Papa Was a Rollin' Stone
The Temptations · 1972
A lesson in space and patience, holding a sparse hi-hat groove over a long cinematic intro.
- Artist
- The Temptations
- Year
- 1972
- Genre
- soul
- Drummer
- Aaron Smith
- Tempo
- 98 bpm
- Time
- 4/4
- Feel
- minimalist funk groove
- Difficulty
- intermediate
Drummer's Quick-Start
Practice tempos
The feel
A minimalist funk groove in 4/4 around 98 BPM. A comfortable mid-tempo — lock the backbeat first, then shape the dynamics.
Form
Extended Intro (groove) · Verse · Chorus · Verse · Chorus · Instrumental · Outro
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.
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