Yes I play the drums
13 April 2013
“You play Drums?!... Really I had no idea!”
This is usually the reaction when people find out I play the drums. I love playing the drums. When I say drums I mean kit. I’ve never owned one and am entirely self taught, although I’ve had some tips along the way. I started playing when I was at school and was taking flute lessons (which I hated). When I finished school and after five years of lessons I sold my flute and have not played since. Drumming has stayed with me. Whenever I've had an opportunity I've played and practiced.
In early Crossroads Church music days, I can remember playing with four or five of us bashing out tunes, focusing on “getting thorough song” without mistakes. These days music at Crossroads is much better. We’re more focused on thinking about how we can make the music we sing (and I play) at church better. This means we spend time actually thinking about how to arrange our music. Working out who will play when, where, why and how.
As a drummer I’ve noticed it’s easy to get bogged on technical stuff and showing off cool new beats or solos. While this may show technical brilliance and how awesome you are, often it doesn’t actually serve the song or arrangement. As Anthony Rochester has said to me many times “Just play a straight eight!” Sometimes simplest is the best.
Below are a couple of videos with arrangements of older songs which I really like. I enjoy them because of the way they build toward a climax very gradually. I also like the way the drumming serves the overall arrangement.
tags church, linkage, music, video
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