Drum solos

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Just getting back into drumming, I can't even imagine a solo...it would be more like a train wreck right now, LOL. I'd probably clear the room.

I don't now why, but I never even thought of doing a drum solo when I played in the past. When I'd practice, it was always with music in mind. There are so many drummers that I really admire, but I'd say only 1/3 of them do soloing that appeals to me. I always loved Neil Peart's solos, but honestly, I like his solos from his younger years (1970's) much better than what he did later on. His All The World's A Stage solo was off the charts, and to me was his best solo...younger, energetic, and out to prove himself. Bonham? Loved his drumming on all the Zep material, but Moby Dick and even the live version, I use to skip when I was listening to, though I love his drumming on Achilles Last Stand or The Song Remains the Same. I was also a HUGE Bill Ward fan back in the day, but never liked any of his solos on the Sabbath bootlegs. I think I've always been a fan of great drumming going along with music...Peart's La Villa Stangiato or YYZ, Bill Ward's War Pigs or Fairies Wear Boots, Simon Phillip's Space Boogie or Dissident Aggressor, Mitch Mitchell's Third Stone From The Sun or Fire, Jimmy Chamberlain's Bury Me or Jellybelly, Phil Collins' Los Endos or Wot Gorilla?, Ian Paice's Fireball or Speed King, Stewart Copeland's Message in a Bottle or Synchronicity, etc, etc...Basically, I love great music with great drumming, more than I do solo playing. That's not to say I can't enjoy a great drum solo though. It's just never been a focus for me.
 
pwc1141 said:
Some jazz tunes have drum solos built in - Sing,Sing,Sing; Golden Wedding; Take Five and others. Apart from those I am not expected to play them but, rather, trading fours or eights are my norm. None are practiced and just go with the flow.
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We do Sing Sing Sing in the Big Band and I change solos for where I’m playing. If it’s a dance crowd then it’s in time and pretty straightforward. If it outside with a sit back and enjoy the music crowd then I’m more open with what I play. Still try to keep it in that Sing feel but some off time stuff.

Go start one , it’s officially pre season !!
I’ll leave that for you.
 
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I like solo percussive improvisation/composition. So, I like a good drum solo...and all sorts of them, too. I don't agree with ideas that they should always have a groove...stick to time, pulse, whatever...as long as it's appropriately and interestingly creative, it's all worthwhile to me.

However, I don't think rock music always did that great a job in enouraging the musicality to always be at the forefront, especially when the venue sizes got bigger. I've been revisiting a lot of older 60s/70s rock over the last few years and was surprised by the amount of solos that I genuinely enjoyed, especially as long as the length was kept down below 4-5 minutes. Once you get past that...things start getting a whole lot more inconsistent.

 
Steech said:
I’ve thought about this too, and imo the best possible placement for a drum solo in a set is either:

1. A 1-2 minute kick-off-the-gig solo, or

For number 1 I can’t think of a good example but I know they’re out there. Anyone?
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I vote for Hot For Teacher solo opening. Plays right into the song.
Solo full of chops with no rhythm does not interest me so much.
 
Generally not really into drum solos. Only a handful come to mind, Neil Peart on Working Man(All the Worlds a Stage) (never got into his subsequent ones), Gene Krupa on Sing, Sing, Sing, Joe Morello on Take Five and Bill Bruford on Perpetual Change (Yessongs). All are more musical in nature. Otherwise, I tend to lose interest pretty quickly.
 
I have a short solo when we do "One Way Out" by the Allmans. I can stretch it out a bit if I want, but I usually don't. I prefer solos that are integrated within a song and keep the rhythm and flow of the tune. I could do an abstract, free form solo, but the music I play doesn't go there.
 
Thinking of solos in a rock context, everybody else in the band gets a chance to shine; why not the drummer? Also, the bands I've played with have found that the drum solo is a good time to walk a tip jar through the venue.

Finally, the forum needs two permanent threads: Drum Solos Suck and Small Kits Are Best.
 
Houndog said:
I can think of several enjoyable solos .

