Drum Techniques of Led Zeppelin: Note for Note Transcriptions of 23 Classic John Bonham Drum Tracks

by Led Led Zeppelin, Joe Bergamini

John Bonham is one of the legends of rock 'n' roll, and his drumming style helped to elevate Led Zeppelin to greatness. This revised edition contains 23 of Bonham's most famous drum transcriptions from his work with the legendary Led Zeppelin. Also included are editor's notes from each record and note-for-note transcriptions. Titles Good Times, Bad Times * Babe I'm Gonna Leave You * Dazed and Confused * Communication Breakdown * Whole Lotta Love * Heartbreaker * Living Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman) * Immigrant Song * Black Dog * Stairway to Heaven * Misty Mountain Hop * The Song Remains the Same * Over the Hills and Far Away * The Crunge * D'yer Mak'er * No Quarter * Achilles Last Stand * Nobody's Fault but Mine * Fool in the Rain.

Thanks to Joe Bergamini's usual perfectionism, we have an accurate historical record of one of the greatest rock drummers of all time for the enjoyment and education of today's drummers and all future generations to come. Highly recommended not just for Bonham fans or Rock 'n' Rollers but for all drummers, regardless of style."
-Tiger Bill's DrumBeat"

Genres: Music

96 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1989

Reviews

[Sebastian Palmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant drummer, brilliant book.

As a musician, I absolutely hate books of musical transcriptions that are factually incorrect. I own several song books which are, to my mind, next to useless, due to inaccuracies and general vagueness in relation to the music they purport to represent (partic. chordally speaking).

As a drummer and drum teacher, frequently transcribing music for both playing and teaching purposes, finding accurately transcribed charts by a drummer of such fundamental importance to modern drumming as Bonham, is both wonderful and very helpful. I'd already spent many hours painstakingly transcribing 'Black Dog' and 'Good Times, Bad Times', and was embarked on several further Bonham transcriptions, when I discovered this book. It has saved me loads of time and energy.

Here's a list of the contents, arranged - as they are in the book - chronologically, by album:

I:
Good Times Bad Times
Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
Dazed and Confused
Communication Breakdown

II:
Whole Lotta Love
What Is And What Should Never Be
Heartbreaker
Living Loving Maid (She's Just A Woman)

III:
Immigrant Song

IV/Symbols:
Black Dog
Stairway To Heaven
Misty Mountain Hop

Houses Of The Holy:
The Song Remains the Same
Over the Hills and Far Away
The Crunge
D'yer Maker
No Quarter
The Ocean

Physical Graffiti:
Custard Pie
The Wanton Song

Presence:
Achilles Last Stand
Nobody's Fault But Mine

In Through The Out Door:
Fool In The Rain

Bonham fans might note and rue the absence of several classics, How Many More Times, Rock 'n' Roll and Moby Dick chief amongst them. But hey, you can't have everything!

In a book of this sort, even a very well done one, such as this, there are bound to be a few points where one might feel that someone else's transcriptions don't exactly match what one thinks one hears, or how one interprets a track oneself. There are a few minor details like that for me here.

But essentially this is a superbly put together book of very accurate transcriptions. One tiny mistake, and an editorial/layout mistake at that (i.e. almost certainly nothing to do with Bergamini), is that In Through The Out Door is listed as a track, rather than an album title.

Thanks to Joe Bergamini and Alfred Publishing for a great book!