DRUMMER CAFE

Hi guys,
I have been approached by a friend of mine to play in his band. He has a gig coming up in 2 weeks and will be playing around 50 songs (rock songs in the 60s, 70s & 80s). Most of the songs have relatively basic beats and quite straight forward and I have no problems playing the beats or the rhythm.

The issue here is the start & finished on a lot of the songs which I’m not familiar with. Trying to remember or memorising how the songs start and finished is my main problem. If I can’t remember tune of the songs, I can’t count into the songs. We had a couple of practice together (4 piece band) and although we sounded good during the songs, we (or me rather) had a lot of problems with intro and outro.

Another issue is I’m a novice and most of my experience is playing with few of my mates. In order to play the song properly I need to learn it by heart and play it many times over and try to mimic the songs as close as possible. This is the only way I know how.

I insisted with the other guys that we need a few more practice together before the gig, but they kept on saying, “it’ll be alright mate”. Finally I managed to convince them to have 2 more session before the gig.

I’m at the moment practicing the songs from CD by myself like crazy and trying to memorise the melody of each songs.

Has anyone face something like this? I would appreciate very much if anyone can give me any suggestions or tips on how to get around this problem? Thanks.

Communicate.  Plan on a key phrase - which indicates 4 more bars or one more time, or one more chorus, etc.  We use a two plan system that really works...

Plan A. - Plan the end of the song up front, i.e. 4 times through chorus then end, etc.
Plan B. - Follow the drummer come ending time.

So, everyone has a general idea as to when the song ends, but come that time - everyone is watching the drummer for the true end.  If the drummer nails the ending as laid out in Plan A. great.  Otherwise, everyone will still be on que because they are watching the drummer.  This two fold plan covers the folks who know the ending, but just drag it on if the drummer did not, and the folks who did not know the ending, can just follow the drummer.

I hope this made some sense.

i play a lot of songs at gigs ive never even heard before. i do this all the time because i play w a lot of acoustic singer/guitarists who usually work solo more often than not.

if your band has played together somewhat or a lot, finding the ending to songs should not be a problem. watch the bass player and/or the guitarist who know full well when they want the end to come around. ask them to give you an obvious head shake, eye contact, body language w their guitars etc that make it clear the tune is about to end. make sure you keep your head up and your eyes on them, not on your snare drum, or the floor....

if you are playing classic songs from 20-30 years ago, you more than likely will know when the end is nigh just from hearing the songs a million times before .... unless you are 25 or under, in which case you may not have ever heard the songs before. but rock and roll, as you note, is basic, primitive and simple.

the beginnings will be trickier. here, you may not be able to supply the recorded version or a reasonable facsimile just because you havent rehearsed and/or gigged with these guys enough.

if the band is reasonably comfortable with each other, they will launch the songs and you can kind of work your way in on the highhat, or the kick, or the ride, or some combination until the song takes off and you all come together.

thats kind of a jam feel, maybe a little sloppy ---- and hey its worked for the rolling stones for about 45 years ---- but no one will be grading you on how close you come to sounding like the record, er, the cd, i mean the mp3, whatever....

if you are still feeling insecure, then download the tunes and make sure you listen to them enough on your own until you kind of know them. that will set off bells in your head when the band starts them off....

good luck and stay loose. believe me, it will work out just fine....

Everyone has offered good advice.  Here's my two cents:

- Unless this is over the top fusion rock or a Beethoven concerto if it really is
basic rock and roll hits from the past, you almost Can't make a mistake as long as you - keep time.  Remember that.  Keep an eye on basic good time and it's very likely the rest is going to fall into place.

- Yes, take notes.  It will help you memorize quicker.  Don't worry about the format of your notes - invent your own shorthand that makes sense to You.

- If you can, collect up MP3s of the tunes, and listen to them while you're not at the kit.  [While driving, at work if that is acceptable, etc.]

- If the starts and ends are like the record/MP3, consider getting a tool like Audacity and make cuts of the MP3s into just 1 minute versions - of the beginnings and the ends.  Then you can go through all the material faster.  Memorizing the beginning often triggers the rest, so if time is tight, focus your listening there.

- Listen to the material as you go to sleep, if you can.

- Remember that your friend asked you.  This is not a group of strangers that you have
to be paranoid about the level of play you will offer.   [like me.    ]  If your friend asked you, he's probably aware of where you are at and what he needs.  He probably knows already that it will be fine, so, strap in, relax, and enjoy.   

Hi Guys, Thanks very very much for your invaluable advices.

