DRUMS
BY WILL HUNT
(from Spin 13, Spring 2000)
Fancy fills and rolls are really attractive to young players
to learn how to play. However, the BEST thing for beginner
players (or any player for that matter) is to keep it simple
and focus on rhythm. Get a bass drum, a snare, and a high
hat and sit in a room with only those three things. Learn
first of all before anything how to really play beats that
sound good and that don't have fills in them so that you
can learn how to "make the beat feel good". That's the most
important part of what you do as a drummer: to supply the
heartbeat of the song. If you can do a bunch of fancy extra's,
but you can't supply a good rhythm and heartbeat for a song,
then you're not that impressive even though you know some
good fills.
A
lot of guys get caught up in having a bunch of cymbals or
different kinds of drums. Simplify your drumset so that
you don't have a lot of distractions. Even if you do fills
and things, keep it really simple. Play along with records
with a kick drum, snare, and a high hat, and don't worry
about the fills. Then, when you feel really comfortable
with the beat and the "groove" of the song, then you can
start adding your fills and your cymbals and all the things
that you want to do to make it a little more busy.
BY
GABE SHABABY
(from Spin 14, Summer 2000)
The
best thing that helped me was working with a drum machine,
a metronome, and working on timing. I also concentrated
a lot on hitting a snare in the same place, in a solid consistency.
Work on fills in time with a metronome. A metronome is your
best key and once you have your timing down, you can pretty
much do anything and get creative with your own fills. A
drum machine works well for training your timing, too.
I also practiced with CD's. I would listen to CD's to get
ideas for different fills. When you're onstage, you follow
the worship leader. You carry his voice, and when he's really
"cutting loose" with his voice you accent it with
your fills. When his voice is more toned-down, your playing
should be also. When you're switching from a bridge to a
chorus, you can add a more dynamic fill. You build it up
as the song goes. You start mild and the song comes to a
close and gets more intense, your fills become more intense.
I practice about an hour a day. Lately, I've been working
on using my double bass pedal a lot. I like using that.
I've learned different fills just using the bass pedal.
But the main thing is that you get your timing down by practice-practice-practice
FIRST.
BY
WILL HUNT
(from Spin 15, Fall 2000)
In worship, you always need to be sensitive to the fact
that you are playing worship music and you are worshiping
as you play. You're not just there to play drums, you're
there to lead worship as well, as everyone else onstage
is there to lead worship. The spiritual aspect of your job
as drummer is just as important as the other roles onstage,
such as the singers and the guitar players. You, the drummer,
also need to have your mind ready and set to worship and
not just to go in there and impress people and play drums
and be cool. You're there to worship and to lead worship.
Never forget that we drummers are the worship leaders onstage
too, just as the other stage people are. This is very important
for young players to understand.
Play along with records as well as to a metronome to perfect
your sense of timing. On albums, the timing is always going
to move a little, since it's humans involved in the playing,
so you need a healthy balance of playing with a metronome
and playing with favorite albums. If you like the way a
certain drummer sounds on an album, try to play those beats
and not be concerned with the fills and extras as much as
you're just playing the beat along with the record. Try
to sound like that drummer, but also work on your timing.
Metronomes and other timing devices are ultra-important
to perfecting timing, so you must have a healthy balance
of that and playing to favorite records when practicing.
Play with a metronome for 10 minutes, then play to a favorite
song. Then you play with a metronome for 20 minutes, then
with a couple of your favorite songs. It's a good habit
to get into for practicing. Definitely use both records
and metronome, and don't leave out the metronome.
BY
DRUMMER WILL HUNT
(from Spin 16, Winter 2000)
I talk with so many musicians about the ongoing struggle
between the flesh and the spirit in worship, and I have
found that most of us spend a great deal of time fighting
the battle. I catch myself playing for people and calling
it worship because of the songs we are playing. For example,
I was playing at a little Christian coffee house last month
and my friend, who is a drummer I look up to, was going
to be there. I caught myself, about halfway through the
night, concentrating so hard on what I was doing so that
I wouldn't make mistakes in front of him. When I realized
where my heart was, I just broke down. I didn't feel any
huge spiritual eruption or anything, I just said "God,
as dirty as I am, I want to worship you". From that
point on, I just fought to keep my mind on Him, not on what
my friend thought. That night, He blessed my worship of
Him.
I guess we may not always feel this deep spiritual explosion
every time we come before Him with songs, but our hearts
should always be postured as priests, ushering our brothers
and sisters into the worship of a Holy God. As drummers,
we have a tendency to think that we are not worship leaders.
I want to remind you that you are, and I want to share a
few things that help me keep my eyes on Him in times of
music-driven worship...
1. Be prepared spiritually
Too many times, we step into the position of worship without
any spiritual preparation. Get alone with God a few minutes
before playing to meditate on Him. Think about the things
He has done and all that He is to you. Ask Him to use you
to play His heart over His children.
2. Be prepared physically
If we have not learned the songs well, practiced, and understood
musically what is to take place in our time of music-driven
worship, we will be too consumed with the music itself to
focus on the worship of our God. Try to be warmed up so
that you don't feel stiff. Learn all of the music in and
out so that you don't even have to think about your playing
(for the most part). You should never be TRYING to do something
that you can't do confidently in your practice time at home.
It just keeps things feeling solid when you are confident
in what you are playing. Get with the leader and understand
what he or she has planned and don't flip out if the plan
changes in mid-stream!
3. Step into the heart of the song
We often spend so much time getting the music down that
we forget that the song has words and a spiritual focus.
I like what Kendall Combes said in his last guitar article
about playing what the song is saying. This is hard to do
if we don't know what the song is saying! Learn the words
and, if you can't sing while you play, at least think about
what is being said and interpret that with your playing.
In other words, "As The Deer" is not saying "How
many fast fills can I do in the chorus"?
4. Understand your spiritual role
Performing is not wrong. I am in many "performance"
situations with artists and bands, but we are talking about
worship. We are there to lead groups of believers in the
worship of God, not to perform. Our only responsibility
is to keep our hearts with Him and give our best. It is
so miraculous what God does with the little we have to give.
Believe me, none of us would have a worthy offering apart
from His grace.
Worship is not a song or an act we put on for God. It is
a lifestyle; songs are just one way we express our love
and adoration for out God. The way we play, our conversations
with our friends, and the way we treat the waitresses at
a restaraunt can all be worship if our lives look like Jesus'.
So as for drumming in worship... "But seek first His
kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will
be given to you as well".
BY
GABE SHABABY
(from Spin 17, Spring 2001)
I've been working a lot lately on simplifying my playing
style. I include very few fills in a song but making them
count when I do them. They don't have to be big elaborate
fills, but solid and consistent ones. Concentrate on your
snare hits and your bass drum. If you focus on these two
key elements of the kit, it will make you more confident,
which in turn will free you up to be more creative. Drumming
doesn't always have to be the spotlight of the band. The
drummer helps build the band by holding a strong rhythm
for the other instruments such as guitar and piano.
