Learn to playGod Save The Queenas made famous by Sex Pistolson drums
Start with a straight punk groove, then push the tempo and tighten your fills with the guitar. By the end, you're playing Cook's part: relentless and furious.
With our step-by-step drum lesson you can recreate the beat behind God Save The Queen. We’ve broken down the main sections of the song and will take you through each part beat by beat, with video demonstrations.
God Save The Queen
Drums Tutorial - Step by Step
Intro
Hit the crash and snare with the riff, before heading into the groove on the open hi-hat. Use alternating hands to play the 1/16 note snares.
Verse
Move into a 2 bar repeating groove on the closed hi-hat. Hit the crash in bars 7 and 8, and repeat the pattern again.
Chorus
Play 1/8 notes on the hi-hat for the chorus. Finish with a long snare fill using alternating hands.
Verse 2
Move to 1/4 notes on the ride for verse 2. Play 1/8 note kicks in bar 8, with triplet fills across the toms, and return to the hi-hat.
Chorus 2
Return to the 1/8 note groove for chorus 2, and return to a verse pattern on the ride, before heading into the guitar solo. Watch for the groove variations throughout.
Outro
Hit the crash twice at the beginning of each 2 bar phrase with the guitars, and finish out on the groove.
Combine and play
Now combine the sections to play the full arrangement.
Learn to play
God Save The Queen
with Melodics
Behind the track
God Save The Queen
by Sex Pistols
"God Save the Queen" came out on 27 May 1977, timed to land in the middle of Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee celebrations - and the BBC banned it immediately. The band pressed and distributed copies themselves, and the single still reached number two on the UK charts, though many believe it outsold the number one and was kept off the top spot by chart manipulation. The cultural fallout was real and physical: Paul Cook, the drummer whose part you're learning here, was attacked by six men armed with knives and an iron bar outside Shepherd's Bush tube station. Rotten and the song's producers were cornered and assaulted outside a Highbury pub around the same time. For a stretch in 1977, having your name on this record was a genuinely dangerous thing.
Tips for learning God Save The Queen on drums
Tip 1: Slow it down
Break it down: Tackle each section of God Save The Queen individually for precision mastery. With Melodics, you can slow the pace of the song and work up to full speed.
Tip 2: Review your performance
Identify growth areas: Listen to playback of your performance to learn where you need to develop your timing, technique & rhythm. Melodics provides instant feedback on your performance.
Tip 3: Practice makes perfect
Stay consistent: With regular, focused practice you'll see rapid progress when learning the song. Even a short session each day will make a huge difference.
- Get access to 100s of interactive lessons and popular songs
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FAQs
- God Save The Queen is an advanced level song. Fortunately, there are beginner versions of the song available on Melodics to check out!
- You will need the ability to play fast grooves and single stroke rolls as fills.
- 150 bpm
- 4/4
- A major
- New songs are released every week on Melodics! And we love to take requests - the best place for this is within our Discord community where you can also connect with other music learners around the world. Check out https://melodics.com/info/community.