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.

Aghhhhhhhhhh!

Practice pads…..those little round rubber pieces of junk. Every drummer who’s ever taken lessons has been coerced into buying one, with the hope that by beating on this thing endlessly he or she will become a better drummer. NONSENSE!! You will become a better pad beater…I guarantee that.

I will stipulate that if you live in a 3 foot by 3 foot 5th floor walk-up in any city, you have little choice but to beat on a pad……..but even there you can go a rehearsal space and if you have the money you can beat on the drums…..real drums…….for an hour; and you can get ALOT done in an hour of practice on a real set of drums!

Drums are an instrument, and in the right hands are indeed a beautiful instrument. Any time spent behind a set of drums is time well spent in my book. Whether I’m practicing or playing a gig, I’m always happy to be behind a set of REAL DRUMS. You can respond to the way the drums sound, the way they feel, and in turn that can cause you to CREATE, become inspired, and in the process become a BETTER DRUMMER.

In my youth I “studied” drums with Joe Morello. I’d go there on Saturdays for my lesson, along with sometimes 8 or 9 other guys. Joe was always late, so we’d wind up in the practice room with……you guessed it, practice pads……going over our lessons for that week. Imagine the sound…….8 drummers tapping away on gum rubber glued to wood!

As you might have already guessed, we all became really really good pad beaters. I’d hazard a guess that Joe Morello students as a group are probably the greatest pad beaters on the planet! Some of them became really great drummers too……but that was IN SPITE of this ridiculous pad-beating habit we developed in those days, not because of it. For my own part, I can say that I rose to a very high level of pad beating….one of the better ones if I can brag a bit. However, another alarming thing started to happen to me…….I started getting less and less gigs, and found that fewer people wanted to play with me.

FWIW, I was rather young when I started getting gigs…….maybe 13 or so. I had enough desire and natural ability that I wound up being in some pretty popular local bands back in the day. My parents (to their ultimate dismay) bought me a real drumset, and I had Jon Bonham to listen to…..what more could I need? Well, chops, I was told…..and if you wanted chops, and you lived in or near Union New Jersey, you went to Joe Morello. Now, lest I be depicted as a “Joe Morello Basher”, I learned a heluva lot from that guy. I have him to thank for enjoying a very long career as a drummer without sustaining any serious injuries like tendonitis, etc., thanks to his technique, involving muscular relaxation and rebounds. I am forever grateful for this knowledge, and more.

However, as I became so obsessed with pad beating, a very large part of my musical development got neglected as a result….the MUSICAL part. You might say that a sense of balance is called for here. Spend time on both…….drums for the musical stuff, pads for the chops. NO!!! there isn’t anything, and I mean ANYTHING, that you can do on a pad that you can’t do on a real drum better!! If it’s chops you’re after, practice on a snare drum ferchrissake!! The drumset requires coordination, interdependence of limbs, dynamics…..musical things!

The pads? A complete waste of time………

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Drums do not and cannot exist in a vacuum, WE NEED OTHER MUSICIANS in order to do our thing. Contrary to what alot of drummers think, NO ONE CARES about the drums…..besides other drummers. Other musicians want you to make the music feel good….PERIOD! That’s my first bit of advice. Stop thinking about the drums, and start thinking about how the drums contribute to THE SONG!