Night Terror drums: tempo, difficulty and parts
Night Terror by Dream Theater is 100 BPM and runs 9:57: 277 bars and 4,433 notes played on the kick, crash, snare, hi-hat, tom 2, ride, tom 1 and floor tom.
The drum part is rated Extreme — one of the hardest parts here, best learned a section at a time.
It has 10 fills, its longest section is the Intro (1:34) and the hi-hat opens as well as closes.
Song map
- Intro
- Main Riff
- Verse 1
- Verse 2
- Bridge 1
- Chorus 1
- Displaced Riff
- Verse 2
- Bridge 2
- Chorus 2
- Instrumental - 5:23
- Guitar/Keyboard Unison 6:19
- Solo 1
- 7/8ths Intro Theme
- Solo 2
- Solo 3
- Chorus 3
- Main Riff Reprise
How to play Night Terror on drums
- Plug in your electronic drum kit over USB — or play on the keyboard.
- Press play. The notes of Night Terror 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 52 at 0.5× or 0.75× with a click and a count-in, then bring it up to 100 BPM.
- Check every hit — on time, early or late — before you record your Night Terror drum cover.
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Guides
- How to connect an electronic drum kit to your computer
- How to play along to songs on electronic drums
- Why your electronic drums feel late — and how to fix it


