We’re a cover band and our drummer plays some songs way too slow, like 15-20 bpm slow. And a few too fast by the same margin. The guitar player or myself will say something like that was too slow or you need to pick it up a little. We’ll play it again and it’s still at least 10 bpm slow. Then I’ll say that was better but it’s still slow and he gets offended, and says it doesn’t really matter that much as long a we’re all on the same page or he’ll hand me the sticks as if to say, don’t tell me how to play drums. One time I suggested we play the songs in question with a metronome playing through the PA and he gets all offended and says I’m not playing with a metronome. As the bass player I practice all of our songs with a bass backing track of the original song, so I’m intimately familiar with the pace of particular songs and it’s absolutely torturous playing these song 15-20 bpm slower than I usually play them. It’s just hard having to play at this slower pace and it feels like it just sucks the energy of whatever song we’re doing. He’s a good drummer and he plays the songs accurately except for the pace. What can we do to get him to play at the right speed?
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What’s the best way to deal with a drummer who plays too slow?
- Thread starter Pete Berger
- Start date
I played for a few years with a drummer was solid. And when I say solid I mean his tempos were rock solid consistent. However, what that translated to was if he started a song slow it would remain that tempo regardless of any subtle or not-so-subtle hints we threw his way. Same thing if he started fast.
Your best bet is to try and take on that challenge one on one. If he's getting defensive about it than he'll never accept any criticism you give in front of the whole band, no matter how much you try to be constructive.
Your best bet is to try and take on that challenge one on one. If he's getting defensive about it than he'll never accept any criticism you give in front of the whole band, no matter how much you try to be constructive.
Thank you for your feedback. I will try that. He does keep a solid pace, if he starts slow it stays slow and the same for fast.
Your results may vary, but I found this to be successful. I was a drummer for 15 years before ever playing bass. He and I shared the same experience of being self taught so he kind of accepted my opinions one on one because we were talking the same "language" if you will. Best of luck!
You could take the sticks and proceed to play a simple beat at the speed you need...probably best to do it on his thick skull.
Or give him some amphetamines...
On a slightly more serious note, the usual advice given here is to record the rehearsal or show.
Sit down together and listen to it. Playback don't lie.
Maybe have someone whose musical instinct he trusts (a music teacher, or local pro-level player) step in and agree with you.
The problem is that most drummers firmly believe the mantra that the tempo is whatever they choose and well, short of firing the guy, you'll just have to deal with that.
From my experience, when the drummer couldn't solve their issues we found another drummer.
Thank you for your advise. I actually have many recordings of us playing and that’s how I confirmed just how slow he was playing on some songs. I thought maybe I was crazy or being just too nit picky. So one day after practice, I played back our recordings and tapped the tempo of what we were playing on an app that tells you what bpm your taps are. I confirmed I was not crazy. 15-20 too slow. I did relay my findings at the next practice when he played the same songs slow as ever, but didn’t actually demonstrate with the recordings and metronome. His response was, “it doesn’t really matter that much”. + or - 5, it doesn’t, but 15-20 it does. I suppose I’ll have to sit down and show him one on one, so he can hear it in black and white lol, but I’m pretty sure he’s not going to be receptive and won’t even let me finish.
Fire The Drummer!
Always wanted to post that!
Seriously though, you can't speed him up or slow him down by playing in front or behind the beat? That's normally what works for me.
Always wanted to post that!
Seriously though, you can't speed him up or slow him down by playing in front or behind the beat? That's normally what works for me.
A fundamental skill of a good drummer is being able to set the tempo, if that isn't done by any other instrument. A dragging drummer is precisely that. You mention that he also plays ahead sometimes though, is he just getting the intro tempos wrong or does it drag more often than not? I'd rather someone who's a little bit ahead than someone who is playing behind, as you say, it kills the swing of it.
If he doesn't care about accuracy in tempo, he's not going to change and he's not a very good drummer. I know it's TB protocol and I rarely spout it myself, but I'd think about replacing a drummer like this. He's not representing your band well by being so laissez faire about what is actually his primary responsibility to the music.
Only thing I can think of is to ask him at a rehearsal to let you count off a tune or two. Maybe, just maybe, he'll enjoy the brighter tempo and start to change his mindset.
Maybe...
Maybe...
In all seriousness, I wouldn't make a huge deal by being picayune on BPM...and I say that as a drummer. I once subbed on bass for a band in which the guitarist gave the drummer two measures of a preset audible metronome lead-in for every tune. I found it to be humiliating...and I wasn't even playing drums.
Hence, I completely "get" the metronome resistance. Your drummer's ultimatum may be: "Do you want a drum machine on stage, or me?" However, I take no issue with continually sharing recordings of your band's performance and critiquing that your band's tempo "doesn't capture the energy of the original recording." Ultimately, you either work with the guy or replace him.
Best wishes.
Hence, I completely "get" the metronome resistance. Your drummer's ultimatum may be: "Do you want a drum machine on stage, or me?" However, I take no issue with continually sharing recordings of your band's performance and critiquing that your band's tempo "doesn't capture the energy of the original recording." Ultimately, you either work with the guy or replace him.
Best wishes.
I've noticed in the past that some of the drummers that had a good sense of tempo I've played with also sang quite a bit of backing. They would sing a couple of bars to themselves on the sticks before they counted in. The vocal phrasing was key, it seemed a good indicator that if phrases felt clipped or stretched or properly formed. It seemed to work well enough.
Play the original version that you’re covering and say, “That’s the tempo we want”.
You’re on the same page, but it’s the wrong page. It’s the page the drummer chose by playing the wrong tempo. It doesn’t matter to him, but it matters to you. That’s why you have to discuss it in the first place.
It sounds like he isn't open to using a metronome at all, which is unfortunate. I agree with @garp that being a human robot is never an expectation, but being in the ballpark is, I think, a reasonable thing to insist upon. I'm not sure how you get that from someone who says it doesn't matter much, though. If he thinks it doesn't matter, he's not going to be interested in solving the problem because, to him, there isn't a problem.
So @TinIndian might have the best suggestion, outside of moving on to find someone new.
Here's a thought: Maybe that drummer shouldn't be the one counting songs.
The drummer I work with is as close to a human metronome as anyone I have ever known. But sometimes he gets stuck on the wrong version of a song. We do an original arrangement of Take me to the River that I brought in with me from another band I was in, which is actually a bit faster than the original Al Green version. In the drummer's mind, Talking Heads did the only version of that song, so for months he tried to start it slowly, driving me and the other singer nuts.
I decided to start taking that one on myself by not waiting for him and just starting the song before he was ready, letting him come in where he wanted to. Then eventually I dug up a recording of my old band doing it, which was even faster, and played it for him (after unsuccessfully hinting that he should listen to the original).
Once he heard it, everything changed, but until then he had no frame of reference for why it should be faster than the arrangement he knew. Even with a really good drummer, sometimes you have to drop not-so-subtle hints. Maybe with a guy who doesn't care you just have to have someone else count out the tempos.
Shock therapy! Every time he starts to slow.....zap! 
