Big Picture Drumming
Take The Musical Conversation To A Whole New Level
by “Pistol” Pete Kaufmann
Playing advanced things just because you can might impress a few tech heads—but most listeners won’t give a damn how slick you are.
Big picture drumming—also known as playing for the song—involves looking at music as a whole, not as small parts like drum beats and fills. It’s also about not being obsessed with leaving your specific mark on the music.
A lot of drummers don’t get this concept. Many tend to be impressed with technique, speed, and complexity, which to them defines what’s hip and what’s not. But technique alone does not equal musicality.
Technique is often overrated and misunderstood. We certainly need technique to communicate our musical ideas. But technique should be a bridge between the creative mind and the physical body—and that’s it!
Listen To The Music
The song will always tell you what to play and what not to play. Whether your parts are simple, complex, loud, or soft will be determined by the song, not just your ability. In the real music world, playing advanced things just because you can is called “wanking.” You’re only playing for yourself and your ego. You’re trying to prove something. But there is no real connection with the listener when one plays this way—and people can feel that there is no connection. Yeah, a few tech heads might be impressed, but the majority won’t give a damn how slick you are.
Look at drummers like Steve Gadd, Vinnie Colaiuta, and Brian Blade. Do you think Vinnie plays like he did with Frank Zappa when he’s playing with Faith Hill? What about Steve Gadd with Paul Simon—does he sound like the Steve Gadd who played with Chick Corea? And you can bet that Brian Blade doesn’t bust out his jazz chops and polyrhythms when playing with Bob Dylan.
These guys are all big-picture players. They have musical maturity. Yes, their personalities come out in the music, but not at the expense of the music. This is a major reason these guys work so often.
Play It Like A Conversation
As an analogy, let’s think of a song as a conversation. We all know that having a great conversation with someone is about much more than showing off a good vocabulary. Having a great conversation means really listening to the other person and being interested in what they’re saying, and not thinking up something clever to say while they are speaking.
When you listen well, you can respond in a deeper way, and you can guide the conversation to a higher level of meaning. Sometimes the conversation can be exciting, sometimes it’s laid-back—just like a song can be intense or mellow.
Also like a conversation, your playing must be appropriate to the musical context. You can go into a conversation with an idea of what to talk about, but ultimately the conversation will guide itself—if you’re listening properly. The same goes for a song. The music will tell you what to play. It will dictate your parts. Sometimes a song might not even need drums! You might decide that it sounds better without them—just like some conversations might require you to listen and say very little. Again, the idea is to think of the whole.
Let me give you an example of playing out of musical context. I once saw an electronica/indie-rock band at a New York club. The drummer was technically capable. He had great rock chops and a lot of stage presence. Anyone watching could tell he was a strong, confident drummer. The problem was that he was overplaying and not playing for the song or the band at all. He was overpowering the other players, and really just playing for himself. In fact, he sounded like he was playing for a heavy rock band rather than the mellow band that he was on stage with.
The next time I saw the band they had a new drummer. This drummer was less flashy and busy than the previous one—but the band sounded a lot better. The new drummer played with more dynamics, and his beats and technique did not get in the way of the music. He was doing his job—staying out of the way of the music, and supporting it properly. He was a mature and musical player and provided for the situation appropriately. And that’s why he ended up being that band’s regular drummer.
The Spotlight Technique
Here’s a technique that I use sometimes if I’m having trouble seeing the big picture. This technique was originally intended for public speaking, but it can be applied to the drums or any other instrument.
First, think of yourself on stage in front of a lot of people. Pretend that a big spotlight shines down on you every time you start thinking about yourself and what you’re going to play. When you’re under the spotlight, you feel tense and a bit insecure because you’re just thinking about yourself and what you’re going to do. You’re actually putting more pressure on yourself than the situation calls for.
The problem is that there is too much focus on you. As soon as you really start listening to the music, the spotlight is taken off of you and goes onto the audience. You are there to complement the music so that the audience can enjoy it.
You have to hear the music through the audience’s perspective. They are listening to the whole performance, not just to the drummer. Sorry to break it to you super drummer-heads out there, but that’s how most people are reacting to the music.
As soon as you can make this shift in perspective, you will play more musically. Your drum parts will make more sense for the music. Your mind will be more creative and come up with ideas you otherwise would never have thought of. You will truly be playing music on a much deeper level, and the interaction will feel effortless.
Try this technique and see what happens. When you start playing for the big picture, you will begin to see music in a different light. You will enjoy playing more—and people will enjoy listening to you more!
Little Feat’s Richie Hayward, Fleetwood Mac’s Mick Fleetwood, and session ace Josh Freese are masters of playing for the song—without sacrificing personality or artfulness.
Seeing The Big Picture
Most big-picture drummers have far more technique than is at first apparent. My favorite example of a big-picture drummer is Steve Jordan. Compare the way Steve played with Steve Kahn’s Eyewitness (Eyewitness and Casa Loco) to his performance on “Don’t Get Me Wrong” by The Pretenders. Talk about night and day! Steve is what big-picture drumming is all about. Other drummers who epitomize the concept are Richie Hayward (Little Feat), Manu Katché (Peter Gabriel, Sting), Levon Helm (The Band), Matt Cameron (Soundgarden, Pearl Jam), Josh Freese (A Perfect Circle, The Vandals, Kelly Clarkson), Bruce Gary (The Knack), Russ Kunkel (Jackson Browne, CSN, James Taylor), Liberty DeVitto (Billy Joel), Jamie Oldaker (Eric Clapton), Mick Fleetwood (Fleetwood Mac), Jerry Marotta (Peter Gabriel, Hall & Oates), Roger Hawkins (Aretha Franklin, Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section), and Al Jackson Jr. (Booker T. & The MG’s).
bio
New York–based drummer “Pistol” Pete Kaufmann has performed with Motown group The Elgins, jazz legend Houston Person, Richie Cole’s Alto Madness band, The Lonesome Prairie Dogs, and Kilsy, and is the drummer for Ween drummer Claude Coleman’s own band, Amandla. For more on Pete, go to www.myspace.com/peterkaufmann.
