Drummers are a pain!

So started a conversation with a musician friend of mine.

As I probed a little and asked what they might mean by such a comment, the answer was (in their eyes) simple ... 'Drummers spend too much time endlessly banging around the kit.'

When I asked what they meant, I received two answers:

a. 'Drummers set-up and then run through their latest round of 'new beats' or breaks when the rest of the band are talking.'

b. 'Drummers seem to endlessly tap all their drums making micro-adjustments here and there which 'make no difference to their sound'


I asked my friend a couple of simple questions:

i. 'As a guitarist don't you ever widdle around (warm-up) 'to make sure your gear is working'?

ii. 'More importantly, don't you ever tune your guitar?'


They were quiet for a moment ... you'd think I'd dropped a bomb!

'Oh! Is that what they're doing?'

'Yes' I said, 'Have you never asked?'

'He's never told me!'

And there we have the crux of the matter ... lack of communication.

Too often we rely on assumption, thinking that what we're doing or have said is as obvious to others as it is to ourselves. The result is often a complete lack of understanding or, worse still, wrong impressions/breakdown of respect.

I wonder how many bands would function better, and dare I say, stay together longer if the various members talked and listened to each other more. Just a thought ...