I’m learning how to play drums (teaching myself slowly, but surely … week over week). I’m learning that if you know a few “simple rhythms” and a few “fills,” you can get by without looking like too much of a fool.
As I’ve been playing in my church band on Sunday mornings, I’ve realized two simple truths:
- The more complex the melody line, the simpler the beat I should play
- The simpler the melody line, I can get away with a more complex beat
When I want others to stand out, I need to back off on drums. I need to be steady when the most important parts are other instruments or vocalists. Other elements of the song can’t stand on their own when the background beat is too rambunctious.
When we listen to jazz we tend to hear that improvisation over everything else. But beneath it, moving the song forward evenly and steadily, is the bassline.
I love the way musician Ornette Coleman describes this simultaneously wild, and balanced approach, “Jazz is the only music in which the same note can be played night after night but differently each time.”
Improvisation is just noise if we don’t ground ourselves in the bassline. And every player, even the most talented virtuoso, respects the bassline.
Benj Miller’s Renegages
What is the bassline that’s missing for you right now?
