You Really Got Me - Lesson

Introduction

Hi! Here we're looking at "You Really Got Me," Van Halen's arrangement of the Kinks classic. The track is based around an eighth note feel and is relatively up-tempo at 136 BPM.

One of the key ingredients is having energy and a driving feel throughout.

Main Pattern

The main pattern consists of:

• Eighth note hi-hat pattern
• Bass drum following the guitar riff:
  • Played on:
    • Beat 1
    • The and of Beat 1
    • The and of Beat 2
• Snare played on beats 2 and 4

Sound Technique

For a sound like this, play with:

• A slightly looser hi-hat (less pressure for a thicker sound)
• The backbeat as a rim shot sound (more in keeping with the hard rock genre)

Fills

In addition to the eighth note feel, there are several 16th note fills that run throughout the track. Let's take a look at them.

First Fill

The first 16th note fill appears after the first two bars:

• After the drums enter, cycle through the first two bars.
• Use the flam snare to start the piece.

Fill Example:

1. Guitar (2 bars)
2. Drums enter on the end of Beat 3 with the bass drum and snare on Beat 4.

For fills like this, use a single stroke approach instead of a double stroke for volume.

Additional Fill

Further down the page in Bar 12, there's another 16th note fill, a slight variation moving from the rack tom down to the floor tom.

Let's try that in context.

Chorus Section (Bar 17)

At Bar 17, we reach Letter C, which is essentially the chorus featuring:

• The same basic groove
• Variations of 16th note fills

One specific variation involves playing 16th notes on:

• Rack Tom
• Floor Tom on Beats 3 and 4

Crash Cymbal Technique

To end a fill like this, it makes sense to crash on that side of the kit. While challenging to get back to the hi-hat, it's easier than transitioning from the floor tom to the crash cymbal.

Section C Performance

Let's play the whole of Section C.

Uncredited Fill

Notice that the fill in Bar 24 isn't notated. This indicates it's at our discretion, as denoted by the time slashes indicating a fill for the duration of a bar.

Suggested Approaches

For those last two bars of Section C:

• A simpler choice could be 16th notes on all drums for all four quarter notes.
• Alternatively, I chose a more syncopated rhythm similar to Alex Van Halen's original feel, utilizing the snare and toms.

Guitar Solo (Bar 25 - Letter D)

Moving to Bar 25 at Letter D, you'll notice a shift in the bass drum pattern:

• Adding the and of Beat 3 to the bass drum pattern.

Rest remains unchanged.

Bar 25 Groove:

(Provide groove example here)

Back to Chorus (Letter E)

After the 12-bar guitar solo, we return to Letter E:

• It's the chorus pattern again, 8 bars long, similar to Letter C.
• Includes the same collection of fills and ends with a fill at our discretion.

A Different Fill

In Bar 44, my fill ended slightly differently than at Section C, focusing more on syncopated quality.

Useful Figure

This fill can be thought of as a four-stroke rough with:

• Fourth note on bass drum
• First three notes: Snare, High Tom, Low Tom

When played quickly, it has a descending quality: (Include demonstration here)

Final Section (Letter F)

Bringing us to Letter F, the final four bars end with:

• The first four eighth notes of the bar played between the floor tom, snare, and bass drum simultaneously.

Timing and Execution

For this figure, precision is key to avoid flamming.

Last Four Bars:

(Provide last four bars example)

Conclusion

Those are all the parts that make up "You Really Got Me." I think you'll have a lot of fun playing along to this classic hard rock track. Enjoy creating some fills to go into those spaces as well!