Are Drummers really Musicians?

[matthewsa1]

Well, are they?

Remember to Vote at the top of the page!

[voice of god]

of course they are musicians!

rhythm is everything. music would just be noise if there was no structure or timing.

drumming is one of the coolest parts of music.

as a matter of fact if you traced music back to its roots say caveman time(quite appropriate since we're talking drummers haha) I'll bet you would find that drums are the original musical instrument.

That's right the first musical note ever struck on this earth was that of someone beating a drum(be it sticks or rocks or someone else's head)

Aaah its starting to become clear, you are beginning to realize.

The truth shall be known.

Yes all musicians are descendants of drummers.

Which means the drums are a part of you. If you want to be a better musician you need to truly FEEL the drums.

Tommy Emmanuel breaks it down like this. He says when he plays he FEELS the drums in his body. The hi-hats in his head. The kick drum in his belly and the snare in his chest or heart. He truly FEELS the rhythm.

Try this, it will help your playing. Also works for dancing.

[Dark Wolf]

yes i agree with voice drummer are a big part of any band so their for they are musicians

[voyetra]

:assskake: I do believe that drummers are musicians, afterall musicians express feelings through instruments, and who keeps the beat who sets the pace most times the drummers. Most drummers I have met were not trained formally, but you do have pianist that can't read. I think Paul Mcartney cannot read but he is one of the best musicians in our time and plays a number of instruments.

[rounty]

Drummers are musicians of course. The style of music might be different to the one you do with a piano.
Maybe a drum solo isn't music like a piano or guitar solo, it's groove and beat. As rhythm is an important part of music drummers are definitely musicians.

[Nyxan]

Speaking as an ex drummer I would say that without drums a lot of music would loose its feel not to mention that most bands would loose their timing and all sense of rhythm-lol

[Ronny]

No they are not musicians. you don't need to understand the complexities of scales, notes, chords etc...
You just need to hit different things in a different order and remember that the next time you play.

[Ronny]

That last post was to generate some discussion...

They are fine musicians!!

[NOFX ROCK!]

If you look at it this way. Music is a series of notes strung together. Guitars, keyboards, harmonicas, bagpipes etc.. have loads of different notes, well so does a drum kit. Each drum is tuned differently and so are the cymbals, (not to mention bells, triangles etc...) Therefore drumming creates music and one who plays that music is therefore a musician!!

[Zack]

definetly no doubt about it ;) now a Kazoo player, thats a different story..hehe

drums = rhythm
rhythm= music

[lostdave]

i always thought that a drummer was someone who hung out with musicians :D :D :D

DAve

[Nyxan]

Ha ha ha another one -- How do you tell if the drum risers level---- the drool comes out both sides of the drummers mouth.

[evansst]

I always thought that music needed timing,rythm and a backbeat. Therefore, I would have to say, that we drummers are definitely musicians in our own right!! :hit:

[Big C Style]

I was on the drumline in high school, and we were the most envied and respected section in the band. It was almost like we were a separate entity because we were so much cooler than the rest of them.

[Legolas313]

YES of course dummers are musicians, they play and instrmet(can't spell)

[evansst]

Originally posted by Legolas313
YES of course dummers are musicians, they play and instrmet(can't spell)

No, No... drummers can spell... we just lack co-ordination when we type....:thumbsup:
____________
We are strangers to each other
Each one's life a novel no one else has read
Even joined in bonds of love
We're linked to one another by such slender threads...

—Neil Peart

[Trancetech.com]

Everybody is a natural drummer. Our hearts beat to a certain Bpm right? That should mean we should all have rhythm, but we all don't. Weird.

[kcpiano]

:) I think Piano, Drums, Saxaphone and Bass are my favorite instruments. I play Piano and Sax(Windcontroller) and would like to learn electronic drums. Not sure if I will ever learn bass other than playing it on the synth/windcontroller as part of a song. I have played the Stick before, bass and lead on one guitar. Would be very hard to learn that instrument and time consuming.

Kevin

[kcpiano]

I think drums and bass are very critical to a song and most songs need those instruments.

Kevin

[kcpiano]

I would like to know how many drummers know how to play other instruments? Seems like some muscians sometimes play the drums, but real drummers only drum?

Kevin

[kcpiano]

Drummers do read music and so they must be musicians :-)

[evansst]

Originally posted by kcpiano
I would like to know how many drummers know how to play other instruments? Seems like some muscians sometimes play the drums, but real drummers only drum?

Kevin
I'm a drummer first, but I have played guitar professionally as well. I don't play much guitar now, but I still practice drums, even though I haven't jammed with anyone for many years.:cool:

[Will Power]

Of course drummers are musicians..I know keyboard players and guitarists who dont understand scales, but they can play

[Sembe]

yeah right! its not that easy..

