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50 Ways to Leave Your Lover

Paul Simon · 1975

Iconic hybrid rudimental groove studied by generations of drummers.

Artist
Paul Simon
Year
1975
Genre
pop
Drummer
Steve Gadd
Tempo
100 bpm
Time
4/4
Feel
military-style linear groove
Difficulty
advanced

Drummer's Quick-Start

Practice tempos

Woodshed
60bpm
Building
80bpm
Target
100bpm

The feel

A military-style linear groove in 4/4 around 100 BPM. A comfortable mid-tempo — lock the backbeat first, then shape the dynamics.

Form

Intro (the drum groove) · Verse · Chorus · Verse · Chorus · Outro

What to watch

  • •It's linear — no two limbs strike together; keep the flow perfectly even.
  • •Advanced: isolate the single hardest bar and loop it slowly before ever playing along.

How to learn it

Well-known tutorials exist for this one — use the links below, and play along from your own copy.

Generated from this song's groove profile — analysis only, no notation. A human-reviewed AI brief with a full groove breakdown, key moments and song map replaces this as briefs roll out.

Learn it

Find drum tutorials on YouTube ↗

iDrum links to where lessons already live — we don't host recordings or publish transcriptions. Play along from your own music.

Discussion

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