You need to find the positives in his style of drumming and let everything else fall away. If he's really loose to the point of absurdity go with it...100% and incorporate it into your sound. If he's incapable of hitting hard enough or lacks stamina that's a different matter, give him the boot because those are things that should only apply to new drummers. Other than that, accept his style and accentuate it. If he turns up on time and is into what you're doing hold on to him.
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how to tell the drummer??????
- Thread starter safeshow
- Start date
Tell your drummer that the band wants to go in a new direction, with a new drummer. Don't go away mad; just go away. 
Well... Music is a form of communication with nuances and subtleties that requires experience and savvy to do well.
Raised eyebrows to some mean, "OK, go on to the chorus" and to others mean, "What? What are you looking at me like that for?" - I think the OP is found in the latter audience.
Someone asks for advice on how to communicate with their drummer and is given the equivalent of 'raised eyebrows' basically indicating "open your mouth and tell him what you are thinking, but do so with humility and awareness" - and the cue is missed entirely.
Then it's explained and rather than getting it and embracing it, the OP decided to be offended by it all. Admittedly, the cue may have been vague, but the subsequent explanations should have clarified it all for him had he been willing to hear it in the spirit it was intended.
Being in a band requires the ability to:
a) communicate without being insulting or insulted
b) pick up on subtleties and incorporate the message into your own person m.o.
c) accept that you too may have issues that others are not digging so when you decide to offer criticism, remember to do so in a way that you'd like criticism to be offered to you.
Along with being able to play your part and be musical, you have to be able to communicate at a level above the everyday BSing and NOT be so easily offended. If someone BS's you ie; "Where's the fire?" and you get all miffed, you are probably too thin skinned to be in a band in the first place.
On the flip side, if you get all bent out of shape when a drummer pushes or drags and feel you have to yell at him, you too probably need a reality check.
Lighten up, Francis. Speak respectfully to your bandmate and see if you can come to a consensus about your issues with him.
It could not be said enough. Metronome, Metronome, Metronome! Use it during personal practice time such as learning riffs or scales. Use it during band rehearsals. Use it during performances. Use while cooking lunch. It will take a little getting used to but you will find it very helpful in improving your meter. When practicing complicated or syncopated rhythms use it slowed down to perfect details that are easily ignored. Then increase the tempo in small steps. It is not as easy as you might think but the results are well worth it.
Can't keep time or tempo? He's not a drummer, he's a guy who owns a drum kit. Find a drummer or wait until he learns to play.
svtb15
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- Mar 22, 2004
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- I play it all. Whatever works for the gig. Q+
Friends are one thing . Business/ gigs is another...
I get to play with many situations and drummers.. some great time keepers and some that really suck..
I feel that if i have to tell them what they need to do, then they are not going to get what i have to suggest anyway..
I would work to fire him. or find another gig and then quit..
I get to play with many situations and drummers.. some great time keepers and some that really suck..
I feel that if i have to tell them what they need to do, then they are not going to get what i have to suggest anyway..
I would work to fire him. or find another gig and then quit..
this^^^^
I think in the long run you will be better served by making this about both of you rather than just him. The two of you getting together will make you a stronger unit and the whole band will benefit from that.
Drummers are such a strange lot. When you find one who can play AND with whom you can get along, NEVER let him/her go! All others are expendable.
Sit down and talk. Lay out the problems, and tell them honestly that if there isn't an improvement, the gig is over. AND MEAN WHAT YOU SAY.
Most problems come not from the music, but the members of the band not knowing wheather or not the band is a music group or a 'buddy band'. If your group is a music group then Duke Ellington has a phrase for you: "A musical decision outweighs all other decisions".
Sometimes an incompetent player is tolerated because there is a fear that a replacement can't be found who doesn't have some 'baggage'. EVERYONE has some baggage. Go with talent and solve the other problems.
Most problems come not from the music, but the members of the band not knowing wheather or not the band is a music group or a 'buddy band'. If your group is a music group then Duke Ellington has a phrase for you: "A musical decision outweighs all other decisions".
Sometimes an incompetent player is tolerated because there is a fear that a replacement can't be found who doesn't have some 'baggage'. EVERYONE has some baggage. Go with talent and solve the other problems.
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THIS^
Drummers with no feel is the quickest, most sure fire way to play gigs ONCE and never being asked back.
Can't do it dude. If your actually trying to make money, you can't have him. Period. Give him 6 months to practice and get back at you.
Main reason why semi-pros stay at semi-pro status. If he's not adding, he's subtracting. And he's costing you time in the process. Stay friends, drink beer, 'jam' on Saturdays, but I would NEVER take a drummer with me if I had no confidence in him.
Can't hide the drums.
As a serious drummer and a serious player of bass, I often find it simple to effectively communicate with drummers.
For example:
Say he speeds up during the prechorus at rehearsal, I simply wait until we stop, and ask if he noticed the tempo increase, and to try and pull back a hair if possible.
Easy enough. No ego, no rage.
If it happens again at later time I usually make a quick note of it.
Also: communication! You know your parts well enough to know the tempo so communicate while playing. If he is speeding up or getting loud let him know with body language or mouth it out!
You should all be making eye contact anyhow.
Best of luck
For example:
Say he speeds up during the prechorus at rehearsal, I simply wait until we stop, and ask if he noticed the tempo increase, and to try and pull back a hair if possible.
Easy enough. No ego, no rage.
If it happens again at later time I usually make a quick note of it.
Also: communication! You know your parts well enough to know the tempo so communicate while playing. If he is speeding up or getting loud let him know with body language or mouth it out!
You should all be making eye contact anyhow.
Best of luck
Man, I'll tell you. The drummer in my band is a co-founder. When we first got together four months ago and he said he'd played his whole life but was getting back into it after a break. The first month he was very close to how he is now, still. I've never been in a band with a drummer who didn't practice alot on their own. I asked him if he practices at home and said no because he lives in an apt. When I asked why he didn't in our studio, he gave another excuse. He has a bpm meter he uses for rehearsals and I asked him not to bring it to the gig because I hear differences in tempo when he looks at the thing. My advice for him to not take it on the gig was worse. It's a crutch and it doesn't program the mind the way a metronome does. The thing is, we just completeted our 9 piece line up and it took us four months.I don't want to leave but if things don't change
Get a new drummer, you can't teach groove, and it's too hard to teach or get folks to admit they've got bad time.
I guarantee he won't change enough for it to matter. you can't give a groove transfusion, trust me... I've tried.
I guarantee he won't change enough for it to matter. you can't give a groove transfusion, trust me... I've tried.
