Saturday Night Special – Lynyrd Skynyrd drums: play-along

Saturday Night Special drums: tempo, difficulty and parts

Saturday Night Special by Lynyrd Skynyrd is 120 BPM and runs 5:06: 154 bars and 1,981 notes played on the snare, hi-hat, kick, crash and tom 2.

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 0:10, the hi-hat opens as well as closes.

Saturday Night Special drum beats and fills

The beats and fills worth practising in Saturday Night Special, 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 beat0:00bar 122 bars

Fills

Fill at bar 60:10bar 6
Fill at bar 70:12bar 7
Fill at bar 90:16bar 9
Fill at bar 782:32bar 78×2
Fill at bar 902:56bar 90

Learn them in the Trainer

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

How to play Saturday Night Special on drums

Plug in your electronic drum kit over USB — or play on the keyboard.
Press play. The notes of Saturday Night Special 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 90 at 0.5× or 0.75× with a click and a count-in, then bring it up to 120 BPM.
Check every hit — on time, early or late — before you record your Saturday Night Special drum cover.

Play Saturday Night Special on your kit

Saturday Night Special on drums: questions

How hard is Saturday Night Special on drums?

Saturday Night Special by Lynyrd Skynyrd is rated medium in the song library: 1,981 notes over 154 bars at 120 BPM. Start it at 0.5× or 0.75×, or on the Easy level with the hardest notes taken out.

What BPM is Saturday Night Special?

Saturday Night Special plays at about 120 BPM and runs 5:06.

Where are the drum fills in Saturday Night Special?

The fills worth practising in Saturday Night Special come at 0:10 (Fill at bar 6), 0:12 (Fill at bar 7), 0:16 (Fill at bar 9), 2:32 (Fill at bar 78, played twice) and 2:56 (Fill at bar 90). These are the ones DRUMY's drum chart picks out to learn first, not every fill in the song.

Can I play Saturday Night Special 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 Saturday Night Special step by step?

Yes. DRUMY's Trainer turns Saturday Night Special 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.