Not sure what the money beat is?

In any given song, if you play the MTV version, do you fake it and pretend to play, like most of them did?
 
In any given song, if you play the MTV version, do you fake it and pretend to play, like most of them did?
Only when trying to impress my wife. If I really wanna show off I'll strap on a guitar and start thrusting like Randy Rhodes or Mick Mars. She doesnt care that I cant play it, only that I put on a show.
 
WOW, lots of interest and opinions on this one – that’s good.

I’m not the best/most accomplished drummer (huge understatement). I do what I can and attempt to “mimic” but that doesn’t always happen AND that doesn’t really bother me. I think I’m “fitting” the groove pretty well; it usually sounds fine to me (and most others). Does that mean I am wrong? I don’t know – maybe.
 
It's a monster of a thread! The money beat is what makes a hit song. Some have a drum part that makes the whole thing what it is, like 50 ways. Damn the original artist if they play a reggae version of it or change it just because they get bored! Improvisation is good for jazz not pop/rock.
 
Only when trying to impress my wife. If I really wanna show off I'll strap on a guitar and start thrusting like Randy Rhodes or Mick Mars. She doesnt care that I cant play it, only that I put on a show.
For impressing the "little lady" i usually shoot for the Gene Simmons tongue thing.
 
Above all else. I come her for ONE reason. I need informed opinions on drumming.
Gear, technique, varying style opinions and such, setup, tuning...ESPECIALLY tuning! and more
I just started and really don't have much time to practice.
But I DO LOVE DRUMS!
 
I suppose its a matter of venue and audience. If you are playing a tribute show, or backing someone that is going for that effect, playing the songs note-for-note would be imperative. In a local bar band, I don't think its nearly as important.

I do believe in trying to maintain the original feel of the song, unless you're intentionally going for a different-take, interpretation type of cover. There are certain landmark parts that we should be trying to emulate, certain signature fills that even the casual, non-musician will recognize. (In The Air Tonight, Born to Be Wild, All Right Now, etc...) Otherwise, if the feel of the song is the same, I don't see the need to make it note-for-note.

Folks have mentioned if guitar players and bass players didn't play it note-for-note, it would break down. Not in my experience. As long as the chord progressions are the same, many bar band folks that I see take liberties with the exact rhythm parts, the bass runs aren't exactly the same either. Leads, too. They usually hit the high spots, the signature licks, but rarely will they be note-for-note. They are fulfilling the feel of the song. Again, this is the way I see it play out in our local bar-band environment. Venue and audience will dictate the need for more "accuracy"....and I'm out in the middle of nowhere, so that could play into my experience as well. You big-city folk might have a different experience completely.
 
All my life I must have been laboring under a misapplication of the term.
I always thought the money beat was bass on 1 and 3 and snare on 2 and 4, and any iteration that keeps the beat dumbed down to the most minimalist of concepts.

If the money beat is playing a song the way it was recorded, I don't see why anyone would not want to do that as much as possible to the extent that it sounds best to the people who know the song best.

Original music, if not being paid, is your music, and you do whatever you want to do as an artist/musician with your own freedom.
 
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