I would like to address the age old question, and something I hear heated discussions about between my drummer friends all the time. Chops or Groove? This is actually a very complicated, convoluted, and complex topic, and deserves some perspective on both. So before we get to my thoughts on the question itself, let’s dive into both side of the argument.

Groove is the most important part of being a drummer. You are the pulse, heartbeat, and foundation of a song, and there is no debating that. Drummers like Steve Jordan, Kenny Aronoff, Steve Gadd, and Ringo Starr (just to name-check a few) are the ones that embody the spirit of making the groove the meaning of playing drums. This is not to say they are not capable of more, but often drummers in team groove swear by keeping things simple and manageable. With this, they create a super tight foundation and the pulse never ever waivers. The pros to this are that the timing is impeccable, the band never needs to think about timing, and the crowd can always clap on beat. Don’t kid yourself, almost all mega hits in the pop, rock, and country genres are being played by a groove drummer. The cons are that often, you are not going to be surprise or overly wow anyone with your drumming. Then again, for groove drummers, they are often intentionally not trying to stand out.

Chops are tools for drummers to create excitement, power, and expression in their craft. Drummers like Carter Beauford, Neil Peart (RIP), Gavin Harrison, and Jimmy Chamberlin embody the spirit of always learning and adding to your arsenal of tools to use in any given situation. This is not to say that chops drummers have no groove, but they are not solely committed to just keeping a solid and unwavering pulse. The pros are that they often have chops for literally any musical idea, movement, speed, or time signature, no matter how unorthodox or irregular. Don’t kid yourself, great drummers with awesome chops are what got you into drumming in the first place, and makes even non-musicians take notice. The cons are that chops take a lot of work to learn and maintain, and don’t work in music all of the time. Without discipline, drummers will go to chops city too often and ultimately take away from the music they are playing, losing them gigs.

With that in mind my answer to the question of Chops or Groove is Both! It’s actually very simple. Groove is an absolute must for any drummer. If you can’t groove then you are not fulfilling a fundamental part of being a good drummer and a good band mate. I have never believed that a drummer is solely responsible for time keeping, but the rhythm section is. Personally, I view timing as a dance, and it is up to us to set the dance at the right speed and rhythm for all of the other musicians. The bass player helps us lock the timing and connects us to the melody section of the music. With that solid groove, drummers can contribute more to the music, aside from just keeping time and a pulse.

This is where chops comes in. With a quiver full of various chops at our command, we can accent with the melodies. With the right chops at the right time, done well, can make other musicians stand out while also flexing our muscle. Drummers can contribute to the melody as well! Toms are more than just something to hit! With a little tuning and an ear for melody, your toms can contribute to the melody or even counter melodies! Chops, when used correctly, can bring energy, excitement, and a wow factor to the music, and most importantly, enhance and contribute to the music! The key to this all is two fold. Be musical, and at the same time, find your own musical identity. As a musician, you have your own unique voice, and you deserve to speak just as your other band mates do. Developing your groove is essential and building chops gives you tools to express yourself with. I will cover musical identity more completely in another post, but it is so important. Whatever you do as a drummer however, be yourself! There is no wrong way to go when you are true to yourself!

– Chris

Being a drummer in today’s modern world is not easy. As a drummer, you spend so much time working on your technique, timing, chops, speed, power, and all other facets of the art. Over time, you develop your musical voice and identity, and finally you are ready to get out there and start playing in bands and making music. Once joining a band, a whole slew of new issues arise. Learning to play with others, adapting to a group of other people with different voices and interpretations of the music. On top of this, we are often expected to learn every moment of everyone else’s parts, and we are then expected to work the groove and timing to accommodate all of it. It is here as a drummer that we are forced to become the captains of our ship. While often thought of as less than equal by most of our band mates, we are unconsciously handed the keys to the ship and expected to steer the band.

Over time and experience with our band(s), depending upon personality types of the other band members, we generally reach one of two outcomes. We are either highly celebrated and trusted by the band implicitly or we become the brunt of all jokes, are talked about viciously behind our backs, and are usually sent packing in short order (unless there no supply of other drummers or no interest in other drummers to join that band). It can be a cruel world for a drummer as we already get the immediate stigma of just being a “dumb drummer.” I am certain you have heard most of the jokes before. Often we are also looked down on as we don’t necessarily play “notes” or have music theory knowledge. Often times, those of us that care to make ourselves more valuable go and learn other instruments (for any number of reasons, both good and bad) and/or dive into the production side of things, as well as a good number of us with any kind of decent voice often learn to sing as well. Making ourselves more valuable is one of the key ways we have to stick around.

Then, if we are lucky and have worked hard enough, you get to a level where your band is in demand, and the band loves you, and everything seems to be going well. Then comes the management. We all know that the vocalist/frontperson is the MVP of the band and is by default the face and voice of the band. All managers universally see the vocalist/frontperson as the band and the summation of all of the music. In their eyes, that person is it, and any band around them is the equivalent of extras on a movie set, just kind of filling up space around their star. It must be that all management types read from the same textbook, because their first move, without exception, is to get rid of the extras around their star. The only exception is if you are related to or romantically involved with the vocalist/frontperson. Otherwise, you are on the chopping block. For drummers, this goes double. All of your talent, musical ability, and contributions to the music and the live energy your drumming creates suddenly means nothing. And if you don’t look like a supermodel, it means less than nothing.

This is where being more valuable comes into play. Obviously, your personal connection with the band will mean something to your frontperson, but the more you offer, the more you are worth. For me personally, I am not only a drummer and percussionist, but I sing, run sound, do some video work, am a writer, can do websites, dabble in keyboards and sampling, and am a safe driver. On top of this, I am a very even keeled and agreeable, rational, and reasonable dude, even when stressed. My bands all know that they can depend on me both musically and personally. I encourage all of you to be your personal best in all areas. Be the best drummer possible. The best friend. The best assistant. Whatever gifts and skills you have, hone them and make them a part of what you offer. Being a drummer is not easy, but somebody has to do it, so it might as well be the best! That means you! Show them who you are!

