Great drummers can play it all

[mrthirsty]

I heard Dennis Chambers say in an interview once if you want to be versatile you don't have to master every style but should have a working knowledge and understanding of it.

 

[GetAgrippa]

What does reason have to do with this? Well I can only reason I , GetAgrippa, must be a Great Drummer by virtue I can play anything. Now the caveat is I do most poorly but that was never in the question just “Great drummers can play it all” . Which is a statement and not even a question so the assertion is it’s true. So pretty vague although I know intent. So if you have or can play anything - there is no mention of tempo (so can play it really slow) or an expectation the outcome is great-the drummer is great. LOL
Then there is also the greatest virtual improvisational drummer thing I’ve awarded myself ROFL

 

[GetAgrippa]

I’d like to thank the OP for this thread. I’ve never basked in greatness so feelin Great.

 

[Sonorfan]

"Great drummers play it all" couldn't disagree more.

"Great drummers are versatile" is a more accurate agreeable statement IMO.

Please note I didn’t say they could play it all “and be great at it” ! You say versatile which certainly fits my statement. But being well familiar with different styles of music are in my humble opinion what great drummers do. Saying that, there are thousands of
drummers out there just as there are those playing other instruments, that are there to have fun and be who and what they are from a skill and self entertainment level. I’m sure everone on this site knows one. They are the ones that stick to a genre’ and don’t venture outside it. To use your term the “versatile“ do venture forth. But that’s what democracy allows otherwise we’d all have to take a “means test” before we’d be allowed to buy a kit.
Hey on second thought that might not
be such a bad idea considering guitarists i‘ve played with !
Just kidding

 

[J-W]

The thing I find most interesting about Rock drummers is that they have never played brushes.....

When Rockers do pick them up they use the matched grip and play them like sticks

Those are some pretty broad generalizations there.
FYI, despite me being primarily a rock/metal/prog drummer, I have, and still occasionally do, play brushes and when I do, I play traditional grip. My first instructor also insisted that I learn the techniques. Even though he was a complete and utter jazz-hole, I do appreciate some of what he taught me. Most of what I learned from him, however, was how his narrow minded thinking was detrimental to his growth not only as a drummer, but as a person.

 

[prokofi5]

I think what separates good drumers from the great ones is their mastering the subtleties of the genre so there's no reason to expect a great jazz drummer to be able to play great rock or vice versa. Peart may not have been able to play big band like Rich, but Rich wasn't able to play bebop like Roach and so on. That doesn't diminish their status as GOAT's.

 

[someguy01]

"Great drummers play it all" couldn't disagree more.

"Great drummers are versatile" is a more accurate agreeable statement IMO.

+1
Until Dave Brubek went to Turkey and was immersed in odd times and then retuned to give us "Time Out" jazz was all in 4/4 as well.

 

[MrInsanePolack]

Those are some pretty broad generalizations there.
FYI, despite me being primarily a rock/metal/prog drummer, I have, and still occasionally do, play brushes and when I do, I play traditional grip. My first instructor also insisted that I learn the techniques. Even though he was a complete and utter jazz-hole, I do appreciate some of what he taught me. Most of what I learned from him, however, was how his narrow minded thinking was detrimental to his growth not only as a drummer, but as a person.

My story is opposite. My teacher tailored my education to who I wanted to be, not what he thought I should learn because of who he is.

My teacher, a jazz guy, knew I wanted to be a metal drummer from day 1. He showed me some brush stuff, but I opted not to learn it. It was my choice, not his. And to this day, 29 years later, I have still never used nor needed a brush.

I am a 1 genre drummer, and it's perfectly okay. I'm exactly the drummer i want to be, and have no desire to be anything else. It doesnt mean I'm ignorant or dont continue to learn. It means i know who who i am, what i want, and how to get there.

How many jazz guys play double kick? Not many. That is the same as metal guys not learning brushes. It isnt a big deal unless you think it is. But then the issue becomes a person issue, not a drumming issue.

 

[jimb]

Cant get into the clever existential chitter chatter but I'll say just this. I see more vids of jazz drummers doing "other stuff" than I do of rock drummers doing "other stuff".

 

[Sonorfan]

Those are some pretty broad generalizations there.
FYI, despite me being primarily a rock/metal/prog drummer, I have, and still occasionally do, play brushes and when I do, I play traditional grip. My first instructor also insisted that I learn the techniques. Even though he was a complete and utter jazz-hole, I do appreciate some of what he taught me. Most of what I learned from him, however, was how his narrow minded thinking was detrimental to his growth not only as a drummer, but as a person.

