In need of some ADVICE really bad PLEASE!

[GLAM DRUMMER]

I have a great meter and can play just about every high hat/snare/bass drum beat out there. My problem is that my style is REALLY stagnant. Songs just dont sound good when your drummer keeps 1 beat or 2 the whole song. I need to find a way to get some great fills in my playing. My fills (all 3 of them) are really basic. Also, I plat paradiddles on my practice pad all day long and just cant seem to play them fast. I thought that throwing some paradidles into a fill would living it up but I cant seem to play them fast. Any advice on the best way to learn paradiddles? PLEASE HELP!!!

[buga]

mmmmm Paraddidle Power by Ron S. [img]wink.gif[/img]

Sum "new" books I would really recommend that would fit your needs are:

"Gratton Licks" by Rick Gratton(totally shredding stuff man!)

"Rhytmic Illusions, Rhythm Perspectives" by Gavin Harrison

As for your other comment, geez I think u need to start listen to new drummers and getting more influences or atleast try to digest and develop as much knowledge as you can(fill wise and groove wise)...

Most drummers today are WAYYY to concern about fills and trying to insert as many as they can without actually PAYING attention to the music itself which is just wrong. Remember a simple fill(break)could just be an executed rim shot, something simple like that as long as you convey the action itself and it fits the music then it's all good.

For the second comment, if your groove is stagnant spice it up with sum left hand accents(ala Vinnie) and try to color your groove with lots of accents and different dynamics(contrast), or just odd phrasing ala Bozzio, also linear phrasing(check the Chafee books out)ala Carter Beauford.

Syncopation, beat displacement, metric modulation, shuffles, swing.....so much stuff to choose from!

The other aspect is knowing when and where to play. This is what defines your musical maturity. It took me many years to learn NOT to play everything I hear. The magic happens when "everything you hear" is dispersed between all the players. Listening to the rest of the first, then trying to think of a part that fills the "holes", but still would sound and feel cool on it's own. The only exception would be in a more "jazz context" when you are comping behind someone's solo. Here you "fill the holes", but you don't have to play a "part" that stands on it's own, your input would be probably more "stab"-like... during the holes that the solist leaves.

For example if I'm plaing a straight ahead number and want to build up the the tension into the next section

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ July 23, 2003 05:23 PM: Message edited by: Bozzio ]</font>

[Dazzler]

B]"I have a great meter and can play just about every high hat/snare/bass drum beat out there."[/B]

Hmmmmmmm, that's worrying. According to who? If I were to give you an intricate pattern in 15/16 to sight read, could you play it? And who said that you have a great meter? YOU! You said it. [img]mad.gif[/img]

[GLAM DRUMMER]

DAZZLER - Well ok I have a rotten meter. Is that better? LOL I keep great time, I just have a knack for it. and what I meant about beats is I learn them really quick but I have problems with fills and rudiments. I was just trying to say that if you gave me a snare,high hat, and a bass drum (just those and nothing else) I could keep just about any beat that I was asked to. I have my strenghts and weeknesses. I was just looking for help and not looking for an argument jeez.

[chris perra]

glam?

do you ever try to count subdivisions while filling? i find that the trouble starts when there is no internal pulse while playing fills.

to me licks and tricks are fine, but keeping internal time is the most important thing to keep in mind while filling. if you can do that, then it doesn't matter what you play.

as long as you come back in time, your good to go. for alot of people playing a rock beat steadily is no problem, because they are internalizing the 8'ths or 16's or whatever they are playing instinctively.

but when a fill comes around "time" goes out the window. because theres nothing locking it down.

as far as ideas for fills think of the song, is there a guitar or bass riff to copy.

or sing out any melody, then try to play it. this is easier said than done depending on chops and the fundementals of subdivisions.

good luck

chris perra

[Jean-Paul]

1) Find a good teacher.
2) Find a good teacher.
3) Find a good teacher.
4) Find a good teacher.
5) Find a good teacher.

[img]wink.gif[/img]

[FlamTriplet]

Playing a paradiddle on the drumset sounds like playing a paradiddle on the drumset. Know what I mean? You must think about musical ideas. Playing paradiddles with accents and dynamics can make them sound musical. I would recommend learning how to copy other drummers licks by listening.

I wouldn't "brag" about playing any beat when asked. Many professionals have been asked to play beats for sessions, and let go because it did not feel right.

Get some drum books, and start listening to your favorite drum fill song 300 times in a row.