Once in a Lifetime
Talking Heads · 1980
Afro-funk-influenced groove with layered polyrhythmic percussion parts.
- Artist
- Talking Heads
- Year
- 1980
- Genre
- worldbeat new wave
- Drummer
- Chris Frantz
- Tempo
- 104 bpm
- Time
- 4/4
- Feel
- afro-funk polyrhythm
- Difficulty
- intermediate
Drummer's Quick-Start
Practice tempos
Woodshed
62bpm
Building
84bpm
Target
104bpm
The feel
A afro-funk polyrhythm in 4/4 around 104 BPM. A comfortable mid-tempo — lock the backbeat first, then shape the dynamics.
What to watch
- •Funk lives in the hi-hat and the ghosted snare — tighten those before the backbeat.
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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