Hey he must have had a certain positive effect on you if you picked up brush technique. Congrats and i’m sure your experience with other Rock drummers will be different than mine so maybe I haven’t equated myself with enough of the trained ones like you. I generally only run into self taught types. I so very glad that i’ve been blessed with being eclectic in my music tastes and playing.
Rock on

 

[Sonorfan]

Hey he must have had a certain positive effect on you if you picked up brush technique. Congrats and i’m sure your experience with other Rock drummers will be different than mine so maybe I haven’t equated myself with enough of the trained ones like you. I generally only run into self taught types. I so very glad that i’ve been blessed with being eclectic in my music tastes and playing.
Rock on

RV

 

[brushes]

+1
Until Dave Brubek went to Turkey and was immersed in odd times and then retuned to give us "Time Out" jazz was all in 4/4 as well.

Nope. Don't forget swing and waltz rhythms, they are usually not 4/4.

 

[someguy01]

Nope. Don't forget swing and waltz rhythms, they are usually not 4/4.

I did not. Swing is swing and waltz is waltz, neither would be jazz. Predecessors, sure.

 

[Sonorfan]

Nope. Don't forget swing and waltz rhythms, they are usually not 4/4.

I don’t know if any of you fine drummers have played dance music in 3/4 waltz time but there are two different styles where I come from and i’m guessing it’s a regional thing.
When playing with an old time fiddle band we generally play 1 on the ride
and 2-3 on hat - open and close no stick. This allows the dancers, to match their 1st two steps and then turn as I come around to 1 again.
When playing what we call a modern waltz .. say Tenderly for example, the dancers are much more subdued so I
use a stick on the ride 1-2 and for three the kick and hat - open and close - together for 3.
When I first started playing with a vg old time fiddler he asked me to play using this method and it’s served me well.
Then there’s the Jazz waltz which of course is different again.
Music has so many wonderful variations.

 

[prokofi5]

I did not. Swing is swing and waltz is waltz, neither would be jazz. Predecessors, sure.

Agreed. Jazz waltzes (written or covered) were only just starting to get popular in the 50's when Brubeck opened it wide open with 5, 6, and 7/4 and 9/8.

 

[toddbishop]

+1
Until Dave Brubek went to Turkey and was immersed in odd times and then retuned to give us "Time Out" jazz was all in 4/4 as well.

Max Roach was doing jazz in non-4/4 meters before Brubeck, certainly before Time Out.

 

[someguy01]

Max Roach was doing jazz in non-4/4 meters before Brubeck, certainly before Time Out.

Dave Brubeck: “Max is one of the greatest drummers who ever lived. When we were young, Max and I played on the same programs and got to talk a lot. He was interested in what we were doing, and I was interested in what he was doing, because at the same time we were both getting away from 4/4 times. Our things just happened to become hits. I’ve always thought [Max Roach] should have a lot more recognition.”

I stand corrected.

 

[Swissward Flamtacles]

Nope. Don't forget swing and waltz rhythms, they are usually not 4/4.

Sorry, but what do you mean by Swing usually not being in 4/4? Of course, the actual rhythms of the melodies are not just 4 quarter notes but the time signature?

 

[GetAgrippa]

Don’t you think classical music with odd time influenced jazz, rock, etc. ? The odd rhythmic pulse.

 

[brushes]

Jazz walzes became popular in the 1950's, right. But they were actually there before they became popular.

In a jazz context, "waltz" signifies any piece of music in 3/4 time, whether intended for dancing or not.[3] Although there are early examples such as the "Missouri Waltz" by Dan and Harvey’s Jazz Band (1918) and the "Jug Band Waltz" or the "Mississippi Waltz" by the Memphis Jug Band (1928), they are exceptional, as almost all jazz before 1955 was in duple meter.[4] It was in 1938 that noted jazz-influenced classical composer Dmitri Shostakovich wrote the Jazz Suite in 3/4 time.[citation needed] Shortly after the "bop waltz" appeared in the early 1950s (e.g., Thelonious Monk’s recording of Carolina Moon in 1952 and Sonny Rollins’s Valse Hot in 1956) that triple meter became at all common in jazz.[4]