The Mule
The Professor
Inna Gada Da Vida
Any Sandy Nelson
Gene Krupa
Joe Morello
Papa Jo
Louie Bellson
Simon Philips
John Bonham
Ginger Baker
Etc …….

They all had have what I’d consider enjoyable solos …
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I did say most not all.
 
The single best/most memorable drum “solo” I ever heard live was actually not a solo, per se. Herlin Riley with Wynton Marsalis’s septet…it was a piece written to feature Herlin, so his whole solo was accompanied by the band and it gave the whole thing a very clearly defined arc. And Herlin killed it, as always.

I remember seeing Elvin solo and I was standing about 20 feet from the drums. That was memorable in a whole different sort of way.
 
Tony's solo during Sister Cheryl (starting around 25:24 in the video) is the only solo (jazz or rock) that I honestly enjoy.


I'm impressed by some other solos ("wow, I could never do that. anyway..."), and bored by a LOT of solos, but Tony's creating music. Plenty of hard drummy stuff in it (the Swiss triplets at the beginning are RIDICULOUSLY controlled), but the single-stroke work in the back half is just pure music.
 
I almost always hate the drum solos that rock drummers do - those free-form, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink type solos. Jazz drum solos are a different matter as they're usually done in the context of a song and follow the form of it, so they have less of the appearance of merely showing off chops, but are variations on a theme, just as any other instrumental solo is. I really enjoy a good jazz drum solo... as much as any other solo. I don't even do so much as a short drum break in my original rock band, but here and there, I trade 4s in my jazz group, which other than the issues of the rest of the band's timing (they don't really seem to have that figured out too well), I can get it to work. With certain tunes, I'm pretty sure that I could play a full chorus solo and come out on time, even if I might not be playing the most interesting solo. I haven't tried that, but judging on how poor the timing is by the rest of the band on the trading 4s stuff, I think I may have to wait.
 
I saw Donny Iris band opening for Nazareth and they were getting booed . Drummer took a solo and got a standing ovation , next song the booing started again !!!
 
Those of us who don't like playing solos, take heart. We're in good company. Drew Hester (Stevie Nicks, Joe Walsh, Foo Fighters, etc.) hates them too (and BTW, this interview is FANTASTIC. I go back to it again and again). He nails it:

 
bpaluzzi said:
Tony's solo during Sister Cheryl (starting around 25:24 in the video) is the only solo (jazz or rock) that I honestly enjoy.


I'm impressed by some other solos ("wow, I could never do that. anyway..."), and bored by a LOT of solos, but Tony's creating music. Plenty of hard drummy stuff in it (the Swiss triplets at the beginning are RIDICULOUSLY controlled), but the single-stroke work in the back half is just pure music.
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It's a great solo and we like what we like, but I still have a real hard time relating to this sort of absolutism. The unavoidable implication of all/almost all other solos not being musical puts this on such a pedestal, to the point where I find very hard to conceptualise what might be so profound about it for you that it ends up being the "only one". There's something far too hubristic about elevating one of our own personal favourites in such a singular manner, imo.
 
Diles Mavis said:
It's a great solo and we like what we like, but I still have a real hard time relating to this sort of absolutism. The unavoidable implication of all/almost all other solos not being musical puts this on such a pedestal, to the point where I find very hard to conceptualise what might be so profound about it for you that it ends up being the "only one".
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Eh. I think you’re reading far too much into it.

This is the only one I enjoy.
I enjoy this one because of its musicality.

Those are two statements, and there’s not any kind of exclusion / implication / transitive property at work there.

Diles Mavis said:
There's something far too hubristic about elevating one of our own personal favourites in such a singular manner, imo.
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:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
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Steech said:
I’ve thought about this too, and imo the best possible placement for a drum solo in a set is either:

1. A 1-2 minute kick-off-the-gig solo, or
2. A short in-the-song solo that retains the feel and pulse of the song.

For number 2 I nominate Ringo’s The End solo with that constant kick drum under his classic fills.

For number 1 I can’t think of a good example but I know they’re out there. Anyone?
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I don't know if this counts as a solo - but this is how they started their set:
 
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