Battle of the Bands

A few months ago, I was on the panel of judges for the Utah PTA's Battle of the Bands Finals (2013).

In a nutshell, here are a few things I observed, and would humbly suggest to every band that is ever going to play in front of an audience, ever:

• Don't let anything get in the way of good tone, time, musicality, etc. It's easy to get excited during performance, but put the music first.
• Know your role. Good music is like a house, made up of necessary, quality parts. Not all of them are seen, but all contribute to the quality and comfort of the home. If that means you need to play back a little, or not have a solo, or play more texturally, then do it.
• Listen, listen, listen. And act like you're listening. It's okay to make eye contact with other members of the band, especially during their solo.
• Put on a united visual image. Differing styles distract from the music, especially if the look and feel are different from the music. This is why a lot of music groups show up on stage in neutral greys and blacks - it allows them to play what they want and let the music speak for itself.
• Support the front man/woman. Know what's the "thing," and how to support it.
• Have fun, and show it. Don't go overboard, but look happy and confident, not nervous and scared.
• Play to your strengths and within your abilities. I'm not saying you shouldn't push the edges, but the audience "vibe" completely changes when they're worried that you might not land the next fill or riff.
• Be humble and gracious, but don't stutter. "Um," doesn't help your show.

Put simply, do whatever you need to do to make the music speak for itself, and don't do anything that will get in the way of that message. 

Happy gigging!

Pop Drumming 101

I know I've posted before about some of the misconceptions surrounding being a successful rock/pop drummer, but I had another experience this week that I thought I'd add to the canon of scripture for aspiring studio drum-smackers. 

While talking with this guy about studio drummers and why they may or may not be called for a certain project, we started talking about the difference between time-feel and "chops." If you'll allow my paraphrasing, the conversation went something like this.

RT: "Come on. When's the last time you listened to a pop tune and thought, hey, wait - that drum fill wasn't complicated enough?"

KS: "Fair point."

End of conversation.

Now, I know I don't have to draw too much of a conclusion here, but I will, anyway! 

I'm certainly not saying you shouldn't strive for as much technical facility as you can get, but there are three basic things (and two of them are almost the same thing) a drummer must do to get consistent studio work.

1. Play nice with the click.
2. Have a great, "feel." (In other words, play nice with the click.)
3. Sound like a drummer. 

Remember, as a musician, you're a servant to the music. You should always play just what the track/project/piece needs, and nothing more.

Happy drumming!

Bag of Tricks: Layering on Train's "Mississippi"

Today while driving I was listening to a playlist on my iPod that I titled, "The Groove." It only contains tunes that I think represent the very best of feel, time and flat out groove.

I must have been in some alternate state of mind (sober, I promise!), because I was listening with what seemed like totally different ears. When this track came on, I heard some things I've never heard before.

One of the biggest challenges for drummers is to figure out how to increase or change the intensity level of a song without damaging the texture or distracting from the effect or message of the song. This track achieves the goal perfectly.

The drum sounds on "Mississippi" are amazing on at least a few levels. For one, there is not a single fill. In over five minutes of music, not even a kick variation (that I could tell) or a variation of pattern. Backbeats all stay on 2 and 4, etc. 

But after hundreds of times through this track, these subtleties finally caught my ear. I was astounded.

• The track begins with a synth-type hi-hat sound. It plays the same ostinato pattern throughout.
• At the 1:10 mark, what sounds like real hi-hat is layered over the synth-hat.
• At the 1:36 mark, a heavier hi-hat (louder, slightly more open) is layered over the synth and first real hat tracks.
• At the 3:38 mark, a super reverb-heavy (or possibly synth) ride cymbal starts playing quarter notes. It's faded in so that you're not sure when you actually start to hear it.

Seriously, I was blown away. I happened to be on my way to pick up a bass-playing colleague of mine for lunch, and I made him listen to it. He was also blown away. Between the two of us, we'd never noticed the layers before. 

Take another listen to this track, and enjoy the work of musicians who know how to serve the music.

Happy drumming!

Friday Feature: Steve Gadd

About a million name puns came to mind when deciding how to introduce the legendary Steve Gadd, but....I'll let you make your own. 

