that leaves no place to hide uneven hands. Learn it slow with a metronome before you chase the record.
A coordination puzzle wearing a pop intro’s clothes
A classic coordination etude disguised as a pop intro. Having the sticking written saves hours of “almost right” looping by ear.
Snare or hi-hat — get this right first
- Which notes are snare vs. hats in the opening figure
- Kick alignment under the sticking — it’s easy to drag
- How the groove settles once the vocal enters
Slow is the only way in
- Write the sticking above the staff if you need to — Gadd’s pattern is muscle memory once it’s correct
- Hands alone, then add kick, then match the record tempo
- If accents wander, drop 20 BPM until every note is intentional
50 Ways to Leave Your Lover drum notation PDF
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This is a sample chart for demonstration and practice reference. For a transcription of your own recording, upload a track or contact us.
More sample drum charts
Other well-known grooves on the site — or see the full list.
- In the Air TonightPhil CollinsThat gated-reverb fill in the last third — the one everyone waits for. The rest of the song is mostly atmosphere until it isn’t.
- Tom SawyerRushPeart in 7 — tight accents, a fill that shows up in every drum cover, and zero room to coast.
- Smells Like Teen SpiritNirvanaGrohl’s four-bar intro: loud, simple, and easy to rush. The pocket is the whole joke.
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