Moby Dick drum notation
Led Zeppelin
The head groove is deceptively straight; the feel is in how hard Bonham hits and where he leaves air. The solo section isn’t something a chart can fully capture — use the notation for the bookend riff and the basic solo roadmap, then listen hard for the rest.
A groove that bookends a solo
Good for studying weight and space in a rock groove, and for having the head written so you're not guessing the riff every time you come out of a solo practice session.
What the chart covers — and what you still have to listen for
This one's honest about its limits: the notation carries the head groove and the basic solo roadmap, but the free-form solo itself has to come from your ears, not the page. Pay attention to kick placement and how much of the groove is implied between hits, the cymbal choices around the head versus the solo entrance, and — maybe most of all — where Bonham leaves silence, since the gaps are as much a part of the feel as anything he plays.
- Learn the head cold before touching solo vocabulary
- Practice coming out of free soloing back into the written riff without speeding up
- Play the groove quieter than the record once — if it still feels heavy, the placement is right
Moby Dick 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.
Got a track with a solo section?
We'll chart the parts that are actually written — riffs, head grooves, form — and leave the free sections marked so you know where to just listen.