– Chris McKinney

There are not too many drummers that have ever picked up a pair of drumsticks and not have had that universal dream of playing in front of huge crowds to adoring audiences night after night in cities around the world. The ultimate drummers fantasy, right? Huge stages, massive sound, enormous crowds, small fortunes every paycheck, free gear, vacations all the time, and you don’t even have to do anything except show up and do what you love to do. Why wouldn’t everyone want to do that, right? Simply put, for most, that is strictly a fantasy, even for the people really doing it.

Being a professional drummer does not mean being a rock star. The real professionals are quick to point that out, including the nationally touring people you know by name, in the bands that you go to see. Don’t get me wrong, the national drummers enjoy many great benefits at their level, and most if not all have certainly earned the rights to those special perks and bonuses, but the modern day working professional drummer is anything but a fantasy. The truth is, most modern working pro drummers are creative, aggressive, and hard working entrepreneurs that have built up a good clientele from working tirelessly, making contacts, and sacrificing to get their brand (themselves) out into the market and firmly established. With the myths dispelled, now we can begin our journey to become a Professional Drummer.

So, you have been playing for some time now and you feel that you are ready to move to the next level, but there are no job fairs or indeed.com openings for it, so how does one become a “Professional” drummer? Well, first we should define that title. The easy definition of a professional is someone that is hired/paid to perform a job, service, or task. In the case of being a drummer, it’s all three, and then some (at least in my experience). So, step one of course is to be at least proficient at playing the drums and to be as versatile as you can with regard to styles/genres. As with any job or service, the more you can offer, the more valuable you will be in the eyes of perspective clients. Notice how I used the term clients, not client. This leads to my next point.

While some people get lucky and end up in a band that does well, chances are that you will not be able to make much money in one band. The next step is to figure out your availability and play in as many projects, bands, or musical situations as possible. Starting out, you may have to take on free shows or low paying work, but whatever your situation, always try to make everything you do work for you, and always set realistic short term goals and work hard to attain them. If you accept shows/situations for no money, get them to give you a good reference, and ask them to help you in your goal to make it as a pro musician. I have found this to be crucial in starting out. Good references and being open and honest with people about your intentions always tends to lead to better outcomes. As you play more and more, you can ask for more and more. My advice here is to not get greedy. If you get a low offer and you have no gigs, some money is better than no money.

It also helps early on to have a long term goal in mind, or even a reference of someone you would like to emulate. For me, I knew that I wanted to play for a living, and I also knew that I did not want to be stuck with just one genre or style of music. With that I dove headfirst into many different styles and situations and found that very instructive and rewarding. I also had drumming heroes to loosely base my goals on. First call studio and live guys like Josh Freese, Vinnie Colaiuta, Jeff Porcaro, Kenny Aranoff, and more recently, Gavin Harrison, were not only drumming inspirations, but their versatility and ability to play with anyone, and always be in demand, while still having a personal identity, were huge to me.

After making a bit of a name for yourself and having some references and hopefully media to show perspective clients, the next crucial move is to make yourself more visible to potential clients and create a way-point for them to get information, contact you, and get them to music/video/media that will help persuade them that you are who they need. A website is likely the best way to go, and is most appealing to people looking for you, but even a good social media presence can help tremendously. Word of mouth will always be invaluable, and in truth, is still going to be your primary source of new work. For this reason, every show should be your best show! Always bring your A+ game!

I can’t tell you how many times I have played a show where it seemed like no one was interested or there were not many people there, but the passion for the music and the performance was enough to get a contact, or another booking, or a tip, or any other positive result. Another tip I can give you is to always be thankful to the audience and your fellow musicians. Even more importantly, always make friends with the sound tech, and thank them even if everything sounded horrible. Chances are you will get them again at some point (especially if you are playing the same places a lot) and they can make or break you and your band. If they remember you being cool and easy to work with, your life will be much easier and your band will likely benefit from that.

Another very useful tip is knowing your role in the band/mix/performance. Always put the music itself first, your band mates second, and you as a distant third. This is the major difference between most professionals and other drummers. Being able to play sick drum fills at insane speeds might wow other musicians, but more times than not, it is not going to serve the song, and at the end of the day, is not going to get you any work, and without work, it’s going to be hard to be a professional. This bring up Ego. Ego is useful, to an extent. Most people jump to demonize Ego, but you need just enough Ego to be confident and always bring your A+ game. Anything beyond that however, is unnecessary and will usually hurt you. Try to find that magic spot where you can be the beast that you are and still be respectful and grateful.

Unfortunately, there is no one tried and true way to become a professional musician. Once people know that is your goal and you work at that with the help of bands/fill-ins/sessions for a while you will begin to get pretty busy. This is where you start realizing that being a professional drummer is not actually just about drumming. Now, you are also a business manager, event planner/coordinator, media specialist, logistics manager, driver, traveling sales director, and in my case, I add harmony vocalist, percussionist, recording engineer, live sound man, webmaster, media specialist, and songwriter to the mix as well. Again, the more you can offer, the more valuable you are. Also learn to be a great manager of your time, keep excellent records, communicate effectively, keep your calendar/dates effectively, and always do what you say. Be dependable, show up early, help as much as you can, keep learning and improving as you go, and let people see your professionalism in all you do. If you can do those things, you are well on your way to becoming a professional!

PS; Once you get paid the first time to play your drums, you are a professional drummer. Grow it from there!