Description
Notes From John
BPM = 181. Heavy Lars. Half time / double time flips. Crash overdubs humanized for one kit. Solo turns around in 6/4 at bar 232 while guitars stay 4/4. Three crashes marked.
For the player
Lars Ulrich on the 72 Seasons cut — metal sprint at tempo, no warm-up lap. Lock under the guitars; serve the riff, don’t thicken it. Half time and double time flip through the chart — stay in the feel, don’t iron every section the same. John heard crash overdubs over a steady hat and adapted them to a live kit — play the three crashes as written, different pitches, not four kits at once. Hi-hats loose are marked early in Intro A — flip the feel, don’t leave them tight. Open hats are marked — bark the opens where John wrote the circle. Intro A opens (“There’s no light”); Intro B at 0:44. Verse 1 at 1:15 (“Ooh, down and…”); Pre-Chorus at 1:38 with a 5/4 flip before Chorus at 1:51 (“Chase that light…”). Re-Intro at 2:17; Verse 2 at 2:38; Pre-Chorus at 3:01; Chorus at 3:14. Bridge Intro at 3:46; Bridge at 4:02 (“One step down…”). Solo Intro at 4:23; Solo at 4:29 — at bar 232 the drums take a 6/4 turnaround while the rhythm riff stays 4/4 until before 239; hold the drum feel, don’t chase the guitar count. Interlude at 5:18; Chorus at 5:37; Re-Intro at 6:03; Interlude at 6:14; Outro at 6:24. Busy kick, straight hat grooves, and fills between feels stay as written. Listen first; the motor at BPM = 181 is the job, not the count-in.
Drum Sheet Music for “Chasing Light” by Metallica
