Just found this on Wiki, wtf?

Larry

"Uncle Larry"
I looked up drummers on wiki. This is a portion of what was written. WTF?

Drummers are often portrayed humorously as less intelligent or less talented members of the musical community, and are sometimes the butt of self-effacing jokes told by drummers themselves. An example: "What do they call a person who hangs around with musicians?" "A drummer." In the folk song spoof The One on the Right Is on the Left by Jack Clement, the drummer erroneously burns his driver's license instead of his draft card. In the mockumentary film This Is Spinal Tap, a long succession of drummers each meet a tragic end


I think I will edit it. I am really tiring of this stigma
 
I looked up drummers on wiki. This is a portion of what was written. WTF?

Drummers are often portrayed humorously as less intelligent or less talented members of the musical community, and are sometimes the butt of self-effacing jokes told by drummers themselves. An example: "What do they call a person who hangs around with musicians?" "A drummer." In the folk song spoof The One on the Right Is on the Left by Jack Clement, the drummer erroneously burns his driver's license instead of his draft card. In the mockumentary film This Is Spinal Tap, a long succession of drummers each meet a tragic end


I think I will edit it. I am really tiring of this stigma

A lot of people are fed up of it and the sad truth is; It won't go away anytime soon.
 
Nothing new, still annoying. I told someone I was a drummer once and that I wrote music for a band and they asked me how I write music on drums... asking if it was all tribal and percussive like I have no idea of musical theory because I'm a drummer.
 
Most of it seems loosely opinion based, why don't you start citing references from more objective oriented cites and call anything that's not cited when you delete it. The popular culture section really should be about fictional references to drummers in movies/books. If it is a widely held opinion I believe it's ok to be in there personally, but it shouldn't be the wiki writer's words.

Fastest way to get your edits deleted is to not back them up.
 
I would leave it alone. Instead, just edit the Guitarists, Bassists, and Vocalists pages and add similar stereotypes.
 
Don't forget the drummer spontaneously combusted on Spinal Tap.

But also remember the rest of the band was lampooned in that movie. The guitarist was a baby and left the band. The lead singer was a diva that let his girlfriend run the band. and the bass player was not a rocket scientist.

Interestingly, in my office of highly-above-average-intelligence engineers, we have four different drummers.
 
I don't care, I make those jokes myself. I don't think it's a big deal. I also make fun of singers for being ego freaks and guitarists for never being able to play on time.

It's all in jest, I doubt seriously that the general public thinks of drummers as dumb. Sometimes I do dumb things, and I use being a drummer as an excuse. I don't think it's that big of a deal; in fact, I kind of enjoy it.
 
I looked up drummers on wiki. This is a portion of what was written. WTF?



I think I will edit it. I am really tiring of this stigma

Do what you think you need to do ... you're a grown man ... you don't need our permission.
 
I don't think it's that big of a deal; in fact, I kind of enjoy it.
You know, that's kind of where I'm at with it, too.

The other bennie is that if people start off with zero expectations you (most won't, but if they do, who cares about them anyway), as soon as you string two coherent words together, they're impressed! What could be better?!
 
I have never heard of this stigma. Maybe it only exists in America's popular culture?
 
Oh, this is easy, LOL.

Have you ever tried to teach the basics of coordination to your bandmates or friends?? Haha, I love that. It goes like this:

1) Tell them to keep 4ths on the snare (RLRL) while keeping 1&3 with right foot and 2&4 with left foot. (Everybody can do this, so they'll start to feel "wow this is so easy"..)

2) Congratulate them and now ask to do the same but to start with the left hand (LRLR) while still keeping the feet 1&3 BD, 2&4 HH.

3) Watch them struggle. Try not to laugh.

4) Now tell them to keep simple 8ths (RLRL RLRL) and keep the feet going on 4ths.

5) Keep trying not to laugh. :)

Voilá! Now you have new found respect from your bandmate/friend. ;)

(If you feel kinda cocky you can sit on the drums and say "c'mon! it's so easy! and do a whole progression 4ths/8ths/triplets/16ths while keeping those steady feet). :D

PS: Don't teach the "money beat"!!! Teach this kind of stuff, the one that everyone ignores!!!

Cheers.
 
I don't care, I make those jokes myself. I don't think it's a big deal.

You know, that's kind of where I'm at with it, too.

+3.

I make drummer jokes all the time. I also make jokes about my (lack of) hairline, my ability to overdo it on the drink, my percieved stupidity with respect to understanding my wife......in fact I'm prone to self-abasing jokes about pretty much every facet of my life. They're jokes, they are what they are. No-one takes them seriously and neither do I.

Life really shouldn't be this serious guys.


I have never heard of this stigma. Maybe it only exists in America's popular culture?

lol.....I'll crawl out on a limb and say maybe it only doesn't exist in The Netherlands??
 
I agree with the past posters, I love drummer jokes. I also play guitar and sang for a few bands so I don't get all sensitive when I hear musician stereotypes because they're a load of crap anyway.

While searching for someone to attribute the quote "you're only as good as your drummer" to I came across this article written by a guitar player on how to make your drummer happy. This outa' cheer you up Larry

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/columns/the_guide_to/making_your_drummer_happy.html
 
Last edited:
Someone felt the dumb archetype was more notable than the gazillion other things that can be said about drummers, and until now it seems none of the Wiki self-appointed editors who'd seen the entry saw fit to change it.

This says a lot about public perception. Personally, I feel similarly to Pkaneps, Mike, Retrovertigo (great user name!), PFOG and Red. Whatever.

Larry, in his best-seller The Jazz Book, Joachim-Ernst Berendt (first published 1953) talked about the dumb drummer stereotype and debunked it, saying that it's not unusual for drummers to be the most educated and intelligent members of a band.

If anyone feels strongly about it, they can find that reference and then quote it in the Wiki article to provide balance - properly referencing the quote will give it additional weight.
 
Don't forget the drummer spontaneously combusted on Spinal Tap.

But also remember the rest of the band was lampooned in that movie. The guitarist was a baby and left the band. The lead singer was a diva that let his girlfriend run the band. and the bass player was not a rocket scientist.

Interestingly, in my office of highly-above-average-intelligence engineers, we have four different drummers.

I always had a lot of sympathy for the drummer in Spinal Tap. Reminds me of the new guy in a Star Trek episode who gets killed on the planet down below.
 
As the old saying: a band's as good as its drummer.
 
Back
Top