Clickbait for Drummers?!?!?

Let's talk about it...

No drummer is ever born with the ability to follow the click and follow it well. Just like anything else, this is something all musicians need to learn and have to learn to lead the band well. This seems like something that shouldn't be that difficult to grasp an understand of; however, I have personally met several drummers who have been playing for several years now and are still struck to stay on click, resulting in the band not having someone to follow because the rhythm is inconsistent. So why is this a tool that often leaves not only drummers but musicians in general frustrated? There are several different reasons, but most importantly, because it improves band cohesion and prevents sloppiness within the band. From a musician's perspective there are few things that are worse than having the audience confused on why the music is off and isn't sounding good together. To some the click might seem restricting, but the product yields professional results and tight music. Another factor on why the click is so important for musician's, is because it's an act of worship to the Lord.  The Lord honors the ways that we worship him and he calls for our very best, so by if by bands using a click produces a better sound and tighter communication within the band, why would you not use the tool.  When bands, especially worship bands use tracks they can get away without using the click, but overall using this tool produces a higher quality result. 

Ways to fix the issue: 

Start slow and work your way up

In simpler terms, for drummers it's always a struggle with lower bpm's because their reference track is more difficult to follow. There is more space between each beat so it makes it that much harder to stay consistent with the rhytmn. On the other hand,  it might be easier and more fun to play faster and with a higher BPM, but the slower the BPM the harder the song will be to play. It's so easy for other musicians to tell the difference between good and great drummers depending on the tempo of the song at hand.  

Practice, Practice, and more Practice

Just like anything else, the more you are able to practice a skill the better you will naturally become at it. Just like playing with click, the more you are able to practice playing with this tool the better you will become as an overall musician. Fills are a great opportunity to lose the click just because things can get complicated and the click can get lost in the busyness. To solve this problem, drummers need to practice with the click in every circumstance, so even when you are playing a variety of different fills the click remains consistent and in time.  

Settings a good in-ear mix

It can become so easy to lose the click with muddy or unclear in-ears so its important to learn how to know the components of how to make a clear sounding in-ear mix. From personal experience it is horrible when you are playing with an unclear in-ear mix because you're unable to hear the other instruments and that can make it that much more difficult follow the band dynamically. Another factor that can benefit a musician in their in-ear mix is the ability to pan left or right depending on the instrument or vocalist. However, this type of ability will only work if the band is using stero-in ear mixes. Another factor could be subdividing as well, which in simpler terms is knowing how much space needs to be between each click sound. For example, if a song is originally in 1/4 notes make sure it stay there instead of say, moving into 1/8. Now depending on the worship set and where the holy spirit might lead the team this could be unavoidable, but a great drummer will be ready for in melodic or tempo change and still be able to lead the band with confidence.  

Know where you're going

Most commonly drummers tend to fluctuate their tempo on builds and fills, so finding these moments and dialing is to keep the band on track is ideal regardless of how cool the fill could potentially be, or how perfect the opportunity might be. Whether you have been playing drums for a while or not, as the drummer you are keeping the temp of the band so knowing where you are planning on going with the song is crucial so you don't get to say a bridge at the climax of your build and you still have a whole other bridge to build into. Regarding the click, whether you are perfectly aligned with the click at all times or you consistent get off the click during your practice, everyone can improve and this idea can be made with right combination of strategy and effort. One analogy that helped me with this issue, what the concept of working out and building muscle.  Of course the more often I am in the gym growing and training a certain muscle group the larger that muscle group will become. Just like working out, the more you practice with the click and train that muscle mind connection the stronger it will become.  

Where it all Began

It all started when I was just a baby, I was always running around the house banging on different pots and pans and from a young age my parents knew that I was rhythmic and starting to develop that skill then and there. One thing that my dad told me as I got older, was the things I was beating on, and the sounds that I was even vocally making had rythmn in them, which was so odd because I was so young. Flash forward I still vividly remember the Christmas I received my first drum set. Of course it was not the nicest drum set ever, but it was something I could tangibly play with and grow my skill level on the instrument as a whole. At the age of 12, I sprung awake Christmas morning ready to open all of my gifts, so I went and grabbed my parents from their bedroom. My twin sister was getting all these gifts and I was not and honestly I was getting quite discouraged like I had done something bad to not get any gifts. For the most part I though I was a pretty good child throughout the year, at least good enough to receive more gifts from santa. Next thing I remember was my dad asking me to go get a trash bag from the garage to pick up all the wrapping paper my sister had put everywhere in our living room. All sad, I obeyed and headed towards the garage, opened the door and there right in front of my was my first ever drum set, shining with that new black crisp wrap. I could of swore my mouth was wide open with my mom recording the whole thing. For the next few days and weeks I played that thing every day for several hours just learning the basics of the instrument.  

Playing in Church

The next part in my drummer journey started by me playing the church, which is the same church that I still attend. As mentioned above click was one of the biggest things I struggled with growing up as a drummer. I still remember my worship pastor telling me, "Andrew it is not about the complexity of the fill or how good it might sound in the song, just remember you are the backbone of the band as the drummer", and that is something I have remembered ever since. From that point on, I took a break from playing at church and youth to just grow in my skill and be able to lead the band with confidence and consistency.  I then went home, and downloaded a metronome app on my old iPod touch and began practicing from there. Because I began my drummer journey without playing with a metronome and click it made it that much harder to adjust too because it was something that was new to meet and didn't make a ton of sense. At thing point, I realized I needed help, so lucky for me, my older cousin who at the time was 19 also played drums. He then started to come over and teach me how to play better rhythmic notes, and with the click. 

At this point it had been a few months and I had drastically increased my skill level, so I went back to my worship pastor hoping to get more playing time because he would trust me as a confident drummer. It was then that he told me, I was ready for a sunday with the band and it was one of the scariest things for me as a musician because I had never played with a full band before.  I was 16 at this time and I despite all the nerves and sweaty palms, I was able to keep things simple and successfully play my first sunday at my church.