1 measure lick ideas for solos

Seafroggys

Silver Member
Hey Drummerworld, haven't been on in a few months, but since they took Facebook away from us at work I need to be somewhere to pass the time, so think I'll be hanging around here a bit more.

So I am leading my first band, doing the arrangements, running rehearsals. There is a song we do where I put in a 16 bar drum solo. Its designed to where its a bar of the band doing the chord changes with short, stacatto, syncopated rhythms, and the next bar is open solo, and back and forth.

I'm wanting to compose a creative solo that's not just single strokes up and down the toms. So I have 8 'empty' measures I need to fill. The song is 145 bpm, its rock, straight time. I have 3 licks written, I'm thinking maybe 1-2 of the measures can be basic single stroke stuff, but that still leaves at least 3 seperate measures of solo that I need to come up with musical ideas for.

What I'd love to see are ideas from other drummers here of some cool, innovative measure long licks. Maybe like sheet music of a bar of fill or something? It can be as basic or complex as you want, I can always simplify/expand on the concepts if I like the idea.

This is also something that others can share as well.
 
This sounds very math oriented, and I don't usually operate that way. I base my "licks" off of the music being played around me. I think just getting a list of 1 measure 4 time licks is going to help very little, but maybe I'm wrong.
 
.....I'm just asking for written fills. Not sure why that's coming across as super mathy to you? People post music and transcriptions all the time on these forums.
 
I just mean that if we're posting random fills, the majority won't "fit" the music you're trying to put it into. I'm suggesting that the rhythms in the song should dictate what fills are played, even during a solo section. That's what I meant by "mathy" we're only looking at the math involved,(eg: one measure at x-bpm) not the melodies and rhythms in the song.
 
Here's an idea. Maybe grab a few of the more simple books, like stick control or funky primer, or synco... Take some of those rhythms and apply them in different ways over a measure on the kit. Make sure you keep in mind the song you're playing to and I'll bet you come up with some interesting stuff. It's good to get out of our own head and use the ideas of others sometimes, too.
 
There's a song I play with my band where I do something similar but the structure is two beats of accents from the guitar and bass (1 + 2...) then I fill the 3 + 4 +. So it's half measure fills which I actually prefer (less time to screw up or get into a fill that I "can't get out of."

I do my solo part for about 6 measures. I like going back and forth between 16ths and 16th note triplets. It sounds cool. Sometimes they are just single strokes around the snare and toms, sometimes it's LRK, LRK (I do these the British way, left hand lead). Sometimes I'll do two single stroke 16ths followed by a double bass hit. Sometimes I'll split these stickings up between the hihat and snare or toms. Possibilities are literally endless, which is part of the reason I find it so hard. My brain almost gets overwhelmed with on the spot improvisation.
 
a few words of advice

don't play premeditated "licks" in solos

they tend to sound like you are practicing on the bandstand .... yes trust me they do

not a good look
 
I don't think there is anything wrong with written solos, especially short ones. Even long ones are pre written segments strung together, maybe in a different order.



I'd make the parts 2 measures long.

You may be able to recycle some of the segments into otther measures.

I'd sit behind the kit and compose them.

Single strokes work well with trips.
 
Thanks. The reason why I want to pre-mediate these is because I want to force myself to make them varied; I'm afraid I'll recycle too much if I spontaneously come up with them on the spot.

The tempo I'm playing at is a little bright for sextuplets single strokes, but I can always paradiddle-diddle them (should see what sort of sweet paradiddle diddle licks other drummers have come up with). Appreciate the ideas!
 
Ya... I agree with the other posters. Don't try to write out a solo; improvise and try to think musically or melodically with the tune at hand. If you have a MIDI keyboard you could record the basic vamp, then play around with the drum voice to try out various riffs.. improvising with your fingers. It would also spit out the MIDI notation on a chart if that's what you're after.. but you might have to clean it up a bit. I know a bunch of composer/recording studio musicians that do this unbelievably fast.. building demos faster that you can shake a stick at!
(pun intended)
 
Get a reading text like Bellson's Modern Reading in 4/4 - pages of rhythms waiting to be brought to life. Even if you tap a few pages of this on the snare you should start hearing some new melody ideas.
The question and answer form found in jazz drumming is another good approach for fresher soloing.
 
I find the most usefull way to go about this for practice is to just write down snare pattern. Start by playing that pattern on only the snare. Then move the pattern around the kit with accent changes and flams. Do whatever you feel like with your feet.

If you are doing this for a song, I like it when you can tell the solo is inspired by the melody. Doing that keeps the listener engaged if they can attach themselves that way. Depends on the song's style you can try to copy the melody, play the melody backwards, Play where there are rests in the melody... the list goes on.
 
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