The "two drummer blues"

A J

Silver Member
I have been in a two-drummer band for almost two years. Everything is going well but... Me and the other drummer are so accustomed to playing off each other's beats that we have trouble playing alone! Examples:

1. A few months ago I played a charity gig as the SOLE drummer. I had all kinds of issues playing the simplest songs!
2. A couple days ago we were recording. The "lead" drummer was noticeably lost and uncomfortable without me playing alongside him.

This made for a lot of harassment and teasing. All in good fun.

We've really become "locked in". It's actually kinda cool. We can replicate beats that are impossible for a lone drummer. On the downside, we have become dependent upon another drummer. All in all, I'm happy with what we're accomplished so far.
 
Your situation is good and not so good at the same time. Don't lose track of your own ability to function as the sole drummer in other musical situations. I have only played with another drummer on a few occasions, and it always went well, because we were both aware of what each of us were doing, and we paid attention.
 
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It's a bit of a pickle, but the obvious solution is to focus time on practicing and playing as the sole drummer.

If I were in a two-drummer band, I'd work pretty hard to be the person my bandmates would keep when they come to the almost inevitable conclusion that they'd like to have one less person getting the limited number of drink tickets for playing the show.
 
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I suspect you are probably missing something else in the mix. Weak bassist maybe. Weak vocals. Play some Grateful dead and worry about the other gigs later.
 
It's a bit of a pickle, but the obvious solution is to focus time on practicing and playing as the sole drummer.

If I were in a two-drummer band, I'd work pretty hard to be the person my bandmates would keep when they come to the almost inevitable conclusion that they'd like to have one less person getting the limited number of drink tickets for playing the show.
Although there are a few things I can do better, the other guy is clearly the better drummer. We're doing recording right now and he's doing all the drums. I'm doing all the percussion.
 
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