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Drummer with no groove, what do you do?
- Thread starter bslayton
- Start date
If he's not good now, unwilling to take criticism and isn't working his butt off to get better, time for a new drummer. Find out how the rest of the band feels. If they agree with you, he either rights the ship or he goes. If they don't, then maybe it's time for you to cut bait and find a new band.
I think I'm just cursed to play with mediocre drummers. Great new R&B band starting up. Everyone's cool, good female singer and keyboard player and guitar player. Drummer? No groove and just simple boom-chick boom-chick beats. Some guys play drums and some guys play AT playing drums. We practice at his house and he has a couple of good connections so not so easy to replace.
So what do I consider good? This. Funky, deep pocket, great chops but not overpowering. From our own faulknersj's band:
So what do I consider good? This. Funky, deep pocket, great chops but not overpowering. From our own faulknersj's band:
He's not a musician. He's a wanna be. Just wants to hang out with you guys.We have about 20 songs we know and he's asking to learn more but we can't even nail down the ones we already play. If I could only get him to start listening to us and the original recordings in a critical way. His approach - "I heard it - I'll just feel it out."
You tell this dude to swing and he rolls his eyes. You tell him to play a shuffle and he plays this odd disco sorta beat. Mention a backbeat and he goes cross-eyed
Nail on the head. And I think deep down, I already know this. I'm just holding on to hope that he will take as much interest in being a musician as the rest of us.
Evvvvvvvvvery know and then we are blessed with having my friend sit in (who unfortunately can't commit to more than the occasional session) who plays just as good as this dude - he's incredible.
But having him around is a blessing and a curse - he's a thrill to play with but when he leaves and the no-groove dude comes back, we are reminded of how great we can sound.
The guitar player and I are ready to start scouting for more musicians but how could we possibly bring in someone with any kind of talent with this type of drummer? Its embarrassing.
Why recruit more talent when your drummer's groove-impaired? It's like taking a loan to custom paint a car with a blown engine.
At the next rehearsal shame him by showing this video. If he starts crying, get some reaction footage to share with us!
We're ready = we want to recruit. However, we know we're not ready and are not currently recruiting.
If the drummer sucks....
...9X% of the audience will think the band does as well. Won't matter how good the other players might be. If the guy finger drumming at the bar has better time than your 'drummer' it's time for a change.
...9X% of the audience will think the band does as well. Won't matter how good the other players might be. If the guy finger drumming at the bar has better time than your 'drummer' it's time for a change.
No groove drummer? I quit and started my own band with a great drummer. Problem solved. The guitarist and I used to call the old bands drummer "sneakers in a dryer". We've also referred to the old band as Mike XXXXX and the Tempo Destroyers. Quite often during a gig everything would be going off and we'd look back and he's staring at the walls, or farting around with his computer. Damn software engineer - no feel at all.
Hit him with your rhythm stick
hit him, hit him
hit him slowly, hit him quick
hit him, hit him
On a more serious note: Maybe he dosn't fit into a cover band, and haven't just realized yet?
If my impression of what I am reading is true, he would properly fit better into a band that kind of tries to do their own original stuff, but then always end up just fooling around when trying to get a song together, because that is what they feel like doing, which again most likely is because that is what they need to do to become better musicians and in order to maybe a few years later realize why they never really got any songs finished.
And if that is the case then he will slowly learn to listen to other people than himself and maybe even end up turning out as good musicians after all.
If my impression is true, and in case I am indeed right in my far fetched assumption, maybe you would do both him and your band a favor by firing him.
Maybe even suggest him something like the above, like maybe:
"Please don't misunderstand me, it's not like you are bad, but I don't really get the feeling like you are really having any fun playing in this band, and to be honest your drumming style dosn't really fit in either.
Have you ever thought about starting your own band doing originals?"
I could be terribly wrong though, he might never learn to listen to others, he might even not realize that your band is not for him, or I could have misunderstood the situation.
Anyway, just my 50 cent.
hit him, hit him
hit him slowly, hit him quick
hit him, hit him
On a more serious note: Maybe he dosn't fit into a cover band, and haven't just realized yet?
If my impression of what I am reading is true, he would properly fit better into a band that kind of tries to do their own original stuff, but then always end up just fooling around when trying to get a song together, because that is what they feel like doing, which again most likely is because that is what they need to do to become better musicians and in order to maybe a few years later realize why they never really got any songs finished.
And if that is the case then he will slowly learn to listen to other people than himself and maybe even end up turning out as good musicians after all.
If my impression is true, and in case I am indeed right in my far fetched assumption, maybe you would do both him and your band a favor by firing him.
Maybe even suggest him something like the above, like maybe:
"Please don't misunderstand me, it's not like you are bad, but I don't really get the feeling like you are really having any fun playing in this band, and to be honest your drumming style dosn't really fit in either.
Have you ever thought about starting your own band doing originals?"
I could be terribly wrong though, he might never learn to listen to others, he might even not realize that your band is not for him, or I could have misunderstood the situation.
Anyway, just my 50 cent.
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Our drummer sucks too! All he can do (and not even do well) is the simple bass drum on 1 and 3 and snare on 2 and 4 and eighth notes on hi hats. I wanted to play some Rumba Blues which requires him to hit bass drum on the 1, the and of 2, and the 4. Apparently this was like asking a 3rd grader if they have mastered calculus. He reverts back to the 1 and 3 thing and kills the whole groove. I will confess I have wanted to strangle him on numerous occassions.
Harsh truth? You can admire the problem as long as you'd like to but in the end there is no bass player who sounds good with a bad drummer and you will come off looking like a bad bassist in a bad band if and when you ever choose to perform. Or you can keep complaining about it here as if that will somehow make a difference.
Hilarious.
I was asking for advice - some that I have since received and implemented.
We had 'the talk' and laid out our expectations with him. In short, get better or don't be upset when better comes along.
He got really ticked off at first but has since shown a greater interest in getting better. We'll see how long this will last...
Been away from this thread for a while but was reminded last night that there's one band I play in that has a popular local musician and recording engineer who fancies himself a drummer and it is a huge struggle to play with him. Politics and nepotism are involved so that situation will never change; I guess my lesson here is that if I want that Benjamin I just gotta deal with it.
