Joining a band when your chops aren't great?

cantstoplt021

Senior Member
So I've been playing drums for about a year now and really loving them. I'm also a guitar player, but in some ways drums feel like my instrument. I practice pretty much daily for a couple hours a day and I've really made some great progress lately. I think I'm ready to join my first serious band, but the only concern I have is my chops (namely my hand speed). There's just certain things/songs that I can't do yet, because I don't have the chops to do them. Fast fills and songs like everlong come to mind. At the end of the day this probably isn't that big of a deal as most of the music I'm interested in doesn't require fast chops. Two of my favorite drummers, Steve Jordan and JJ Johnson (Tedeschi Trucks Band), hardly ever show their chops off. I have spent most of my time working on independence, groove, styles and TIME. I like to think my timing is pretty solid on most things. The metronome is my best friend. Anyway how do chops relate to going a band. I think I have the advantage of having good solid time (which I've heard a lot of drummers not have) so chops might not matter in this case. I'm also not looking to play chop intensive genres right now.
 
I say go for it, there is no substitute for playing along with others. It will up your game to be your own metronome and learn dynamics in a band. Most bands look to the drummer to simply keep solid time, a groove, and maintain dynamics to songs. They don't look for busy drummers filling everywhere, or flashing paradiddles, blushdas or solos.
 
I agree with open tune. Go for it... also the most important thing is having solid time. No one cares too much about flashy fills unless the song has a distinct intro or something like that where it would be greatly noticed without it

FWIW my band played Everlong the first time we got together to jam. I've been playing for many years and still can't keep up with the speed in the song. (I also don't practice hours a day anymore). I'll play 16ths for the intro and drop to eigths. No one seems to care.
 
If my experience is any indication, you've left it about 46 weeks too late.

My band started with me, but honestly, it started 6 weeks into my drumming adventure. Go for it!
 
If you've truly been hitting stuff to a metronome as a best friend from the start, your sense of time is likely much better than the average 1 year player. Most new players do not do this in my experience, and honestly, if you've got solid time, tons of bands will eat that up. You wouldn't go for the ultra-creative stuff where they would expect certain things from you in exact ways, but a lot of music styles really respect a drummer holding it down in a simple way.
 
Going off on 15 minute solos and and trying to go as fast as you can is always fun when practicing, but when it comes to playing with a band (especially for the genre you say you're thinking of playing) timing should always be your main concern. And from what you say it appears that that's been something you've practiced so I think you'll be just fine man.


Plus you really are going to become a better drummer playing with other people. I promise . I didn't actually join a band until I had been playing for about 10 years. Mainly because the opportunity wasn't really there. But since I have it's made me a much much better drummer. If I could have joined a band when I was in my first year I would have jumped all over that. The opportunity just never presented itself. I feel like I have pretty good chops but like yourself, the genre I play doesn't really call for a lot of flashy stuff so it doesn't even matter in that regard.
Plus you're in you're first year. Don't sweat it so much. Keep practicing as diligently as you say you are and I promise you'll improve and have a much more solid base than a lot of drummers have
 
Do it, you will learn more in one session with a band and a decent bass player than months of solo practice. Listen to the rest of the band, especially the bass player. Playing live music with others is what being a musician is all about.
 
Check this out:

3bc3713a520879d5fb9c211b18f148de.jpg


If this image shot with an iPhone could make it to the cover of Time Magazine, there is no reason why your less than perfect chops would hinder your ablity to express yourself in a band (unless you're playing the sort of music that would require it like Extreme Metal for instance). A camera is merely a tool, and you need to look at chops in the same way. You can definitely create something wonderful without it, sometimes in some incredibly creative ways. In time, you will get to where you want. If you're good at keeping time, you're already miles ahead. Till then, I'd recommend doing what you're doing and have fun! :)

So I've been playing drums for about a year now and really loving them. I'm also a guitar player, but in some ways drums feel like my instrument. I practice pretty much daily for a couple hours a day and I've really made some great progress lately. I think I'm ready to join my first serious band, but the only concern I have is my chops (namely my hand speed). There's just certain things/songs that I can't do yet, because I don't have the chops to do them. Fast fills and songs like everlong come to mind. At the end of the day this probably isn't that big of a deal as most of the music I'm interested in doesn't require fast chops. Two of my favorite drummers, Steve Jordan and JJ Johnson (Tedeschi Trucks Band), hardly ever show their chops off. I have spent most of my time working on independence, groove, styles and TIME. I like to think my timing is pretty solid on most things. The metronome is my best friend. Anyway how do chops relate to going a band. I think I have the advantage of having good solid time (which I've heard a lot of drummers not have) so chops might not matter in this case. I'm also not looking to play chop intensive genres right now.
 
