MazdaRex
Active Member
Got to meet and learn from the mighty drummer Gregg Bissonnette! Great presenter, musician, and from all indications, a thoroughly lovely human being. Musically, there are not enough superlatives. Wow.
This was my first drum clinic like this and it was quite something. About 80 attendees, including 5-6 drum students too young to drive, and, according to my teacher, a "whole lot" of area professional drummers. Gregg did a great presentation - asked everyone's name (and did a fine job remembering many), great audience interaction, terrific energy (he's a huge caffeinator), covered tons of stuff, mentioned his sponsors appropriately, and kept good track of time. Of course, his playing was just mind-blowingly versatile and good.
He shared musical wisdom, including: "Everything is threes and twos," "It all goes back to the form of the song," and the inspiring validation of "It's all about dumb jokes."
Gregg talked about musical passion wonderfully: "When I think of my favorite drummers, they all made faces. It's passion! Sure, they look like they just ate a lemon, but there's something to that passion."
One particularly impressive vignette was he played Led Zeppelin's "Fool in the Rain," then switched immediately to Toto's "Rosanna." Not only are these very challenging, they're pretty different. He also spontaneously retuned and taped a snare to better get the "Rosanna" sound.
Gregg talked about musical passion wonderfully: "When I think of my favorite drummers, they all made faces. It's passion! Sure, they look like they just ate a lemon, but there's something to that passion." Certainly, he plays with an extremely expressive variety of facial expressions, and often with his eyes closed.
"Play in front of people," he said. "Make people happy." It was a great evening!
(Special thanks to Denver Percussion for hosting the clinic, and a great evening made super-great due to the company of drummer/teacher Ryan Sapp and Rockin' Rick Werner.)
This was my first drum clinic like this and it was quite something. About 80 attendees, including 5-6 drum students too young to drive, and, according to my teacher, a "whole lot" of area professional drummers. Gregg did a great presentation - asked everyone's name (and did a fine job remembering many), great audience interaction, terrific energy (he's a huge caffeinator), covered tons of stuff, mentioned his sponsors appropriately, and kept good track of time. Of course, his playing was just mind-blowingly versatile and good.
He shared musical wisdom, including: "Everything is threes and twos," "It all goes back to the form of the song," and the inspiring validation of "It's all about dumb jokes."
Gregg talked about musical passion wonderfully: "When I think of my favorite drummers, they all made faces. It's passion! Sure, they look like they just ate a lemon, but there's something to that passion."
One particularly impressive vignette was he played Led Zeppelin's "Fool in the Rain," then switched immediately to Toto's "Rosanna." Not only are these very challenging, they're pretty different. He also spontaneously retuned and taped a snare to better get the "Rosanna" sound.
Gregg talked about musical passion wonderfully: "When I think of my favorite drummers, they all made faces. It's passion! Sure, they look like they just ate a lemon, but there's something to that passion." Certainly, he plays with an extremely expressive variety of facial expressions, and often with his eyes closed.
"Play in front of people," he said. "Make people happy." It was a great evening!
(Special thanks to Denver Percussion for hosting the clinic, and a great evening made super-great due to the company of drummer/teacher Ryan Sapp and Rockin' Rick Werner.)
