The Importance of Phrasing

Today's post is directed primarily at the drum set player. Many of today's players develop amazing technical proficiency through hours and hours of practice. But just what do they practice? Most drummers seem to concentrate on 2 main things:
  1. Pure technique, like triplets or paradiddles around the drums, double bass chops, speed and precision.
  2. Beat/rhythms/grooves.
This is all well and good, as we need to master many of these skills, but I've seen too many young drummers concentrate strictly on these. When it comes to playing in a band, they have the technique, but not the means to successfully apply it to the music in a musical way. They often end up sounding like they are playing exercises out of a drum book, which is what they are doing.

You can learn to be a better drummer by listening to great singers…

I'm all for technique, but not at the sacrifice of the music. An important thing for drummers to do is to listen to both singers and horn players. There you can get a real sense of phrasing and how the music is put together to form a song. I listen to a lot of singers, from classic ones like Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, to more modern ones like Joni Mitchell, Ann Wilson, Robert Plant, Peter Gabriel, and a lot of ethnic/world music singers, like Mari Boine, Wimme, Tanya Tagaq. I listen to the words and notes they sing, but also how they breathe, how they emphasize and accent the words, and most importantly, how they bring the words to life. Listen to Sinatra, he wasn't considered a great singer just because of his voice—a lot of singers have great voices—but he knew how to phrase everything, how to present the lyrics in a way that communicated with the listener. This is so important!

You could get 10 different singers to sing the same song and you will have 10 different versions of that song. This is easy to do. Pick out a classic vocal song, like Fly Me To The Moon, or, Georgia, and just go on YouTube. You'll find a lot of different version of the songs. Each singer brings something of themself to the song. The same can be said for instrumentals. Listen to horn players. Both sax and trumpet are very lyrical instruments that share a lot in common with the voice. Listen to a great sax player and how they connect the notes, creating melodic phrases. Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Stan Getz, Paul Desmond—each has their own sound, their own emphasis on the notes.

So when you are playing drum set with a band, don't just think rhythm and beats/grooves, think melody and phrasing. Imagine yourself as a singer or sax player, and try to bring that same sense of phrasing and melody to your rhythms. Think of how you can blend what you are ding with the other musicians, with the music overall. 

Be a musician, not just a drummer.

~ MB



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tam Tam vs Gong

Image
I can't tell you how many times this argument of "A tam tam is not a Gong" comes up. It came my way no less than 3 different times this week. Actually, 'tam tam' (also tam-tam) was 1st used in symphonic music back in the 1800s to differentiate a flat faced Gong from a Gong with a raised center 'boss.' (There is no definitive answer as to where the term tam tam originated - some say it's Chinese, some say it's Hindi, still others say it's something else…) To add to the confusion, 'tam-tam' is a term often used for either an   African  djembe or talking drum. When a score calls for a 'tam tam' (like Messiaen’s 'Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum' or various works of Richard Wagner), then a flat faced Gong, like a Chinese Chau, is used. Flat Faced Chinese Chau Gong/Tam Tam When a score calls for a 'Gong' (like Puccini’s 'Madame Butterfly', or 'Turandot'), then a bossed Gon
Read more

What to Look for When Buying a Gong

Image
Today's blog is a revised & updated blog I posted 3 years ago on my old website. I'm always having people ask me about buying a Gong. Well, here's some tips: •••••••• So you’ve decided to get a Gong. The first thing to ask is, what will I use a Gong for? What type of music do you play? Do you want to use it in a rock band, a jazz band, solo? Are you looking for a meditation device? These are important questions and will help determine what type and size of Gong to get.  One important thing to look at is how big a Gong do you want? Gongs are heavy. Gongs are not easy to transport. If this Gong will stay in your house/studio, then that makes it easy to have a larger size. But if you plan to travel in a band with it,  you need to look at the impact a different size Gong will have on transporting it.  A lot of drummers want a Gong because they look cool and sound cool. They also want that type of sound in their percussive arsenal.  A good place to star
Read more

Music Notation for Gongs

Image
Recently, I was asked a question about how Gongs are notated in a musical score. Here are various examples of different ways they have been notated, from traditional classical, to modern musical forms. The first thing is to differentiate the 2 main types of Gongs: the flat faced, usually termed Tam Tam in a classical score, and the Bossed Gong, with a raised center boss (AKA cup, nipple). A good example of a traditional symphonic Tam Tam part would be from Gustav Holst’s, The Planets . This example is from Mars, the Bringer of War : We can see the Gong/Tam Tam notated traditionally on a single staff line.  The next example is from Puccini’s opera, Turandot . This is the Tam Tam part, notated on the bottom line. Example #3 is also from Turandot. The score also calls for Tuned Bossed Gongs. Unfortunately I was unable to find a score example of them. John Cage used various Gongs in his percussion music. This is an example of how he notated the
Read more