Smells Like Teen Spirit drum notation
Nirvana
The pattern looks like nothing on paper — open hats, big snare, kick on the obvious spots. Playing it with the right weight and without speeding up between hits is what separates a solid take from a messy one. Don’t overplay the fills; the song doesn’t ask for them.
Four bars that are harder than they look
A reminder that “easy” charts still fail when the pocket moves — useful if you can already play the notes but can't sit in the same tempo for eight bars. Watch the open-hat length and how much wash sits under the guitars, keep the snare height aggressive but still on a grid, and check whether the kick pattern stays identical once the band gets louder — it should.
The control check
- Play the intro against a metronome and watch for drift between hits 2 and 4
- Drop the volume 30% and keep the same intensity feel — that’s the control check
- Skip extra fills until the stock pattern is boringly steady
Smells Like Teen Spirit 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.
- RosannaTotoPorcaro’s half-time shuffle — the “Rosanna shuffle.” Ghost notes, ride pattern, and a pocket you can study for years.
Charting something simpler than it sounds?
Not every groove needs to be complicated to be hard to nail. Send us a recording and we'll write exactly what's being played, pocket and all.