He is the most imitated drummer of all time, and easily one of the most successful. His playing credits include Eric Clapton, James Taylor, Chick Corea, Paul Simon and Dizzy Gillespie (seriously?!) just to name a few. Known for his ability to, "get inside a tune" and play in the pocket like no one else, Gadd has been a legend for most of his life.

Visit Steve's official website here. 

My first exposure to Steve Gadd was through the music of Steely Dan. He played on one of their widely known tracks, "Aja," as well as on Paul Simon's, "Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover." Some of today's creative, but common, grooves were innovations of Steve Gadd. He has connections to almost everything that is great about groove, feel, time and fill.

Check out this tasty treat.

You'll notice how he makes use of melody and compositional elements more than sheer power or speed. He's got plenty of both, but uses them judiciously.

One other thing: Check out the relative simplicity of his setup. When you compare his kit to most modern players - especially somebody like Terry Bozzio - it almost makes you laugh out loud at what he can do with such a small rig.

And this is what Steve sounded like the year I started playing the drums. Amazing playing!

Well, as always, I simply hope to give you a jumping off place. And I hope that Steve Gadd influences your playing as he has for countless thousands of drummers for the last 40+ years.

Happy drumming!

Bag of Tricks: Hat and tom fill

This is a cool fill I stole from one of the million "hit" pop bands in the nineties. It's a very low-key way to emphasize the 4 and land on 1.

Here's the 16th note version:

And the sextuplet version:

Happy drumming!

Bag of Tricks: Simple Jazz Fill

Here's a simple idea to get you going. This fill isn't exactly subtle, but if you really lay back on it, it's pretty swingin'.

Try to keep the unaccented snare drum notes down (soft) as much as possible. You can then use the accents to develop the "melody" of the movement around the kit, and you don't have to play loudly. Remember that, in terms of dynamics, the more you can whisper, the more a normal voice will sound like shouting. It's all about contrast.

And, finally, the sticking. I like to play the first triplet alternating, starting with the right hand (so R L R), then play L L R the rest of the way.

Happy drumming!

Bag of Tricks: Carter Beauford on DMB's "Satellite"

Earlier in the week we talked about flams.

This is one of my favorite tracks that utilizes a ton of simple, single flam fills and back beats, as well as flams on the toms as part of fills.

Check out the video for "Satellite."

Starting at the 2:16 mark, Carter Beauford starts using just a single flam as part of a fill. It's not a complex idea or figure (for the purposes of this post, it's not even worth notating!), yet it fits the song and feel perfectly.

Honestly, Carter has as much in the chops department as any other drummer in the rock-pop arena, yet he chooses his notes and fills based on what the music demands. This tune is also a very good example of a concept known as duality, where Carter mixes the very simple (single flam, quarter note fills) with the complex, such as the switching between time feels and using broken patterns and accents in fills to obscure the pulse.

I know a lot of drummers who don't like the way Carter plays, and I can honor that. But you've got to at least respect the man for what he does with the music. Whatever else he is, he's not a plain, "anyone with two sticks and a pulse could have played this track" type of musician. You can hear that it's him whenever you hear a track.

So, again, play around with flams (pun intended). Hopefully they'll become a tool that you're comfortable with and that will expand your vocabulary and ability to express yourself on your instrument and through the music.

As always, happy drumming!

Bag of Tricks: KT Tunstall - "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree"

I'm fascinated by how musical and powerful a simple lick can be. Here's one from another favorite modern pop tune. (Did I mention that I love any kind of hi-hat fill?) This may be the simplest fill I've ever posted, and it's still one of my favorites.

It occurs at about the 2:30 mark.

One thing I love about this music video is that KT plays all of the percussion instruments - bass drum, snare drum, tambourine, chair, hand claps, etc. Tons of energy and a lot of fun.


Happy drumming!

Friday Feature: Will Champion of Coldplay

It's a topic for another day, but I absolutely love Coldplay. Every member of that band is a talented musician and performer. But, this is a drum blog, so we'll take a look at their drummer, Will Champion.

Start here:

Was there ever a more solid backbeat? I submit that there was not! 