[scobby1384]

drummer is such a general word....what about a percuusionist!we don't get any credit.i'm in the bandand everyone wants to be in the drumline but nobody seems to look at the pit...dm!we play to we do rythems we do everything th
ey do!ah w/e

[DaronMalakian]

Of course they are, How The other musicians must have a good beat.If Someone dances, he/she will dance to the beat. The beats from the drums sooooo.........

[mikecircus]

Not only are they vital musicians. Every drummer I know is a fantastic drinking buddy.

[sarahwaight]

what kind of question is that????????????????? of course drumers are musos they provid a rythem and rythems part of music???? i feel sorry of all drumers and us singer cause we are never counted as muso but we are!!!!!!! drummers do also put feeling in to music and the drumers i know al know how to read music and not just drum lines ether!!!!



drumers rock!!!!!

so do singers!!!!!!!!

[beerbelly]

Originally posted by scobby1384
drummer is such a general word....what about a percuusionist!we don't get any credit.i'm in the bandand everyone wants to be in the drumline but nobody seems to look at the pit...dm!we play to we do rythems we do everything th
ey do!ah w/e


actually, its the other way around. percussionist is the general term for a rhythmic player. drummers are percussionists. so are marimba players, timpani, timbales, congas, kahon, and even triangles.

[beerbelly]

o yeah...i almost frogot. drummers are, no doubt about it, musicians!

[Fadel]

Drummers are not musicians? ..what next? ..Bassists are not musicians too?

[drummerboy1979]

one thing to think about, many drummers are expected to play not only drums BUT also mallet instruments and timapni and a thousand other things which require a different techniques. SOme drummer do have to know scales and all that other theoretical material. Besides, what more important to the listener that the must stays in good time or that the the player knows all this other mess?

[besty]

I just laughed my ass off at you Ronny. That was funny!! Hit things in a certain order and remember that next time they play. Ha ha!!! Still laughing!!

[Nuld]

i learn't to play the guitar and keyboard in my teens, saved up hundreds of pounds to purchase a strat, sold that and saved for ages for a korg keyboard, an aquaintence of mine crashed his car, needed some quick cash, he had a Pearl Export kit and i had just one go. from that point i went straight to the bank, gave him want he wanted for his kit and have been playing the drums for 10 years now. not pausing to look or even play a guitar or keyboard........ do i consider myself a musician........f!"£ing right i do.

[SKaiba]

a friend of mine is a drummer
they play music, they read music, of course...
oxxx{====S=K=====>

[SKaiba]

uhmmmm...
i wish i was a drummer
not for a band, well
maybe for aband, cuz that would be soo cool
but heh, im not
yeah they are musicians
:boink:

[tokio]

all music revolves around the bassdrum :)

you can only do so much without a beat, drummers also help keep the beat for the rest of the band.

[ZelRiptha]

Originally posted by SKaiba
uhmmmm...
i wish i was a drummer
not for a band, well
maybe for aband, cuz that would be soo cool
but heh, im not
yeah they are musicians
:boink:

Hey SKaiba, small world :D.

ZR

[zang74]

A basic drumset isn't much of a "musical" instrument though. It's a percussion instrument, but rhythm is different than melody. You can't really create something melodic with a regular 4 or 5 piece kit.

[saxmidiman]

Good drummers are some of the best musicians around. In the area I live in however, there aren't very many good drummers. Ask any band member and they can tell you that a drummer can make or break any song on any given night.

What's the difference between a drummer and a drum machine?

You only have to punch it in to the drum machine once.

Seriously though, drummers are just as much musicians as any other member or any band.

[BlackHawk]

You can't really create something melodic with a regular 4 or 5 piece kit.

Well, if you tune the toms in the right way (and maybe switch off the snare on the snare drum), then yes, you can create something that is melodic. This is even better if you have a set of roto-toms on your kit, as they sound naturally melodic rather than percussive.

OK, so maybe playing melodic lines on a drum kit isn't quite as good as melodic stuff that is played on naturally melodic instruments, but if you can do percussive effects with traditionally melodic instruments such as a guitar (e.g. chugging), a bass (e.g. slap) or a piano (e.g. just whack one note in a rhythmic way), then why on earth can't you do melodic things on a naturally percussive instrument?

I think it works both ways.

[casamilla]

first you are a drummer.....

[Darius]

Yes full stop.

[digital]

percusion is the backbone of music

[DERVOGELMANN]

i think drummers are the most important musicians!

[merrini]

Ok, the drum in one of the oldest instruments--used in tribal dances, etc. How can you say these drummers aren't musicians, I think some vocalists AREN'T musicians since quite a few of them can't actually sing and if the music suddenly dropped out behind them you'd know how horrible they really are.

