Pete Riley - 'My Sharona' Classic Track Lesson - Issue 295

One of the sharpest drum hooks in history.
DRUMMER: Bruce Gary

My Sharona’ was the first single released by LA rock band The Knack and as well as staying at the number one spot for six weeks it has gone on to become an all-time classic. Its most identifi able feature has to be the unison guitar/drum pattern which drummer Bruce Gary orchestrates between the toms and a fl ammed snare backbeat, with the bass drum underpinning the toms. The key technical element in this pattern is the left-hand movement between the rack tom and snare, essentially on quarter notes. It’s this doubling up of the motion of the right hand between the floor tom and snare that generates not only the flammed backbeat but also the increased intensity of two toms being played on beats 1 and 3, as opposed to just one in the right hand. Another key feature of the piece is the two-bar dotted quarter note over-the-barline figure which occurs at the end of each four-bar phrase of the chorus. This figure is orchestrated on the kit in various ways, from simple double-stop accents on the toms the fi rst time through to more demanding ideas broken up between the ride cymbal, snare and crashes.............

To read the rest of the details of the track check out Issue 295 of Rhythm Magazine (Feb 2020).

[JohnDavid-koqc]

Greatest My Sharona drum lesson. Thank you very much

[STUCATZOMARINE]

Thank you so much for your clear instructions . All this time I have played the rack and floor with the same beat before the snare flam . Great lesson .

[semags]

Thanks for playing in parts, really helped me a lot.

[radkon]

Thanks Pete. There's quite a bit of subtlety in Bruce's playing, you helped clear some things up for me while I was doing a transcription for students. Thanks!

[edfogarty]

Wow bro are u a lefty or is that what happens when you . I hope u are a Lefty because I was thinking I was the only one .Whatever hand you’re playing with you’re a great drummer keep up the good work and you have a special touch to teaching thank you very much and keep kicking ass

[gianfrancodevincentiis]

Hi Pete, congraturations for your teaching. Where can I found the chart of My Sharona from Trinity rock and pop Drums grade 6 ?

[magickleber]

The course of that song... nobody can explain clearly how 2 drum it... haha

[jaketwomey]

You’d be more well suited to go after lefty drummers only…it can confuse and potentially discourage a young righty that doesn’t get it…you know what I mean. You’re great, but you’re a lefty and you must be cast out to other lefty’s.