Black Hole Sun Drum Breakdown

Here we dissect Soundgarden’s Black Hole Sun Drum Part

Below is a drum lesson that breaks down the Black Hole Sun drum part for the bridge section on this Soundgarden classic track. Matt Cameron is at his best on drums here navigating a sneakily difficult section of music with creative brilliance and ease.

It was tragic that Chris Cornell recently passed away but his legacy is great and it inspires to revisit some of those great tracks that his distinctive rock vocals were on. And with Matt Cameron laying it down solidly behind him, Soundgarden became a huge band in the 1990s.

The 1994 hit Black Hole Sun from the Superunknown album is largely in four four time signature but the guitar/bridge section suddenly segues into a great riff in nine four time. Matt played a part that involved very syncopated bass drums and snares whilst keeping a quarter note pulse on the bell of the ride. This was embellished with toms and crash cymbals to create a repetitive pattern for the first seven beats of each bar.

This is a clever technique when playing in odd time because it gives you a chance to learn a set part for most of the bar. He then added interest by changing up the last two beats of the bar. If you are not completely comfortable in odd time this method allows you to play those first seven beats as a practiced and pre-learnt section. Then  to improvise over the last two beats just requires you to count to two, which is half of our regular four four bars so we feel more comfortable doing that.

I would suggest you run through the lesson below to learn precisely what Matt Cameron played in this song, but also take that approach and apply it to other odd time rhythms. For example, if you were playing in seven eight then you could groove with a set pattern for beats one, two and three, and then improvise over the last four beats. This will feel much more natural as it’s a four note grouping.

Anyway, back to the Black Hole Sun drum part, here is a demonstration of the part in question. If you dig this and want to learn the whole song then jump over to the charts page for a full transcription of the track.

If you’re ready to delve into this lesson them just click below. If you want to investigate odd time further there is a specific nine eight time signature lesson as well as a nine eight practice backing track.

If you want to browse the other lessons available at Total Drummer check out the free lessons, single lessons, mini courses and main courses.

You might also be interested in the drum less playalongs and the charts of famous songs.

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