Metal Rhythm Primer: A Lesser Famous Iron Maiden Rhythm#

What’s the first thing that comes into your mind thinking about Iron Maiden?

Maybe it’s 666 or Fear of the Dark or some other piece of the band’s of iconic lyrics. What if you are asked about something more rhythm specific? Chances are you are already into that ta tada ta tada ta tada groove from question one.

So, yep, gallup is part of what makes Iron Maiden iconic. Anyway, here we are focusing on a different rhythm element from their guitar sound.

While gallup is E SS, meaning eight-note sixteenth note sixteenth note, (and you need four different units of that rhythm cell to fill up a bar) here we focus on a different one-cell-fits-on-bar-item.

Our cell goes like that:

  • Q SSSS SSSS SSSS.

You have a big quarter note and then fill what remains of that bar with speedy sixteenth notes. If you are a fan of power metal you may recall some:

  • SSSS SSSS SSSS SSSS.

That super-fast single notes rhythm is found mostly under solo sections (and in death metal also, as well as Eye of the Tiger).

A similar cell that feels more “rhythmic” goes like:

  • E SS SSSS SSSS SSSS.

Stratovarius has a lot of that. And you can get back to Iron Maiden if you add an eight-note in the bar before and add tie together the first E in the bar, making it a bit more syncopated.

  • E | E SS SSSS SSSS SSSS.

(Here the | stands for the previous bar, the bold means a tied note.)

A “Compare and Contrast Approach”#

Comparing the riffs is great to feel different grooves and also to ease on learning something new by relying on something you already know. Sometimes realizing a new piece I am studying is built on something I already know can make it way easier for me to get the new part. It is like I realize I have less work to do.

The Question: Get the Rhythm in the Iron Maiden’s Corpus#

So, here we go in quiz mode. This is the rhythm:

  • Q SSSS SSSS SSSS.

Sing the rhythm in your head and then sing it out loud. As you have you taaaa tadadada tadadada tadada taaaa etc going chances are two songs already popped out into your mind (maybe more).

Hint: I got into the band with Brave New World and then came to love their proggy Seventh Son of a Seventh Son.

Extra Exercise#

  1. Try sing out and practice all the other rhythms:

  2. SSSS SSSS SSSS SSSS.

  3. E SS SSSS SSSS SSSS.

  4. E | E SS SSSS SSSS SSSS.

  5. can you identify songs using the rhythms?

  6. write something out using these patterns. Try with riffs/rhythm parts as well as melodies & leads.

How to improve this entry#

  • check with Grammarly
  • proper editing
  • add some images and proper music notation?
  • add tags?