What should every very advanced drummer know? (grooves/beats, techniques, styles, etc... anything)

Gee, you've just described my drumming perfectly... Yep, that's THE list every drummers should know by heart :)

Apart from the "modern" (ie. 20yo) trend towards big bottom ends (both musically and physically) the list covers a fair bit of what I thought was advanced drumming in '75. Could also add variably textured closed rolls but I thought 10 was catchier than 11 :)

Forum comments nowadays suggest that my old garage attitudes are still common today, although grassroots players these days play much cleaner and tighter than in the 70s. I suspect a far higher percentage of them are trained and even the self taught players have the benefit of online info and DVDs.
 
Advanced drummers play simple things perfectly.
 
Advanced drummers play simple things perfectly.

That's my observation as a listener. You can pick special players because the simple things are not only perfect but also they hook into the essence of the rhythm and get it to speak. You know it when you hear it. Timing, internal dynamics, and understanding the form and what the song is attempting to convey.
 
Being advanced and being professional are different concepts. Step one for advanced drummers who want to become professional is to refrain from doing those things that make them so advanced.

Bermuda

That should be framed and hung on every practice room wall. You're spot on!
 
I think they need to know how to have a stimulating conversation, in music. It's the same in "normal" life: if you don't have much to say things quickly get dull. Worse still is if you won't listen to what others have to say. Then there's bringing a big agenda into conversation: regardless of what they say "I'm gonna say this...". That doesn't work either.

Of course, to have a good conversation you need to be able to talk (!) and to listen and I would say you need to be open & interested in the world you live in.

That's as close to a list as I can get.
 
I think they need to know how to have a stimulating conversation, in music. It's the same in "normal" life: if you don't have much to say things quickly get dull. Worse still is if you won't listen to what others have to say. Then there's bringing a big agenda into conversation: regardless of what they say "I'm gonna say this...". That doesn't work either.

Of course, to have a good conversation you need to be able to talk (!) and to listen and I would say you need to be open & interested in the world you live in.

That's as close to a list as I can get.

An excellent analogy to the relationship between musicians.

But as for normality necessarily being dull, that's a matter of opinion, and governed largely by what one desires from playing an instrument. If the desire is to excel on drums as an instrument, then indeed, playing 2&4 gets old and is soon unfulfilling. But if the desire is to experience the basic joy of playing, then even 2&4 fills that need, and that includes music regarded by some to be normal or dull.

Truly, it depends what we each want. And if we're lucky, we get to do what we want, the way we want to. I've said it before: when I was 12, I decided I wanted to play drums for a living. No desire for fame, no thought as to technical ability... I just wanted to play drums. I got to do that, and I'm thrilled to be doing it. I'm also mindful that there are thousands of drummers who would be happy to trade places with me, and I don't take my success for granted.

But I'm a prime example of someone not as technically advanced as so many other drummers - both well-known and under the radar - yet, I'm a pro. And I have accomplished (and perpetuate) that because I am happy being 'normal' most of the time, when most other drummers, to their detriment, refuse to be normal apparently just because they regard it as boring. Obviously they're looking for something different with their drumming than I am, and each pursuit is personally valid. But, they shouldn't wonder why they don't work as much.

Bermuda
 
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