Simple drumming is beautiful

Alright, it’s been many months since I’ve added a post to this blog. Shame on me. I’ll try to do better.

Today I just want to briefly talk about simplicity. Really, the longer I’m at this, the moe obvious it becomes how incredibly difficult it seems to be for drummers to play simply. I guess I should come up with a definition here so we all are on the same page about about what I’m talking about, but you know what? I can’t!

YOU KNOW IT WHEN YOU HEAR IT

It really IS one of those “you know it when you hear it” kind of things. Since I’ve always found it really hard to talk about music, which in reality should be listened to, not talked about, it’s maybe a bit disingenuous to even bring it up in a blog post. So I’ll concede that this is far from the best way to illustrate what I’m talking about, but I’ll try.  The fact is there are some very basic things a drummer can consider when going off to play any kind of gig. I’ll try to list them now and then get out.

THE MUSIC TELLS YOU WHAT TO PLAY

This is probably the most important thing to understand about drumming, and once you understand what I mean by this, you’ll be a better drummer……period. The drummer is there to make the song sound as good as possible. That means that he or she needs to LISTEN!!!! There are audible cues in every song that can give you a ton of information about what to play. Ther most basic would be verses, choruses, bridges, etc. You know, song FORM.

Once you can hear and understand the form of the song, you can then construct a road map in you head to get youthrough it. It’s that road map that forms the basis for what you play…..for your part.From there, you will most likely begin to execute drum fills to set up transitions from verses to choruses, bridges, etc. RESIST THIS TEMPTATION! Yup, that’s right. Stop doing that. It’s annoying, it’s obnoxious, and it’s wrong.

IT’S THE FEEL STUPID!

The proper way to transition to different parts of a song is to allow the song to tell YOU whether or not a drum fill is required. Many times it isn’t. There will always be audio cues to tell help you make that decision . . . but you have to listen for them. It never ceases to amaze me how many drummers don’t listen. You’re job as a drummer is to make the music feel good…..period. If you disagree with this then I’m betting you don’t work a lot or have never actually played gigs with other musicians. Establishing the feel, the goroove, the pocket, is JOB ONE all of the time. Once you do that, you might discover that you don’t have that overwhelming urge to fill every 4 or 8 bars with a drum fill.

IN CONCLUSION

More often than not, a drum fill isn’t the least bit necessary. There’s nothing more annoying to other players than a drummer who over-plays. I’m not saying never indulge in drum fills, but I AM saying use them sparingly. It;’s kind of like “How can I miss you if you won’t go away?” The less you play, the more meaning each note will have. If the song actually DOES call for a drum fill, you’ll know it. How? Well, experience helps….the more you gig, the easier it will be. If you want to hear the all-time Master of The Universe in terms of playing simply, in terms of putting the song before his ego, check out Steve Gadd…….period.