If you could Have Lessons Fron Any Professional Drummer Who Would It Be?

Ringo - how fun would that be?

Phil Collins - I love the way he seems to mix jazz and rock styles.

Scott Devours - may not be well known to many of you but he is currently drumming for Roger Daltrey and is kick ass. He also seems like an everyday guy who just happened to fall into this dream job (I'm sure it didn't happen that way, really) but he seems as if he would be laid back and easy to relate to.
 
I was lucky enough to take many lessons from my favorite drummer and biggest influence on my drumming: Gregg Bissonette........................................But at this point I would pick Rod Morgenstein, Simon Phillips and/or Todd Sucherman.
 
Steve Smith or Freddie Gruber- To analyze my playing style and find and remove the "hitting a brick wall" moments.
Any of Zappa's drummers and Bermuda- Playing for someone like Frank or "Weird" Al tends to be much more demanding than you might suspect. Ever listen to Spike Jones? His band (The City Slickers) could do pretty much anything, and often did.
 
Hmm tough call. My list would include:

  • Steve Gadd
  • Stewart Copeland
  • Alex Acuna
  • Jojo Mayer

What fun
Davo
 
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I'd want Peter Erskine to help with my variety of style and Neil Peart to teach me to be so perfect.
 
mikeybbdrummin said:
I was lucky enough to take many lessons from my favorite drummer and biggest influence on my drumming: Gregg Bissonette.
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Met my favorite drummer multiple times...hasn't always worked out so good. Greg would be an excellent choice.

Love his versatile chops and laid back demeanor!
 
Any of the following three:
Neil Peart
Danny Carey
Mike Portnoy
 
Benny Greb. In my opinion, he is the most creative and clean sounding musician drumming has seen in a very long time.
 
But how good a teacher would all these famous drummers be? I remember reading a news article when Apple came out with Garage Band or something like that... where they had people like Sting giving lessons on bass. The article pointed out that although these guys are legends, they aren't necessarily good teachers. Do they understand positive reinforcement? Are they patient? Can they spot your weak spots? These are all important questions, and just because you're famous doesn't mean you're going to be strong in these areas.
 
When it comes to just playing, I'm curiouse myself as to what you'd actually get from a "pro" drummer. I mean really, what are they going to do thats so different? I mean I can be told all sorts of stuff but I still gotta put in the work... I'm assuming its that they command more of our attention? I know if Tim Alexander told me to stand on my head and practice I'd try it lol
 
nocTurnal said:
But how good a teacher would all these famous drummers be? I remember reading a news article when Apple came out with Garage Band or something like that... where they had people like Sting giving lessons on bass. The article pointed out that although these guys are legends, they aren't necessarily good teachers. Do they understand positive reinforcement? Are they patient? Can they spot your weak spots? These are all important questions, and just because you're famous doesn't mean you're going to be strong in these areas.
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You make a really good point! The best players may not be the best teachers. So true.

On the other hand, clearly, the guys I've listed have something special that few others do. Matt Chamberlain himself has said that his time and groove were not always that great, and that there were specific things he did that helped. I could spend a day with him talking about that stuff. I mean really specific things.

So, for me, yeah, my "lesson" could be nothing but picking their brains.
 
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