Thanks Everyone (I can't take Drum Solos)

[martinbr]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and moral support. I have calmed
down and have decided to keep playing. :) You know I worked so long on
Independence between the ride cymbal, bass, and left hand that I
neglected other areas of my playing. I think I just have to just sit
down for at least six months and practice fills in 4's & 8's like some
of you have suggested.
take care,
martinbr

[Pete Pemberton]

Post by martinbr
Thanks everyone for your suggestions and moral support. I have calmed
down and have decided to keep playing. :) You know I worked so long on
Independence between the ride cymbal, bass, and left hand that I
neglected other areas of my playing. I think I just have to just sit
down for at least six months and practice fills in 4's & 8's like some
of you have suggested.
take care,
martinbr

Keep it simple, keep it musical, have fun!

Pp

[mike]

i was just thinking about a drum solo i heard quite a while back. it
was billy higgens on a dexter gordon album the tune was called "soy
califa". it is a remarkably well thought out and simple solo. it is so
simple that i thought higgens did not have "chops" (i have long since
realized what an absurd thought that was and i heard him prove me
wrong on several ocasions), the solo is so good and so compositionaly
well thought out and so easy it made me realize that having a simple
idea and working it out in a variety of ways is a study in itself.
generaly speaking anything that has a compositional sense is good (it
does not matter if it has technical virtuosity or not), and anything
which does not have a compositional sense to it is not so good (it
does not matter if it has technical virtuosity or not). so the problem
is to keep growng both in terms of technique and compositional sense.
of course some of us let the persuit of technique become predominant.

[-MIKE-]

Post by mike
i was just thinking about a drum solo i heard quite a while back. it
was billy higgens on a dexter gordon album the tune was called "soy
califa". it is a remarkably well thought out and simple solo. it is so
simple that i thought higgens did not have "chops" (i have long since
realized what an absurd thought that was and i heard him prove me
wrong on several ocasions), the solo is so good and so compositionaly
well thought out and so easy it made me realize that having a simple
idea and working it out in a variety of ways is a study in itself.
generaly speaking anything that has a compositional sense is good (it
does not matter if it has technical virtuosity or not), and anything
which does not have a compositional sense to it is not so good (it
does not matter if it has technical virtuosity or not). so the problem
is to keep growng both in terms of technique and compositional sense.
of course some of us let the persuit of technique become predominant.

The only words of advice I can give you, since I suck at solos, too... :-)

- Don't hold yourself to the same standard as the greats. You'll quit.
- When trading fours... let the other players give you the ideas.
Listen to what they are playing, especially the rhythms in their last
bar. Cop that rhythm in your first bar and go from there.
- In longer solos... keep the melody of the tune in your head and play
variations of it on the drums, the rhythms in the melody.
- Start simple and move toward complex. Start with a little and move
towards a lot. Start on one surface in each hand and move towards more.
Start soft and move toward loud. When you keep those things in your
head, you may find yourself with too many ideas, instead of not enough.

[oldschool]

- Don't hold yourself to the same standard as the greats.  You'll quit.

Man, is that ever good advice.

I'm down with everything else in Mike's post as well, those are words
to live by.

Thanks man!

Good luck martin!

[gpsman]

Post by martinbr
I think I just have to just sit
down for at least six months and practice fills in 4's & 8's like some
of you have suggested.

I guess I have a hard time understanding your perspective.

The "normal" process of developing musical skills, as I know it, is
playing along with recordings. Plenty of fine examples of all manners
of drumming there, you learn to play 'em note fer note or fake
something like it.

Then, you spend hours and hours "jamming" where I think most people
learn to just "play". Once you've played a tune 100 times I think you
more just feel it, rather than play or count it, or think about
throwing a couple flamadiddles here and there.

If you're just reluctant to be in/share the spotlight, you've been
playing for 40 years, you're probably a lot better than you think.

Relax, stop thinking and just let it come out.
-----

- gpsman

[Andy]

Post by gpsman

Post by martinbr
I think I just have to just sit
down for at least six months and practice fills in 4's & 8's like some
of you have suggested.

I guess I have a hard time understanding your perspective.
The "normal" process of developing musical skills, as I know it, is
playing along with recordings.  Plenty of fine examples of all manners
of drumming there, you learn to play 'em note fer note or fake
something like it.
Then, you spend hours and hours "jamming" where I think most people
learn to just "play".  Once you've played a tune 100 times I think you
more just feel it, rather than play or count it, or think about
throwing a couple flamadiddles here and there.
If you're just reluctant to be in/share the spotlight, you've been
playing for 40 years, you're probably a lot better than you think.
Relax, stop thinking and just let it come out.
 -----
- gpsman

I saw Roy Burns at a clinic way back when, and his simple advice was
that there are two basic approaches to playing a drum solo. You either
play something easy and make it look hard, or play something hard and
make it look easy. On a serious note, everyone's advice here has been
good. Sing the song form...take cues from the other players when
trading 4s...above all, relax. It ain't rocket surgery, and nobody's
going to get hurt if you lapse into straight quarter notes.