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Connecting With the drummer?
- Thread starter bongo499
- Start date
Just play with whatever drummer you want to connect with as much as you can. It comes with time, and becoming familiar with how they play. It's where there's almost a psychic bond between you and the drummer. you know exactly what he's going to do, and when he'll do it and he knows the same for you. when this happens, the music sounds much more solid, and you can commpliment each other perfectly.
bassman314
I seem to be a verb, an evolutionary process...
Listen to the high-hat or ride cymbal. That's there the beat is kept for tempo.
Try to match the rhythm played by the drummer in your own riff. One of my favorite examples is listening to Flea and any drummer in the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. He'll slap or pluck a low note when the drummer hits the bass drum. He pops or plucks a high note when the drummer hits a snare or cymbal crash.
One thing to do is practice with JUST the drummer. Pick a song and groove with them. Develop the "psychic" connection over time. Take turns leading. Let the drummer drive the tempo and feel, and follow their lead. then turn around and you take the lead and drive the tempo and feel, and the follow your lead. It won't happen when you are trying to work out a passage in a song that you have to play that evening, nor will it happen if you just work at it at a gig.
Try to match the rhythm played by the drummer in your own riff. One of my favorite examples is listening to Flea and any drummer in the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. He'll slap or pluck a low note when the drummer hits the bass drum. He pops or plucks a high note when the drummer hits a snare or cymbal crash.
One thing to do is practice with JUST the drummer. Pick a song and groove with them. Develop the "psychic" connection over time. Take turns leading. Let the drummer drive the tempo and feel, and follow their lead. then turn around and you take the lead and drive the tempo and feel, and the follow your lead. It won't happen when you are trying to work out a passage in a song that you have to play that evening, nor will it happen if you just work at it at a gig.
I agree with the playing with the drummer as much as possible, but be wary of just following what his hi-hat or bass drum is doing. A good drummer (in all types of music) will often play around with the beats or play a little ahead or behind (or both). More important is to follow the beats he stresses and feel the time rather than "see" the time. I think that this is the only way to really "lock in" rather than just "play with" the drummer. This, like everything else, takes practice and a lot of time playing with someone, but eventually you can lock in with any good drummer on the first time if you learn how to feel the rhythms.
BassZen said:
I agree. If it was as 'simple' as playing 1&3/2&4...life would be pretty boring.
True, there are times when one may want to play so tight with the kick that it almost sounds like ONE instrument. There are also times when it is desirable to play to play 'off' the drummer(maybe 'filling in the cracks'?).
The antithesis to Flea/Chad Smith would be Jimmy Haslip & Will Kennedy.
Example:
A drummer may-
Play a busy 1/16th note thing with the kick drum(like a Clyde Stubblefield or Dave Garibaldi/Mike Clark)
...while playing 1/4 notes on the ride(ding-ding-ding-ding)
...while playing the snare in 1/2 time(relative to the ride's 4/4; if you, the bassist, are counting in "4", this will put the snare on "3").
So, what/where does one play?
True, one could try to ape the kick or a sample there of; one could also play in the backbeat(let the drummer's kick make the staement on Beats "1" & "3"...while the bass plays a figure around Beats "2" & "4").
IMO, the connection is understanding where he's coming from...is he coming outta a backbeat Funk-Rock? Is he more polyrhythmic & maybe into Afro-Cuban beats? Etc...
Ever notice why you can 'lock' with some guys almost immediately?
While others seem to take time & effort?
Learn the vocabulary of who you're playing with.
bassman314
I seem to be a verb, an evolutionary process...
I know it's more complex than that... But to gain the compelxity required, you still have to know the framework.
Most drummers I play with keep a very strong 8th note or quarter note feel on either the ride or the high hat. I listen for that to find out where the beats are and then fit into the framework. I hardly ever play straight, preferring syncopated rhythms and triplets to add dimension to the music.
To think outside the box, you have to know what defines the box.
Most drummers I play with keep a very strong 8th note or quarter note feel on either the ride or the high hat. I listen for that to find out where the beats are and then fit into the framework. I hardly ever play straight, preferring syncopated rhythms and triplets to add dimension to the music.
To think outside the box, you have to know what defines the box.
1. Stand right beside your drummer's high hat. IMHO, the high hat is the best gauge of tempo (in rock there are a lot of eighth notes which are a great tempo que)
2. Listen for the bass drum (from where you are standing you can watch his leg action on the bass drum pedal) and get a bass line happening that work with his bas drummin'
3. Watch and listen to everything the drummer is doing and stay in synch. I once read Carmen Appice in an interview praising his long-time bass sidekick, Tim Bogert for listening to every aspect of the drums not just the high hat and bass drum. For example, snare drum hits are a great time to put accents on your playing. Even if the drummer is doing these hits on the "2" and "4" beat in a simple rock drumming pattern, accenting the "2" and "4" in your bass playing will really make the bass and drums sound tight!
2. Listen for the bass drum (from where you are standing you can watch his leg action on the bass drum pedal) and get a bass line happening that work with his bas drummin'
3. Watch and listen to everything the drummer is doing and stay in synch. I once read Carmen Appice in an interview praising his long-time bass sidekick, Tim Bogert for listening to every aspect of the drums not just the high hat and bass drum. For example, snare drum hits are a great time to put accents on your playing. Even if the drummer is doing these hits on the "2" and "4" beat in a simple rock drumming pattern, accenting the "2" and "4" in your bass playing will really make the bass and drums sound tight!
I would have to 3rd or 4th the notion of really getting used to the drummer. Learn to get inside his/her head playing wise. Learn to a point of 2nd nature where he/she places the kick. Get a real feel for what grooves are favored.
Exploit the area around his/her beats. Mesh with his/her playing. Find his/her pocket and make sure he/she understands what you're about too.
It's that common ground that makes or breaks a rythm section. It's not about one playing to the other...
Exploit the area around his/her beats. Mesh with his/her playing. Find his/her pocket and make sure he/she understands what you're about too.
It's that common ground that makes or breaks a rythm section. It's not about one playing to the other...
bassman314
I seem to be a verb, an evolutionary process...
Mon Rominee said:
"Yo Victa! Wassin' eva you do, I want you to remember this... U can't hold no groove, if you ain't got no pocket!!"
lefty said:
I am a drummer. More so than I am a blass player.
I always listen for the kick drum and I want to be on the root note at the same time the drummer is on the kick. Thats usually on the 1 & 3 in a basic rock 4/4 time signature.
You can lock in on the 1 and then do whatever, arpegios, throw in a walk down whatever, but be sure you are back with him on the 1. Thats the most simple way I can explain it.
Of course different time signatures will alter that, and thinking out of the box and doing different things other than what theory tells you is fine as well, as long as it sounds good to you, and your bandmates of course.
Keeping it simple at first will help you with the learning curve.
