Today I want to share a song I love dearly—YUI’s “again,” and the bittersweet yet incredibly passionate practice process from back then!
When I first challenged this track, I bombed out in the first eight bars alone. (Sweat) But because I really adore YUI,
and I also adore “again,” I kept practicing every day, trying to dissect the sticking points piece by piece.
“again” was also the first song I attempted to write drum notation for. Looking back, the notation I came up with was a bit rough,
but because of this song, I started listening to the drums more, feeling the groove, and recording what I heard.
For me, it’s not just a cover; it’s a very important song in my drum journey.
Before正式 practicing, I still warmed up with four-note groupings. The tempo of this song is around BPM 140,
so I started at about BPM 120, gradually working up to 145–150, first letting my hands adapt to the tempo before diving into serious practice.
Right at the intro, there’s a rapid sequence of subdivisions. Seeing it for the first time was visually overwhelming,
and my hands and feet didn’t know where to place them.
I first broke down similar subdivision phrases and practiced them repeatedly,
until my body memorized the ghost notes, then I rejoined the song and finally started to feel like I could “keep up.”
Next comes the pre-chorus before entering the next section. This transitional section shows up with several similar variations throughout the song,
so I spent a lot of time on it.
Below is the pre-chorus in measure 11, and how I broke it down in practice at the time.
After nailing the earlier parts, later similar phrases stopped tripping me up every time XD
When the verse came on, I found the most challenging part to be the sustained right-hand hi-hat eights, and how it sits with the kick.
Any small lapse in the right hand would throw the entire groove off tempo. For a newbie like me at the time,
maintaining stability at this speed was incredibly hard. @@ That period I spent just trying to keep the right hand from speeding up.
Finally got through the verse, and then the B section, which I felt was the most energetic part of the whole song!
Here you have a backbeat-to-frontbeat drum fill with FT displacement; at first I’d be a half beat late, and the adrenaline would vanish instantly. (Sweat)
After many repeats, I gradually locked in the displacement and rhythm.
In the original track a bell is used here, but GONGO doesn’t have a Bell yet, so I temporarily substituted a Ride XD
Then comes the pre-chorus to section C. Section C’s rhythm is similar to the Intro, only the right hand moves to the Ride.
Because I’d already wrestled with subdivisions earlier, by the time I got here it started to feel more familiar.
I then pulled bars 5–8 out again to run them several more times, because those bars include many quintessential rhythms and transitions from “again.”
After finishing section C, I reached the longest section D in the entire song. This short four bars are really hard,
but once you nail them, it’s incredibly exhilarating! Here the right hand plays on the FT, while the left hand features a lot of continuous subdivisions,
requiring quick shifts between the snare and T1. If I tried to speed up, I’d mess up, so I simply slowed the tempo a lot,
memorized each hit position, and gradually brought the BPM back up.
The later A2, B2, and C2 reuse many rhythms that appeared earlier. By practicing up to this point,
I realized those broken-down timings weren’t wasted; the phrases that seemed difficult were gradually reacting on their own.
Before entering the E section, there’s another transition I love. Although my hands were already sore,
every time I encountered this transition, I still felt compelled to play it a few more times.
The E section’s rhythm is closer to the earlier parts, so ultimately only the tail-end transition needed work.
When I could finally play the song from start to finish, I felt a genuine sense of achievement: “I actually finished it!”
Looking back, the rhythm in “again” may not be extremely complex, but the real challenge is keeping four-note groups, eighth notes, subdivisions, and various shifts steady at a fast BPM.
Back then, I couldn’t keep up with the speed, so I endlessly practiced the four-note groupings.
Through practice I also realized that many segments I once thought impossible to complete can be broken down, slowed, and with time, gradually become second nature.
There’s a saying:
“If you nail the four-note groupings, the hardest songs become easier!”
Although practicing “again” was really bittersweet, because I loved the song so much,
I eventually pushed myself to master it. Even now, when I play this song again,
I still remember stubbornly stuck in the first eight bars and not giving up XD
If you’re a YUI fan too, I hope this practice log helps you learn “again” alongside me! 🥁