DRUMMER CAFE

I am a professional drummer in The South Louisiana area, I stay very busy playing cover shows. I know its not the most ideal gig but it pays the bills. Anyway, when I ask other musicians what playing qualities I have that keeps me gigging, They all say  that Im a very deep pocket player. This is definately a compliment, no doubt, But I definately DO NOT have pro Chops. Im entertaining the thought of moving to a bigger music scene like possibly nashville to try to get more productive gigs. Now my question is, on that next level, How do chops compare to pocket playing. Could I work in a larger music scene by being a pocket player, and not having incredible speed or chops. Thanks for the reply. oh by the way, Great site. Kudos to Bartman and everyone else for their post.

should be the same in every avenue of music.  chops are merely a vehicle to further express feel.  

bozzio has chops seeping out of his every pore.  but listen to his work with polytown (david torn, mick karn, sorry, the only bozzio work im really familiar with) he keeps the focus on feel.  and when he pulls out the chops they are only usefull because they accent the vibe and the song.  

the fancy stuff is useless if you cant nail the feel first.  

Chops may get you noticed, they may even get you hired for that first gig...but groove and pocket will get you called back for the next gig!!!

If you've got the pocket happening, you're already ahead of 75% of the drummers I hear (and work with).  Chops will come in time - get in the practice room and woodshed if you want to improve your technical facility.  It will allow you to increase your musical vocabulary, it will allow you to play things you might not be able to play right now...but it won't really get you any more work...at least, it won't increase your standing and stature among working musicians.  

My experience (based on conversations with other musicians) has been that players with groove are admired; players with groove and chops are greatly admired; players with chops and no groove are dismissed out of hand...(or worse, after a few beers...)

As in:  "...Yeah, he's got chops to burn, but his time stinks; I can't work with him..."

(IMHO, YMMV, FWIW, etc., etc., etc.)

I'm with felix.  Gotta do both!

yeah, the goal is to do both.  but where should your priorities be?  I think most are just saying the feel needs to come first, then the chops.  dont sacrifice feel for flash you know.

hey ratamatatt, it was a rhetorical question  I know where my priorities are: feel, creativity, sound, chops.  in that order, though they are necessarily independant of one another

but thanks for answering

I LIKE YOU

Good luck in Nashville...I'm sure you will have all the chops you need....  Maybe see Bart's explanation of "Nashville Notation"

Felix can be a tool, but  I learned to roll with him.  When you get past the arrogance and attitude, he can impart a nugget or two of knowledge    I will have to say I'm a little jealous of the "audience of dumpsters" crack.  That had me LMAO.  Wish I had thought of it last week when I had my go around with him    

Felix is my kinda smartass because he's funny, and he can take it as much as he dishes it out. This board wouldn't be the same without him.

What, you can't play left foot clave w/ a funk pattern?  Geez, what are you, some kind of rookie?    It's all about the sharing of knowledge.  I have learned more in this forum in a month then in a years worth of reading and lessons.  If it wasn't for different opinions, the world would be like stale Wonder bread.  And that's just bad, man  Just kidding about the left foot, BTW, it is killing me too.