Hey everyone. I was just introduced to Led Zeppelin's "Moby Dick" which involves a breath-taking drum solo by Jon Bonham. I've been playing drums for a little over 4 years and I just wanted to know if any of you have any tips on certain parts of that solo, that would make it easier for me to learn. ROCK ON!

There are so many answers to this question, but I'll just scratch the surface with my humble answer. The size of the drums, the way they were tuned and the type of head are all factors to consider before even attempting to play Moby Dick. 26" Kick with a Speed King Pedal (felt beater). John used Remo Emperors on all of the batter sides of his kit and Ambassadors on the resonant sides. It's also important to know that despite the hugeness of the sound, the drums were not tuned low like many think, they were tuned way up, with the resonant heads being tuned slightly higher than the batters. Also, don't use duct tape on anything, or put a pillow in your bass (use felt strips in the bass). Why, oh why, the duct tape? After all of this, smack the crap out of the drums!

For even more info, grab a copy of Jeff Ocheltree's Trust Your Ears DVD!








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its not a hard solo to physically play. just a lot to remember. my suggestion would be break it into maybe 12 or 16 or 24 bar phrases. write it out piece by piece and practice each section until you have it down and then move on to the next. soon you'll have the whole thing down and its just a matter of piecing the sections together. i used to know this solo years ago (the one on i believe "THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME" disc because my band i was in at the time would play it out. its really not technical, just lots to remember