What to expect out of a drummer?

frustrated

Junior Member
Long story short, I play guitar in a tribute band. Our drummer seems to be the weak link in the band. He says his technique for learning songs is just to listen to them and get an overall feel for them, and then go back later and listen to them some more and pick out anything he missed. He doesnt have a kit setup at home to practice on, so he basically does it all by listening to the cd's. On a lot of the songs we perform he plays incorrect beats and leaves out a lot of the signature fills and accents that put that makes the material shine. He also never cues the band at the end of songs, and correct tempo of the material is also another problem. While he does play something that will work, it just seems he does the minimum amount of work on preparation. I guess my question is, how do some of you prepare and what method do you use to learn cover material. I like our drummer as a person, I wish I could offer him some direction on relearning some of the material we perform.Thanks in advance for any input.
 
Long story short, I play guitar in a tribute band. Our drummer seems to be the weak link in the band. He says his technique for learning songs is just to listen to them and get an overall feel for them, and then go back later and listen to them some more and pick out anything he missed. He doesnt have a kit setup at home to practice on, so he basically does it all by listening to the cd's. On a lot of the songs we perform he plays incorrect beats and leaves out a lot of the signature fills and accents that put that makes the material shine. He also never cues the band at the end of songs, and correct tempo of the material is also another problem. While he does play something that will work, it just seems he does the minimum amount of work on preparation. I guess my question is, how do some of you prepare and what method do you use to learn cover material. I like our drummer as a person, I wish I could offer him some direction on relearning some of the material we perform.Thanks in advance for any input.

At least you like him as a person! Some bands I've been in, I've hated the people, but liked the players. If you like each other as people, that's 90% of the battle right there!
It's just as difficult if you have a musically brilliant player who is socially challenged (to be nice about it).

When I get a gig, my job, depending on the band, is either to play it straight as expected, or to be able to improvise on top of it and communicate with the band as we stretch stuff out. Lotsa times I'm sight-reading too so that takes care of alot of the preparation too.

But perhaps you could talk with your drummer and air these issues. It sounds like he's not aware of what you want. If you like each other as people, it's definitely easier to deal with this than if you didn't like him at all. Communication within the band is key - it avoids all those future 'band meetings' you may have in the future....
 
if you playing in a cover band then i learn it as is, i usually transcribe it with my own short hand then look over the transcriptions in practice until i learn it. if by chance i can find the score for the tune then i just sight read it at rehearsal until i know it.

if he cant keep time then it could be that the song is to fast for him to play so try a slower song or the same song at a slower tempo. if he cant keep time at a slow tempo then i feel for ya, thats tough.

just tell him that you want him to learn the exact fills and see what becomes of it, if he cant then maybe pick an easier song.

whats the song you are trying to learn?
 
It's not just one song, its a whole shows worth.30-40. I'll try and cite a few examples. Quiet Riots Metal Health starts off with a drum intro, our drmmer justs clicks it off with his sticks, CM Halens Dance the night away has breaks in the prechorus where the drums drop out , our guy plays right through them. Round and Round by Ratt has signature fills every time the verse turns around , he doesn't do em. You get the idea.
 
The short answer is, you should expect the same from a drummer as any other musician. Explain exactly what's expected of him, & let him tell you whether or not he can step up to the plate. If you get on with him, & he has an interest in working with the band going forward, he should accept that without issues. It even sounds to me like he might be guessing his way through things, & would welcome the clarity. Good luck.
 
Next time you guys play Crazy Train or Sweet Child o' Mine or whatever else has a massively signature guitar riff, just play something else (but still in time). When he questions you about it just say "I learned it by watching you" :)
 
Next time you guys play Crazy Train or Sweet Child o' Mine or whatever else has a massively signature guitar riff, just play something else (but still in time). When he questions you about it just say "I learned it by watching you" :)

Yeah I had actually thought of that!
 
The hard part about being in a band AND being friends is that.....the band comes first or the the band sucks. Being a "tribute band drummer" I say that if he cannot cut the mustard then he is out. You have no "product to sell" if he cannot do it. Being in a band is hard, I know. So is raising children, putting food on the table, and going to work every day. Will you go hungry and die if you replace the drummer??
 
I am wondering how close to the original you guys try and stay when covering another artists song. I mean it might not be a big deal if you are doing Mustang Sally, but if you are in a hairband tribute and dressing up in costume I would think you would try and stay close to the original.
 
He sounds lazy and I'd can him. He's not going to improve fast enough for you from the sounds of things. How long are you willing to hold this guys hand?
I'd give him another chance at the next gig to fill in all the missing colors and if he doesn't he's being replaced.
 
A while back when i did not have a kit i used to do the same thing. Listen to the song / CD over and over again. What i would do is get my drum sticks and tap on my leg simulating the hits etc. Though its far from on par with practicing on a normal kit it helped me a lot untill i got something to hit on.

So if he doesnt have a kit i understand if he isnt doing very well. But if he has time to practice the songs its simply because he is 1) lazy 2) not good enough.

Simple as that (I think)

Good luck!
 
If he lacks the chops to play a specific fill or intro - he may need to develop an alternative, i.e. a simplified version of the part that's true to the overall feel of the original part. Just clicking sticks or ignoring fills is pretty lame.

If you record your practices (or shows) - you could use one of your practice sessions to just review the tape and analyze everyone's parts, even possibly comparing and contrasting to the orginals. By critiquing everyone, it may keep him from feeling singled out, but at the same time - it will make it clear what standard is expected from everyone as far as fidelity to the original recordings.

