Learn to playZiggy Stardustas made famous by David Bowieon drums
Build the groove, lock in with the iconic riff, then master the rolling triplet fills that drive the swagger and snap the song back into place.
With our step-by-step drum lesson you can recreate the beat behind Ziggy Stardust. We’ve broken down the main sections of the song and will take you through each part beat by beat, with video demonstrations.
Ziggy Stardust
Drums Tutorial - Step by Step
Intro
After the first guitar riff, enter with the crash. Alternate between a bar of groove, and a bar of fill for 3 repeats.
Verse
Move to an offbeat kick pattern for the verse. Play crashes with the guitar chords in bar 3, which repeats in the second half. Play a snare fill into the chorus.
Chorus
Play double snares through the chorus. Use alternating hands to play the fast snare fills, and finish with a triplet fill into the outro.
Outro
Return to the intro riff, with fill variations, and finish with 2 final crashes.
Combine and play
Now combine the sections to play the full arrangement.
Learn to play
Ziggy Stardust
with Melodics
Behind the track
Ziggy Stardust
by David Bowie
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars was a concept record about a doomed alien who lands on a dying Earth, gets worshipped, then gets chewed up by his own fame. Bowie toured it as Ziggy in a bright red mullet and open-chested outfits cut by Japanese designer Kansai Yamamoto, and the whole glam wave of the seventies followed in his wake. Woodmansey had been pulled down from Hull with the rest of the Spiders, and he held the whole thing down. Looking back in 1994, Bowie said Woodmansey took direction and delivered exactly what he wanted more than almost any drummer he'd ever worked with - high praise from someone who ran through a fair few players.
Tips for learning Ziggy Stardust on drums
Tip 1: Slow it down
Break it down: Tackle each section of Ziggy Stardust 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
- Ziggy Stardust is an intermediate level song. Fortunately, there are beginner versions of the song available on Melodics to check out!
- You will need command of 1/16 note grooves and triplet fills.
- 78 bpm
- 4/4
- G 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.