Denis – Blondie drums: play-along

Denis drums: tempo, difficulty and parts

Denis by Blondie is 140 BPM and runs 2:11: 76 bars and 838 notes played on the kick, snare, hi-hat, tom 2, crash and floor tom.

The drum part is rated Medium — comfortable once the groove is steady, and the fills are where it asks more.

The first fill worth practising comes at 0:00, the hi-hat opens as well as closes.

Denis drum beats and fills

The beats and fills worth practising in Denis, found in DRUMY’s drum chart: the ones to learn first, not every one in the song. Each beat is listed where it first comes in, with how many bars of its section play it; a fill marked ×2 or more comes round again later, the same or nearly the same.

Beats

Main beat1:09bar 419 bars

Fills

Intro fill0:00bar 1×7
Fill at bar 120:19bar 12
Fill at bar 290:48bar 29
Fill at bar 320:53bar 32
Fill at bar 330:55bar 33
Fill at bar 371:03bar 37
Fill at bar 441:15bar 44×2
Fill at bar 531:30bar 53
Fill at bar 571:37bar 57×4
Fill at bar 712:01bar 71
Fill at bar 732:04bar 73

Learn them in the Trainer

The Trainer teaches Denis a part at a time, then the joins between the parts, every step starting at 70% of full speed.

How to play Denis on drums

Plug in your electronic drum kit over USB — or play on the keyboard.
Press play. The notes of Denis come down in time with the recording. Play it in Beatfall or read it as drum notation.
Slow it down. Take the Fill at bar 73 at 0.5× or 0.75× with a click and a count-in, then bring it up to 140 BPM.
Check every hit — on time, early or late — before you record your Denis drum cover.

Play Denis on your kit

Denis on drums: questions

How hard is Denis on drums?

Denis by Blondie is rated medium in the song library: 838 notes over 76 bars at 140 BPM. Start it at 0.5× or 0.75×, or on the Easy level with the hardest notes taken out.

What BPM is Denis?

Denis plays at about 140 BPM and runs 2:11.

Where are the drum fills in Denis?

The fills worth practising in Denis come at 0:00 (Intro fill, played 7 times), 0:19 (Fill at bar 12), 0:48 (Fill at bar 29), 0:53 (Fill at bar 32), 0:55 (Fill at bar 33) and 1:03 (Fill at bar 37), with more after that. These are the ones DRUMY's drum chart picks out to learn first, not every fill in the song.

Can I play Denis on drums without the drums in the song?

Play it along with the full recording, or turn the backing off and play to the click.

Can I learn Denis step by step?

Yes. DRUMY's Trainer turns Denis into a course: its beats, fills and joins one at a time. Each step starts at 70% of full speed, moves up after two times round at 90% or better, and slows to as low as 50% if it needs to. Learning the hands and the kick separately is an option.