Serve The Music

There is a strong temptation shared by most new drummers. This temptation, is to overplay. When I say overplay, I mean to play in a way that is too complicated or busy for the music at hand. Beginners often feel the urge to either throw in as many notes as possible whenever they can, or to try out that new fill they just learned that doesn't fit naturally with the music being played. This can be jarring and negatively affect the music. There is a time and place for the big fills and the 1,000 note rolls, but that time and place is not when playing along to, let's say, The Beatles. Important side note: This advice does go two ways. We don't want to underplay either. We don't want to play like Ringo on a Dream Theater song.

Over time, drummers develop taste, feel, and listening skills, which all contribute to how well we play along with music.

When we drum with other musicians, whether on a recorded track or live, our main goal is to serve the song being played. This means to play in a way that compliments the music, not overplaying or underplaying. The drums are great, but music as a whole is far greater. We are drummers yes, but even more importantly, we are musicians!