One of the things that I appreciate about Will Champion is his ability to feel and fit into the music. He's there to support the message of the music, the feel, the texture, not to showboat or try to stick out. Will is the quintessential "band" drummer. 

He does have chops, he is creative - but he does exactly what he feels the music needs. He follows the old Tommy Igoe mantra, "I will never play a fill just because I can." In other words, he doesn't get in the way. 

(Here's another sweet little axiom that a band director buddy of mine tells his students all the time, "You're either the thing, you're supporting the thing, or you're in the way." This is what drummers need to remember. Your job is to support the music, to blend into the music - to give the audience the best experience possible. You don't do that by overplaying, playing out of context or showboating - that's what gets in the way of great music.)

Will Champion is as good as any drummer alive today at supporting the thing. And the thing is usually a heart-warming or soul-wrenching work of art that I can listen to time and time again. 

I can remember a time when I wasn't exactly a Coldplay fan. It was shortly after they started to get really popular in the States, and they only thing I'd heard was, "Yellow," from the album Parachutes. Not that I disliked the tune, mind you, I just wasn't all that blown away by the track. 

Shortly after, Coldplay came to my city on tour and I was given a ticket to the show by a friend. I went to the show because of said friend and had my mind absolutely blown. I've been to many a live show in my time, and I can count on one hand the number of those shows that I was actually pained when it was over. They could have played all night, and I would have listened.

One thing I noticed about Will - and all of the band, really - is that he was into the music all night long. He played relatively simple, straightforward stuff, but he felt every single note. He wasn't just playing drums, he was playing music. 

Anyway, suffice it to say, Coldplay was - and still is - solidly on my radar. I could give you a list of my favorite tunes (most of them) and albums (all of them), but I'll let you discover for yourself. You're probably already familiar with the band, so as you listen to your next Coldplay tune, listen to the drums - just the drums. I challenge you to stay focused on the sounds and feel of the drumming, but you're going to get distracted - that's how good Will Champion is at just blending in and making music. 

Here's a parting shot:

Even if you don't like Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland and Guy Berryman, you've got to respect Will Champion.

Happy watching, listening and feeling. 

Bag of Tricks: The Wallflowers - "One Headlight"

This is the opening lick to one of my all-time favorite pop tunes, "One Headlight" by The Wallflowers.

And I know this is a drumming blog, but I've got to mention at least one of the many genius lyrics - this is in the third verse:

This place is old, it feels just like a beat-up truck
I turn the engine, but the engine doesn't turn


Love it. Enjoy!

Beyond the Kit: Shooting Free Throws

My apologies to my private students, because you're getting another basketball metaphor.

Here's the question: what makes us confident? Not only in music, but in life? While there are doubtless many things at play, I'd like to suggest one that works fantastically in drumming: The Free Throw Principle.


Imagine that you're a basketball player, and you're lousy at free throws. Problem is, you never make them in games, and you never practice them. As a result, every time you get fouled in a game, you instantly get nervous. You'd almost rather just hand the ball over to the other team because you know you ain't makin' no free throw. Your confidence in your free throws at this point is zero.

So let's say you finally decide to tackle the beast one day before a game. You decide you're going to shoot ten free throws. You miss the first nine, but - miraculously - the tenth one is perfect and swishes right through. Suddenly, you're a great free throw shooter, right? Uh......no*. At best, you're ten percent.

That night at the game, how's your confidence? Probably a little better, but not great yet. So you keep shooting. Let's say the next day you work on your form, and you hit five out of ten, and by the next week, you're hitting nine out of ten. The first day you hit nine of ten, you're pretty happy, but soon you want to hit that many every day, and you start thinking about ten of ten.

Take this to its logical conclusion, and let's say you're hitting somewhere between eight and ten of ten every day. Now you get fouled at the game, what's your confidence like? If you know you can hit 80% or better, you'll start to look forward to going to the free throw line. And if you miss one, you know that your chances of hitting the next one just went through the roof.

How can we apply this to music? Simple, whatever you want to do at the game, er, gig, you need to have done in the practice studio. And you probably need to have done it many, many times at different tempi (tempos?).

