How important do you consider a good drummer?

[arbiterusa]

How important is a good drummer? If you don't have a good drummer you have nothing. Doesn't matter if everyone else in the band is of proven superstar status, you'd sound amateur at best.

And this goes double for bassists. If I don't have a good drummer I might as well go home.

 

[98mtd]

Your band is only as good as your drummer.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

OMG, the difference between an enjoyable gig where things lock and hell where you have to try to fight the tempo. It won't make the entire gig if the rest of the band is off, but it will make the rhythm section.

 

[drumsnbass]

More important to have a solid drummer with time, than a flashy drummer without time.

 

[JaredBT]

Can't be done without one. I walked away from one too and what a mistake I made. Kick myself everyday for it. Truly regret it.

 

[drummer5359]

Yeah, I'm important.

 

[Biggbass]

on a 1-10 scale the importance of a good drummer is a 10

 

[Session1969]

A drummer with a steady clock and good feel is heaven. I'm subbing in a funk band as a favor for some friends outside of my main gig. They're great people and I didn't want them missing out on some summer gigs they wanted to play. Their new drummer has been in the band for several months and still needs to look at a piece of paper for tempos and other stuff for eac song. We're talking 25 songs,or so that are pretty well known such as I Feel Good, Right Palce Wrong Time, Fight The Power. The funny thing is, even though he looks at the bpm number, other notes, he seems to want to play all the songs at about the same tempo and in a way that feels like he doesn't really know the song. He certainly doesn't play with build ups or things here and there to let people know a change is coming.

So, I'm a little miffed as to why he even takes the time in between songs to look over the notes. They're weekend warriors and all, so I have to be sure not to be too judgmental, but holey flippin' moley, to have to look at a cheat sheet for I Feel Good when you've been playing it for a few months, let alone hearing it your whole damn life ? So glad that my good deed stint ends, tomorrow night. They asked for 2 gigs , it's turned into 5. I think I did them a nice favor and I'm happy to.

 

[Hankenstein]

Is this really a serious question?

 

[Fxpmusic]

i found a great one a few months ago and through the first rehearsal, I considered leaving my wife for him.

 

[joebar]

a very talented drummer once. He couldn't keep time worth a damn

so which one is it?

 

[lokikallas]

I have found I can be very forgiving of guitarists, but I notice the drummers skill level very easily.

 

[someguyfromNC]

so which one is it?

Talent don't mean good. He picked it up naturally (talent) but wont put in any time to hone his skills (good)

So yea. That's the definition of Talented

 

[Bob_Ross]

I asked this question on a guitar forum and was quite surprised with the pretty much unanimous answer. Practically all of the 100 replies said extremely important, potentially the most important. What's your opinion bassists?

My opinion is that a good drummer is even more important than 100 guitarists say it is.

I'd rather play with no drummer than with a sub-average drummer. And I'm not too thrilled playing with average drummers.

 

[jerry]

Might be the most important after a singer who can actually sing.

 

[Rocker949]

Without a great drummer and competent vocals a band is just mediocre at best and an awful abomination at its worst.

Oh, absolutely.

 

[Arion]

In India, singers are cent a ton, guitarists and keyboard players are dime a dozen, bass players are quite rare, and the only drummer I know of is my cousin. I mean real drums, not drumpads, who are more in stock than bassists. IMO it looks horrible when a person is hitting a plate with sticks. I'll be better off with a DJ. He'll control the drum machine. I'm into electronic music, so real drums can be limiting. For

 

[cantstoplt021]

I'm surprised you're surprised. Why are you surprised? Maybe you have a different expectation of a good drummer. Would you elaborate on your own answer and what is the acceptable level of drumming you'd accept. I'm curious, not trying to be difficult.

I'm somewhat surprised by the "most important instrument" answer because there's so many components to music that drums can't play. They can't play melody of harmony like most other instruments can. You can only play one facet of music, granted the most important one in my eyes, but still. You can't really write a song on drums like you can on other things. A drum beat/groove isn't a song.

I'm saying this as someone who plays and practices drums very seriously. I love the drums and think they add so much to music. They're my other main instrument, with guitar being the other.

 

[Munjibunga]

Critical.

 

[EagleMoon]

If you don't have a good drummer everything pretty much falls apart and sounds sloppy. It's hard to groove with a drummer that keeps speeding up or slowing down. Unless I absolutely have to, I would prefer not to play with A crappy drummer.