I am now putting some sort of short cut notes against each song to help remind me of who starts the song, the drummer or the guitarist and the count in (slow or fast) and the rhythm of the songs. At least i know now how to prepare myself.

Still another week to go and will be practising everyday like crazy.

THANK YOU GUYS for your kind support. Will let you know how I went after the gig. Cheers.   

That's one of the great and fun aspects of drumming.   

Hi, JL!

I can feel your emotions, man.  I know how you feel.  But if I may, I'd like to just offer my thoughts...

No matter what, have fun.  Like, become as a child in a sense.  And above all, just listen and simply react to the music.  Don't over-analyze anything.  The more you cram before the gig, the more nervous you may possibly end up being.  Just remember that whatever happens, happens.  You and the band are about the only ones who will notice the mistakes anyway, whether they be yours or not.  I mean, the audience doesn't know this band's intros and outros, so they don't know what to expect.  They're just going to have a good time, especially if you can control each song with confidence (despite not being quite familiar with the intros and outros yet - but they can certainly be faked).

Let the band follow you for the endings.  Take ownership over every single song:  make them your own.  Pretend like the songs are the band's originals, but while using the recordings as a guide so you have a general idea of what to do and where to go.  You see, the drummer is like the driver of a car.  Everyone must go where the drummer decides to go.  You're in command.    If you count a song off at 121 bpm instead of 120, then everyone has no choice but to play at 121 bpm (not that I know of anyone who can say "I'm gonna play at 121 instead of 120.  Ready?").  So if you can, tell the band to watch you for the endings, but ask them to tell you when the endings are going to occur, AND ask them to see if they can simplify all of their endings to allow you more freedom of how the song actually ends once it comes time to end it.

But of course, intros are harder.  So, don't be afraid to accept the truth that the band is probably going to have to count the songs off instead of you for this particiular gig since they know them the best.  And here's a trick I always do when I'm at the gig and a song comes up which has an intro I cannot remember:  I ask one of the guys to play a couple seconds of the song, or I ask them to play a few notes of the intro, or I ask them what the first words are of the song... I'll ask them for ANYthing that I know will jog my memory.

So, I believe the key to a successful gig is to actually not even really try that hard.  I mean, we ought to relax (I don't mean to say that we shouldn't try to do a good job, but I've noticed that I sometimes try too hard and it usually ends up being a bad thing).  I can only say this because the other guys in the band have already said that it sounds good.  And since they would know, I trust their judgment and I have confidence in their confidence in you.

I think one of the many things you shouldn't be thinking about is whether or not you'll make mistakes at the gig.  I mean, if you're worried about that, then you might be more likely to make mistakes.  But if you say, "mistakes are going to happen no matter what", and if you also almost try to make mistakes, then you may find yourself performing pretty well because you'll relax more.  And there's that word again:  "relax"! 

So, all in all, I feel where you're coming from, but just approach it from the point of view that these guys like you so far, so you must be doing something right.  I mean, if they didn't like what you're doing, then I can guess that they wouldn't be using you.  And again, you're the drummer, so you're the driver.  So, if this is true, then we can say that these guys want you driving because they trust you.

Oh, I'd better cut myself off before I begin repeating myself too many times.   I'm sure you're like "wow, this is a long post".  hehehe

Thanks for reading, and my final thought is:  always be completely open and honest with them.  Reveal every single thought that comes to your mind when it matters to your performance.  And of course, it can be anything.  Like, if you'd rather practice 5 more times instead of 2, let them know, and then tell them exactly why.  It sounds to me like you'd love to do a great job for them and to represent them very, very well so that they impress the customers at this gig (or the "audience").  I see our job as a customer service job.  Our customers are the audience or our "fans".  And so I think that if your main concern is how impressed these people will be with the band at this gig, they may make little sacrifices to help this.


I hope my random thoughts help somehow!

Well said, Chris.  I can see I definitely came to the right place.  I mean, while I sounded so "sure" of what I was saying, I totally agree with you and I say that you're right in correcting me (even though you weren't trying to correct me).

So, thank you for jumping in Chris.  Good save.  (seriously!)

I can see I'm going to learn a lot from being here.  I think I found my home.

Great advice from David, and yeah, I'm with Chris. Go with the flow, and don't try to dominate the gig. And I really REALLY wouldn't take that "tell them every single thought on your mind" approach. Why should they care? They're just trying to make it through a gig. You don't need to make them nervous about it by sharing your deepest darkest feelings. You're a drummer. They're expecting you to show up and play drums. It's not that big a deal, really, unless you make it one.

Keep it simple, do your homework, keep eyes and ears open (which often works best when one's mouth is shut) and enjoy the gig.