Drummers As Leaders

feldiefeld

feldiefeld

Senior Member
I've recently been thinking about leadership as it relates to drumming. A lot of why it's come up for me is because I decided to start my own band. Here is the article from The BANG! The Drum School Blog:

http://www.bangthedrumschool.com/drummers-as-leaders/

I hope it's helpful.
 
Hmmm I'd have to disagree. There is an even much longer list of great (and very influential) drummers who were NOT the band leaders.....John Bonham comes to mind.... as well as a zillion others.
 
opentune said:
Hmmm I'd have to disagree. There is an even much longer list of great (and very influential) drummers who were NOT the band leaders.....John Bonham comes to mind.... as well as a zillion others.
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Sense of humour bypass alert.
 
Most drummers are not leaders, at least musically. They don't know chord changes, they don't write lyrics, they don't truly understand the relationship between the bass and the guitar, they don't sing, etc. to be a leader in a band, you have to have some of these skills.
 
opentune said:
Mikel, you clearly have an axe to grind, so no need to reply to my post, which pertained to the OP's. Not my problem you're not getting laid lately.
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You have an axe to grind with anyone that has a sense of humour, do you? Take a break, life is too short.
 
The article is probably empowering for some drummers, but none of it is new information (as exhibited by the list of classic drummers) nor is it a particular revelation. The statements easily apply to any other musician who could be considered the leader in a given group, and as MCM pointed out, other melodic players typically have the advantage when it comes to chords, arrangements, etc.

Re the article's statement "Perhaps the band that would satisfy your musical desires doesn’t even exist. The solution is to become a leader," I think that is meant to suggest that drummers that want to do what they want, should form their own band (the implication being, you can't get kicked out of your own band... which is also not a new concept.)

Bermuda
 
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MCM said:
Most drummers are not leaders, at least musically. They don't know chord changes, they don't write lyrics, they don't truly understand the relationship between the bass and the guitar, they don't sing, etc. to be a leader in a band, you have to have some of these skills.
Click to expand...

Greatest drummer and leader that ever lived was probably Stravinsky.
 
I lead a group. I write the compositions (which is the reason I assembled the group in the first place) make the arrangements, schedule rehearsals and gigs and pay the other musicians.

Being a leader can be frustrating as a drummer. In my experience I am juggling between being the composer (I hope the sax studied the melody for the new tune), being the bandleader (I hope they get my cue to move on, which I'll most likely have to yell because my arms are too busy) and lastly being a drummer and doing all those things the article mentions great drummers do.

The only way I have found around this is to get the best musicians possible for the job, people you can trust and have good chemistry on and off the stage, so even when I'm a leader, a big part of it involves a lot of help from others, a lot of teamwork.
 
you last line nails it. play with good people and good musicians, which can take years to accomplish. if you get that, the leading is fairly easy.
 
Thanks for your thoughts, Numberless. For me the hardest part is the repertoire. Realizing that I am not talented in the composing department (I have never written a song in my life), I have been hiring people to compose for my band. It's taking some time, but I am getting close to having enough material for one set of original instrumentals.....
 
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