The point is, when you get to the gig, you shouldn't be trying to pull off crazy fills or take huge risks that you haven't practiced up to a respectable level at home. Back to the basketball analogy - even when you see somebody like Kobe Bryant or LeBron James take what looks like a circus shot in a game, remember that those boys have spent just as much time in a gym practicing every imaginable shot from every imaginable spot as you have practiced any lick, fill or groove on the ol' skins.

So, again. Do it right, do it a lot. As a band teacher friend of mine has on his wall, "The amateur practices until he can get it right. The professional practices until he cannot get it wrong."

Happy shooting, er, drumming!

*Although we do this all the time, as musicians. We work on something until we get it right once, then, "Yay! Let's move on!" What are we thinking?!

Bag of Tricks: Anna Nalick - "Satellite"

At the 2:58 mark, this fill caught my attention.

Bag of Tricks: Keith Sorensen

I know it seems pretty pretentious to give you Carter Beauford one week and me the next, but this is a lick I just keep using, and I need to pass it along for my own mental health.

It works great in the 100-120 BPM range. Let me know what you think.

Happy drumming!

Friday Feature: Steve Jordan

Another favorite drummer who is much, much more than that. Steve Jordan is an artist. He is a producer, musical director, composer, drummer....you get the picture. For a fairly complete look at his career and musical works, visit the Drummerworld site.

One of the things I admire most about Steve is that he's multi-faceted, and approaches music from a variety of angles. He never thinks about music - or performs, writes, etc. - from only one aspect. He seems to always consider what his contribution will do in terms of affecting the whole. He's thoughtful about his choice of sounds, grooves, fills and overall style to make sure that the music achieves the desired affect.

In short, he's a musician. He listens. Communicates with his band mates. Plays well with others. Again, you get the idea.

Two of my favorite Steve Jordan moments are his appearance in the documentary film, "Standing in the Shadows of Motown," and his work with John Mayer and Pino Palladino. I just can't get over the "Try" album. It's one that I can listen to for many reasons and for many hours.

And as I've said about some other players, you won't do any harm to yourself by learning some of his techniques and tricks.

Happy drumming!

Bag of Tricks: (Another) Carter Beauford of DMB

Carter, to me, is infinitely creative. His style is very distinctive, and is a critical component of the Dave Matthews Band sound.

This lick, from the Busted Stuff version of "Grey Street," is not too hard, and very fun to play. It brings instant intensity to your playing.

It happens right at the beginning of the track.

Happy drumming!

Bag of Tricks: Keane, "Somewhere Only We Know"

A very cool, simple fill. At the 2:24 mark in the video, you can watch it played it so there's no question about how it's done. The drummer is Richard Hughes, who also sings.

I've loved this album since I first heard it in 2003, especially this tune. It's the kind of music you can listen to loud on a long drive by yourself. Or with a close friend that doesn't require a lot of conversation, just the occasional glance and nod that says, "Yep. Good tune, man. Love this tune."

Truth be told, though, I was introduced to Keane by a friend who shares my love of the pseudo-simplicity of pop music. It's easy to "get it," which is what makes it so popular. So I've spent more time analyzing and appreciating than just listening. But still, good tune, man. Love this tune.

Happy drumming.....man.

Bag of Tricks: Carter Beauford Lick

What red-blooded drummer doesn't respect Carter Beauford of the Dave Matthews Band? Okay, I know that there are some of you out there, but you're crazy! Even if you don't like his style or DMB, you've got to respect the trails he's blazed in pop drumming.

Anyway, here's a very simple lick that I steal all the time. It's from the tune, "What Would You Say," on the album, "Under the Table and Dreaming."

This lick occurs at about the 3:07 mark.

Okay, after you listen to it, here is one major thing to notice: the bass drum note just before count 4 should be played as a part of the snare drum pattern. If you connect the three notes on the snare (starting on 3), the kick note, then the snare/splash on 4, it's a five note pattern and should be played as such. 

Practice getting it smooth and easy. This fill leaves a nice bit of space between count 4 and the next count 1, a tactic that Carter occasionally uses to signify the beginning of a new phrase. 

And as I always say, space is just as important as sound if you want to be a good communicator.

Happy drumming!