If he still doesn't get it and won't develop his parts, than it might be the time to find another drummer. It's the nature of the beast that it's rare for all the musicians in a band to be equal in ability, so somebody's gotta' be the weak link. Of course if you upgrade enough people, the next thing you know - you're the weak link.
 
I think everyone here has given you great advice already. If he's a good friend then he'll listen and understand that you are not trying to insult his playing, but are simply giving constructice criticisim. I would like to also add that if he hasn't been playing very long and there's a big difference in ability, this may become a constant problem. It's really not fair for those ready to move forward to be held back because one member doesn't have the ability quite yet take that step.
 
Well, the common-sensical thing is that you guys need a band meeting where you talk about what's expected of everyone. If he's not willing to do what's expected of him, then you need to find someone else. OBVIOUSLY, do not do this when you've got a gig on the slate and may not be able to find a replacement in time.

And you really should have gone over that kind of stuff before the band even started. I have a whole big checklist of points to go over with any bands I might be joining, before we ever play anything together--because if that ideological stuff isn't agreed upon, then it's pointless.

Just speaking as a drummer with opinions on this stuff, for a tribute band, I would want the band to have the same line-up as the band we're recreating, as well as a similar look, similar instruments, similar mannerisms, etc., and part of that would be expecting everyone to learn the songs so that they could play them just as the original band did--which could include not always playing them the same, depending on the band (for example, a Zeppelin or Allman Brothers or Grateful Dead tribute band wouldn't always do tunes the same). I'd only be interested in this, by the way, when the original band is no longer around, or when we'd be recreating a period that the original band no longer bothers with (for example, say we were doing an exclusively 80s-Kiss tribute band).

For just a plain old cover band, however, I'd want to make the songs "our own", which would mean NOT just playing them like they are on the records. I'd have an approach more similar to your drummer's--I never learned anything note-for-note for cover songs when I was in cover bands, and as a matter of fact, I HATE when the actual bands play things note-for-note live. If you played something like "Talk Dirty to Me" very different on guitar, I'd prefer that. When I'm doing originals in bands, I do the same thing. What I played on a record isn't going to be what I'm playing live down the road. I don't even remember exactly what I played on records, and purposefully so. I like songs to gradually evolve over time.

From your descriptions, it sounds like you're somewhere between a tribute band and just a plain old cover band--because you're not just recreating everything about a particular band. So I'd probably take something of a middle approach, too. As long as we're doing things that are characteristic of the genre, I'd not expect everything to be note-for-note. I'd probably want to move to more of almost a parody direction with it, actually, but that's just me.

Anyway, obviously not everyone has the same approach, the same ideas about this stuff, which is why it's imperative to discuss it from square one. It sucks if you guys can't come to some agreement and you really like the drummer personally/he's a friend, but unless you're just doing something as a casual hobby, the band is a business, and business needs to come first in that situation.

However, if he's really a good friend, also consider whether you think the drummer's approach is hurting the band's business (and taking into consideration what you're trying to achieve as a band)--is your attendance and word-of-mouth not what it could be because of what the drummer is playing? If it's not really affecting audience opinions, maybe it's just the guys in the band being persnickety about it when it's not really that big of a deal. You'd need to try to talk to some random folks in the audience about what they like and dislike about the band to know. It might be a good idea to get a crew member, manager, or even just a friend, etc. to mingle with the audience after you've played some. Have them pose as just a normal person there to listen to the band. Other folks are more likely to give honest opinions in that case.
 
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He sounds lazy and I'd can him. He's not going to improve fast enough for you from the sounds of things. How long are you willing to hold this guys hand?
I'd give him another chance at the next gig to fill in all the missing colors and if he doesn't he's being replaced.

I have to agree here, Larry. If you are in a tribute band you need to be doing accurate renditions of the material. That means listening carefully, transcribing, working out the parts on your own, and memorizing the parts on your own.
 
The band will sound like it went up 5 skill levels with a competent drummer at the wheel. Not many players have a global effect on the bands overall feel like a drummer.

Audition time. No excuses for not playing the material properly, it's job one. Ameteur hour is over.
 
I thought tribute bands played stuff and acted like one perticular group. You mention a few different ones and to me that sounds like an 80's cover band. Nothing wrong with that but by definition, you dont sound like a tribute band.
 
I don't think it matters much that he doesn't have a kit to practice on.

I just auditioned for a band and had to learn 3 songs of theirs with odd times and strange changes with no opportunity to try them on an actual drum kit first. It's amazing what just listening to CDs and air-drumming / tapping-it-out-on-the-steering-wheel-while-driving can do.

I nailed all 3 songs first try when audition time came around, but only because I put in the time and brain power to learn the roadmap and key spots. I can play drums, and so can he (in all likelihood), so it really comes down to how much time and brain power is he willing to put into the effort.

He sounds lazy to me. I agree with Larry: amateur hour is over. Get a drummer who will make it a priority to get the material right.

Unfortunate about the friendship, but he's the one sabotaging it. Hopefully it's strong enough to survive this bump in the road.
 
I thought tribute bands played stuff and acted like one particular group. You mention a few different ones and to me that sounds like an 80's cover band. Nothing wrong with that but by definition, you don't sound like a tribute band.

Sounding like a tribute band is the key here. In the strict sense, you are right. But you can have a tribute band that plays tribute to an era or type of music from that era, like '80s hair metal or '60s guitar rock. My friend had a band like the latter, he is now in a Yes tribute band. In the '60s band, they used Rickenbacker's, Vox amps, period drums and used the types of arrangements of the music that is associated with '60s guitar rock. IN a tribute band there is also hair style, clothing, make-up, scenery and other things that can be part of the show.
 
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