counting to 7 has never been so hard

Performed by: Nate Smith
Bio: Nate Smith is an American drummer who is a three-time Grammy nominee. He's performed with The Fearless Flyers, and co-wrote and produced Michael Jackson's 'Heaven Can Wait'.
Transcribed by: Balthazar Maignan

faq:
Q: how old are you / A: i'm in high school!
Q: how are you related to jacob collier? / A: i'm not, we just have the same last name
Q: how do you transcribe? / A: i use musescore for notation and 'Transcribe!' for beat marking, slowing down etc
Q: do you have perfect pitch? / A: no
Q: why are some videos not transcribed by you? / A: sometimes other people submit transcriptions, most are commissioned from others who can do a better job than i can. i want to make sure you see the best transcriptions possible!

[GeorgeCollier]

Comments are half split between clap on 1 and clap on 7. I’ve opted for 7 as that just feels right - the clap is always followed by a strong downbeat. He conducts the audience to clap at 0:30 where they clap on what looks like a downbeat, but I would suggest he just conducts like this as there’s no way you can get an audience to clap on an upbeat.

[xpher]

Dunno what’s more impressive.
The drummer, or that there is an audience on earth that some how managed to follow 7:4

[NateGHO]

That rhythmic displacement he does is just so mind boggling. It actually makes more sense on sheet music than I would’ve imagined it did though haha

[PolishBigfootCircle]

Everyone thinks they can count to seven, until you have to do it over and over and over again

[jamie]

I--
I've played for audiences that couldn't stay consistent clapping along to a 4/4 beat; where in fresh hell do you find an entire audience that can keep up in 7/4??

It's cute how people in the replies think an audience can't fail if someone is helping them. Fun fact about audiences: they refuse to be helped. I've performed pieces where our members clapped, too, and the audience ignored it. Audiences can be wacky like that

[JonathanSinger]

I was in the audience for this gig at Space in Evanston. The energy was electric. Some of the comments have wondered how the audience was so good at clapping in 7 when so many audiences can't even clap in 4. My guess is that there were a ton of drummers in the audience that night. As a drummer, even in a dark club, I'm pretty good at picking out the difference between someone tapping their foot to the beat and someone thumping out a bass drum rhythm. There were lots of highly trained hands and feet at the gig that night. Thanks for recording and posting this. Good times.

[charliekelly]

As someone who doesn’t play an instrument and cannot read sheet music. I have absolutely no clue what is going on here. But I can tell it’s very impressive

[galgolombek]

Nate smith is one of the greatest funk drummers of this generation.
Respect.

[aydenduke]

The notation of OOOW at 2:45 is crucial

[flashpoint]

This would actually be a fun concept to teach to children. We had music classes when I was in grade school but we always focused on 4/4 and 3/4. There are fun ways to teach counting complex or polyrhythms but you really don't get to that point until around highschool or college.

[theartsyfarmer]

How on earth did the audience keep up? I guess sometimes I forget that some people can feel rhythm and don’t need to count everything XD

[leokimvideo]

Well the audience didn't miss a beat

[donloder]

yall missed one genius on the back who unironically and unknowingly clapped on 4/4, and precisely on 4, the whole time.

[howdeedoo]

As someone who has played a 7/4 piece before, i find it’s easier to count it as 1-2, 1-2, 1-2-3.

[kireitonsi]

Years of playing rhythm doctor have prepared me for this moment

[mrbigg]

As impressed as I am with his set skills, I'm even more impressed at this impossible audience! I've never heard so many people keep the beat so well. They ALL must be experienced musicians

[johnkalli]

This is why drummers are actual time lords! At 1:58 that groove threw me for a loop! What a prime display of talent, skill, and mastery of time :)

[thomcowley]

That perfectly synchronised clap at 0:31 was quite satisfying

[spineboy]

I've written a lot of songs in 7, but this was a hard one to "feel". starts on 7, is syncopated. This dude is one solid thinking drummer. Impressive

[ArcherWillows]

definitely an audience of musicians or prog fans that could instinctively count in 7/4 immediately