Don't Let Go - En Vogue: Music Lesson

Introduction

Hi! Here we're looking at "Don't Let Go" by En Vogue. This performance is actually taken from a live performance as opposed to the studio. It features a few transitional ideas on the kit that are very useful fill ideas.

Beginning of the Piece

We're going to start at the beginning of the piece where we've got this crescendo roll on the cymbal. Then we move into some 16th note time on the hi-hats.

Cymbal Roll

• One point regarding the roll on the cymbal: It's a good idea to step some time with your foot as you're playing this to guarantee that the crash lands on the downbeat of the next bar.

I'm going to play the first four bars into the floor tom fill so you can see how that crescendo works.

Challenge of the Track

All of that broken 16th note movement that runs through the intro brings up one of the challenges of the track, which is to decide whether you're going to:

• Play it single-handed, or
• Move in between the hands.

I would choose to play those broken 16th notes single-handed. But then, you'll see later on there are certain fills that seem to make sense breaking it between the hands, playing it as single strokes. Again, some of the fills also just seem to make more sense to stay in one hand.

Next Four Bars

Moving on to the next four bars of the intro, we've headed over to the right cymbal. In the fourth bar of this second half, we've got this big syncopated fill that moves down the kit.

Slow Playback

So I'll play those four bars, and let's take that fill a little more slowly.

First Chorus

At this point, we reach the first chorus, so there's a marked increase in dynamics up to forte. We've headed over to the right cymbal, and the main groove comes in.

• We've got the snare on two and four,
• The kick on beats one and three, and
• The and of three.

At the end of this eight-bar section, there's a nice transitional fill that brings us back to the verse where we play an open hi-hat but don't crash the downbeat of the verse.

Abbreviated Version

So I'll play an abbreviated version of this first chorus, it'll be four bars long. We'll get the transition into the verse, where you'll notice I won't hit the crash cymbal to transition from the end of the verse to the bridge.

Hi-Hat Embellishment

There's a little hi-hat embellishment where we're playing a broken 16th note figure moving into the and of beat four.

• 40 and on the hi-hat: this is a figure that I would naturally play in the same hand as opposed to breaking it between the hands.

This time we're going to hit a crash. It appears later in the piece without a crash, but it's a really useful figure to be comfortable playing even just within a groove. So I'll just play that around a little bit.

Fill Transition

At the end of the four-bar bridge, we've got a fill that appears several times in the piece that transitions from the bridge into the chorus.

This is 16th notes again, but I would play this as single strokes:

• We go in with the snare rack and then two notes on the floor.

You'll notice within that fill that we've got an open and closed hi-hat moving between the end of beat three and beat four.

• We open the hi-hat on the and of three and then close it on beat four when we hit the snare.

Middle Eight Transition

The end of the second chorus features a nice transitional fill that takes us into the middle eight. Here's that bar: the last bar of chorus two.

Big Fill

The middle eight ends with probably the biggest fill of the piece, where we transition into the third and final chorus. So I'll take it from the last two bars of the middle eight.

That fill leads us into the final chorus.

Conclusion

So I'll take it from that fill into the final four bars.

And that's all the parts you need to play "Don't Let Go." Enjoy playing along to the track!