[M.O.T.E.]

yes they are, and i'm not. i need help in learning about drums. Can anyone give me a simple beat that i can play in midi. What does a drumer do.

[kcpiano]

I agree drummer is incorrect and percusionist is much more accurate!

[Dallas Aussi]

Judging by the number of drummer gags circulating it obvious - drummers aren't musicians, they're jokes! :)

Having said that - death to all drum machines, bring back real drummers to music (just as long as I don't have to help load in & out)

[Turbo]

If it feels good , it sounds good.
If it sounds good , people like it.
If people like it they say its music to their ears.
Everything has a logic to it.

[Blue Cheese]

Of course drummers are musicians. They are vital parts of any piece of music, any band. In stage band [our school jazz band] when we don't have the drums it just throws us off completely. [although when we get the drums back we play much better in time]. But drums are not the icing on the cake, they're the spongey bit inside. The other instruments are the icing.

[noff]

they sure are

[lacima]

Drummers are the rhythmic backbone of all music.

[EvenFlow]

Drummers are the backbone of a band. Drummers are there to keep the other musicians in beat. So without them its just noise and all out of order.

[BlackHawk]

The backbone isn't the drummer. It's the click track!
Even drummers can race or drag the beat, and the click track is what keeps us in time! :smart:

(Honestly, it is an absolutely essential skill for every drummer to get used to playing with a click track in their ears. Unless you're amazingly good at keeping a solid time, then a click track is a good thing to help you out with!)

[prax]

drummers are musicians. they dont have to know scales and notes, but then people who play other instruments dont have to know rolls, double stroking, rudiments and other things that drumemers need to know. and even if you weren't formaly trained, if you're any good, then you will automatically use those things in your beats.

[Black_Kat]

Best :damn: bet they are! *rocks back and forth in a dark corner* My life is a lie!!!!

Prodigal Child

[Shona]

im a drummer and with out me playin in the band it sounds empty.
drummers rule!!

[BöseMiez]

Well, I'm no drummer, but I play bass and I think that they're of course musicians because rhythm is one of the most important things for music and a good drummer is really important to give the band a good sound!

[drummer.a.h]

Yes...drummers are musicians! *looks at name* The drum set is an art in my mind, plus mallet percussion is just as much music as a piano or anything else for that matter.

[grmstrsexay]

they are definitely musicians, drums are music, drums are a crucial part of any song, so yes they are

[scarlethawk]

drummers are totally musicians...i mean: they read music (most of them do at least!) and its part of every single song you hear (unless its like church choir.)

[Dobbs]

Drummers/percusionist are what the makes the music world go around

[saxmidiman]

It's amazing the ego's here.

Drummers can be a very intrical part of any song. BUT THE SONG IS GOOD WITH OR WITHOUT ANY INDIVIDUAL INSTRUMENT. Drummers are very talented and skilled musicians, but don't ever get it confused with the songwriting. Songwriting is a skill that is completely independant. You can have great songs that are butchered by one group, but is highly successful with another. Check out "Black Velvet" by Alannah Myles as opposed to some country singer named Robin something or another. Myles version just rocks. The song is good, but is enhanced by the group of musicians playing it.

The backbone of any band is not any individual, but how they can blend with each other to bring the best out of any song. No one part is necessarily more important than the other. Each person has to do their part to make the song work.

[G-man]

Well said Sax! *he must be a musician? :laugh2: *
Seems like I'm havin' a case of deja vu here... :confused:

[OzWTF]

everyone seems to forget that percussionists play tuned instruments too from time to time. especially classically trained percussionists.

[Wiggawes8]

"I never started playing drums to get chicks or money or anything else. Long before I had concepts of those things, I wanted to be a drummer. That's the basic concept of what I do. I'm a drummer. I play drums. We are artists as drummers, and people should realize that. Not everyone can sit down and use all four of your limbs simultaneously to create something out of wood and plastic. We're creating something beautiful, and it may not sound pretty, but if you listen with the right ear, it sounds very pretty. If you try and listen to a song without drums, you haven't got anything."
- John Dolmayan,
System of a Down

[saxmidiman]

Agree with the dexterity bit and how a good drummer does a great job. As for songs without drums "not having anything". That's a ridiculous statement. I have heard many songs without percussion that are great. You just don't want to hear ten of them in a row (at least for the majority of the time). The same thing might be applicable to drums. You may not want to hear 10 drums solo's in a row. Drums however can be a very integral part of a song, and may enhance it greatly. I'm really surprised at his statement at the end.

:eek:

[gethegroove]

Drummers are absolutely musicians! If in a song 50% percent is the melody and the harmony and everything else...the rest must be absolutely percussion! It gives us the rythm...the energy! Drummers are absolutely musicians...