Hi cantstoplt021, if you have good time and a nice pocket the band or bands will like you. You also play guitar so you know about melody and song structural stuff (intro, verse, chorus, bridge, sole, ending) you know it. That puts you ahead of 90% or more of most drummers. Just work on getting the intro’s and endings tight at first with a few basic fills and accents and you should be fine. The more you play with a band the more you will grow with your fills and or chops. Time and pocket always first.
 
I agree with open tune. Go for it... also the most important thing is having solid time. No one cares too much about flashy fills unless the song has a distinct intro or something like that where it would be greatly noticed without it

FWIW my band played Everlong the first time we got together to jam. I've been playing for many years and still can't keep up with the speed in the song. (I also don't practice hours a day anymore). I'll play 16ths for the intro and drop to eigths. No one seems to care.

You can always figure out workarounds to compensate for weak areas so that the music still feels good. The suggestion to drop to eighth notes for Everlong is a perfect example. My band plays this and I play it with sixteenths. I know my tempo is perfect because it's on the very edge of how fast I can play (dropped sticks increase as well unfortunately). Fills in a song like Everlong seem to work better when they're a bit imprecise--your band mates will need you to be back on the one though. As much as I love Neil Peart, his precise style of play would sound horrible on a tune like Everlong. My point here is that there are workarounds for any song that will work for you. Be creative. Capture the main vibe of songs but forget about note for note. Time and groove are always more important than chops.
 
The drummer has a lot of leeway to simplify the drum part and still sound "right". When approaching a new song, I break it down to its most basic groove, and once I have mastered that, I work on adding the complexities back in, until it is at least a decent approximation of the recorded part. For any song there will be some signature elements which listeners will expect to hear. They need to be mastered, but for the rest of it, do what you can and people will be happy with it. Remember that nobody else in the band will be note perfect with the recorded version either. (This may not apply to Bermuda, but it does for most of us.)

Here's a f'rinstance. I was recently asked to play "I Will Survive". It's very straightforward, with the high hat opening on every 'and'. The correct high hat pattern is 1-e-and, 2-e-and, 3-e-and, 4-e-and. In the time I had to learn it, I just could not get that working properly with the high hat opens. So I switched to playing 2 handed 16ths on the high hats. Was it the same as the recorded version? No. Did it maintain the feel? Yes. And I'd be surprised if 2 people in the room were aware that I had tweaked the pattern to fit comfortably within my abilities.
 
Chops are over-rated anyway: listen to the vast majority of songs played on the radio and the fills will be deliberately simple, but played with huge confidence. Dynamic control and timing are the key ingredients. Save your chops and rudiments for home practice and just get out there with a band and have fun!
 
"Chops" are time, feel, musicality, speed, endurance, dexterity, performance, tricks, licks, etc. You're on your way....no need to be hard on yourself because the tricky stuff isn't there.
 
Here's a f'rinstance. I was recently asked to play "I Will Survive". It's very straightforward, with the high hat opening on every 'and'. The correct high hat pattern is 1-e-and, 2-e-and, 3-e-and, 4-e-and. In the time I had to learn it, I just could not get that working properly with the high hat opens. So I switched to playing 2 handed 16ths on the high hats. Was it the same as the recorded version? No. Did it maintain the feel? Yes. And I'd be surprised if 2 people in the room were aware that I had tweaked the pattern to fit comfortably within my abilities.

DISCO!!!!!!!! I had to learn that because I was an RTF fan and Lenny White used to do that a lot on their albums too.

What killed me from that era was the steady one-handed 16th notes on the high hat at 100bpm. I never learned how to relax at that pattern, so my hand would die after the first minute and/or flub the occasional fill. I'd revert to doing it two handed, which doesn't sound the same. Oh well ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YS7sWCG_ZE
 
I'd say go for it! You just want to make sure that the other players are at a similar level.

This is similar to learning a new language, the classroom time is extremely valuable, but many times it doesn't get put into context until you're actually conversing with people at the same level as you.
 
Back
Top