Music Genre Question

Jsk36

Senior Member
Well I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about styles of music and success and I have a couple of questions.

I definitely want to make drumming my career in the future, but my favorite types of music aren't the same genre as todays most successful bands.

I LOVE all rock and grunge and a little metal. And alternative. But if I were to ever be in a band that produced music of these genres do you think we would ever have a chance of being successful?

Mostly the music I hear now is nu metal, death metal, screamo( which i greatly despise ) I really only like the nu metal band Korn. But I never hear any new bands with that good old classic rock sound or heavy distorted music.

I know this isn't really drum-related but I don't know whom else to ask other than you guys.

Any knowledge about this would be greatly appreciated.
 
Metal is on the rise lately, many metal drummers are becoming very successful. Success shouldn't be a problem in any genre, but if that's the only thing you're looking for, I suggest you find something other than drumming.

If you're looking for the big money, start playing jazz gigs.
 
Well I do like jazz, but I'm still teaching myself to swing, and it's pretty tough...

I do want to be successful because growing up poor really isn't fun right now and hasn't ever been.

Do you think the music scene will change in 3-5 years?
 
Well I do like jazz, but I'm still teaching myself to swing, and it's pretty tough...

I do want to be successful because growing up poor really isn't fun right now and hasn't ever been.

Do you think the music scene will change in 3-5 years?

The music scene is constantly changing.

My advice? Keep playing what you're best at, and you'll succeed.
 
Well I do like jazz, but I'm still teaching myself to swing, and it's pretty tough...

I do want to be successful because growing up poor really isn't fun right now and hasn't ever been.

Do you think the music scene will change in 3-5 years?

The music scene recreates itself every five years. Most bands have a limited life span in the popular music world. While is is possible that you can make a splash within any genre of music, it is often the newness of your band that brings it to the edge of musical popularity, hence genre names like new wave or nu metal come to categorize bands that are associated with some 'new' movement in pop music. . But if you get with a band that can write good pop songs, Maroon Five, Train, or Coldplay, then all is well.

If your goal is to be in a band like Linkin Park, Korn, Slipknot or Disturbed, it is certainly worth a shot. What have you got to lose? But don't tie up your whole sense of self-worth in whether of not you become a heavy metal superstar. The chances are quite slim for anybody.
 
Do you think the music scene will change in 3-5 years?

Of course it will, Its like a revolving door. Thats what I love about music, but reminds me why I hate "classifying" it... Theres always someone out there with a name for what they hear, chances are in that time, there will be 100 more so-called "genres" to add to the list. But thats why new music can be so great. Its always mutating and reforming and blending , so as long as there are different styles to blend, there will always be new styles to form from and add to the "pot".
 
Wow, thanks for the responses so far!

I'm actually guessing metal will still be around for a while.

I like it, but I hope grunge will comeback someday.














someday...
 
If you're looking for the big money, start playing jazz gigs.

Seriously? Jazz drummers nowadays actually make a decent amount of cash?

That made my day, considering im really getting heavy into jazz drumming.
 
Wow, thanks for the responses so far!

I'm actually guessing metal will still be around for a while.

I like it, but I hope grunge will comeback someday.
someday...


In order for grunge to "comeback" you would need a group who could re-create that sound for a modern audience, so it would not seem like the same old grunge again. This genre might become known as "new grunge." If you look at a band like Audioslave, they incorporated a grunge sound into a classic hard rock sound. (But now they're done.)

Many movements in popular music don't happen by the work of one band but by a proliferation of bands who are doing something similar, like the glam/hair metal of the 1980's, which came out of LA for the most part, or the grunge rock the the 1990's, which was a Seattle phenomena. Musical movements do not necessarily need to to be that localized. They can be happening all over. You have rap metal developing on the west coast with bands like Rage Against the Machine and Faith No More, and on the east coast with The Beastie Boys, and other bands like Limp Bizkit. People knew back then that bands that could bring together rap and metal were going to sell big, and that would be the next movement. It was a bit contrived in that sense.

It will be interesting to see how the internet changes popular music in the future. In order for popular music to exist, there needs to a a centralized agency be it Hit Parade, Billboard or America's Top 20, that designates what is the happening thing; thus making it popular. As the internet creates more avenues for music and art to be discovered and enjoyed, it obliterates the need for a centralized agency to tell people what is the 'in thing.'
 
But I never hear any new bands with that good old classic rock sound or heavy distorted music.

What about all of those new bands that are completely revamping the AC/DC sound? I swear, every time I turn on the radio, I think, "wow, I've never heard this AC/DC song before", and it's some new band from Australia making waves. Jet is the only one that comes to mind right now.

If you're looking for the big money, start playing jazz gigs.

...I almost fell out of my chair laughing when I read this. Thanks, IronCobra!
 
I definitely want to make drumming my career in the future

In order to achieve that you need to be able to play all kinds of music, to be conversant in at least basic theory and be able to read music well. You can't only focus on the music that you like. You want to learn how to play the drums.
Think about it. Who's going to hire you? A grunge band? An alternative band? A metal band? No way. You get hired by people who need a well-rounded musician who can produce the results that they require, that they're paying for.
Would you turn down a job because it wasn't alternative or grunge? When drumming is your career you play what you get hired to play, no matter what kind of music it may be. You have to learn your way around the instrument playing many styles of music to make a living at it.
Yes, some people are fortunate enough to get with a band that gets signed and sells zillions of records, but I wouldn't bank on that happening. You want to get to be one of those guys that contracters describe this way: "Oh yeah, he's good, he can read and play anything." That's what being a professional musician is all about.
It's not that big a deal either. Lots of guys do it. It just takes doing it.
 
Do what I do.

Play what you want. Don't do what people listen to to become popular. That's no fun.
Play what you play, maybe find a few kids.


I've recently hooked up with a new band.
We are going to keep the *real* metal alive (or, thats our plan).
I've never felt so happy since I met these guys.
I should make a thread out of it im so pumped right now.

Rar!

I'm actually guessing metal will still be around for a while.

I will make sure of that.
Metal can never die, metal is my life. It's my lifeforce. I live metal, breathe metal, and most of all, play metal.
If metal dies, I will gaurentee you I will too.

^^^
That was a wierd way to put it, but ah hell, it's true.
 
In order to achieve that you need to be able to play all kinds of music, to be conversant in at least basic theory and be able to read music well. You can't only focus on the music that you like. You want to learn how to play the drums.
Think about it. Who's going to hire you? A grunge band? An alternative band? A metal band? No way. You get hired by people who need a well-rounded musician who can produce the results that they require, that they're paying for.
Would you turn down a job because it wasn't alternative or grunge? When drumming is your career you play what you get hired to play, no matter what kind of music it may be. You have to learn your way around the instrument playing many styles of music to make a living at it.
Yes, some people are fortunate enough to get with a band that gets signed and sells zillions of records, but I wouldn't bank on that happening. You want to get to be one of those guys that contracters describe this way: "Oh yeah, he's good, he can read and play anything." That's what being a professional musician is all about.
It's not that big a deal either. Lots of guys do it. It just takes doing it.
some good advice right there thank you.
 
i hear a BUNCH of bands that sound old fashioned.
you should do what genre you love and so what if u don't become the best band ever.
you will have a strong group of fans that will stay with your band forever
 
If you want to work as a professional musician, particularly as drummer, take into account your ability to play what the job calls for regardless.
 
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