Drummer of the Week: Sheila E.

Sheila E. is one of the most prominent female drummers. Her father is percussionist Pete Escovedo, who she was performing with in 1978 when Prince discovered her. She joined Prince's band during the Purple Rain recording sessions. (The two dated for a little while).

Sheila E.'s most notable act these days is performing with Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band. I read once that during one of the tours they would each sit at the drum set and try to battle each other. Sheila E. would continue to play flawlessly as Ringo could barely keep up her. The comedic act was a joke on Ringo since he's so often dissed. (See blog on Ringo).

Check out the video below!

Practice Makes Perfect

I'm ashamed to admit that I barely practiced this week. I'm transitioning into a new job on Monday and I'm pretty nervous about it -- new co-workers, new boss, new tasks. Meanwhile, my graduate program is overwhelming me. I feel like I'm running out of essay ideas and there's much to think about before I even earn the next half of my credits, not to mention a project and thesis.

My only escape right now is drumming (during the summer, the gym was another outlet) and I didn't even make enough time for it. When I don't practice, I feel a void. My hands are usually itching to sit down by my practice pad and play some rudiments, but this week my mind was too boggled to really let myself do what I love to do. If I don't have my sticks in my hand, I feel like I'm missing something, kind of like the weird feeling you get when your cell phone isn't with you.

When I sat down to practice yesterday, I felt my speed slow down a bit. A few days of no practice really weakens the chops. Now I feel like the days that I worked so hard to build speed are reverted and I have to work extra hard to get it back. Not a good feeling.

So when I went to my drum lesson today, I had to confess to my teacher that I barely practiced. "That's OK," he said. "Today we will play some stuff that you are new to you."

We sat down facing each other using the same practice pad and played triplets with a specific kind of sticking. I felt exceptionally slow learning it, so of course, the only way to perfect it is to play it at least 800 times. Yes, 800 times.

I better make time to practice.

Anyone who calls themselves a musician needs to practice their instrument to refine their craft. 20 minutes a day is the minimum, but it must be done. My drum teacher says that we usually "practice to our strengths," meaning we don't practice things we NEED to practice, but instead practice things we already mastered. So with a minimum of 20 minutes a day, I better practice what I need to practice. I also need to learn to practice slowly. Sometimes I lose patience with myself and speed ahead, but that will only make my technique sloppy. The last thing I want is sloppy technique, especially since I pay $130 a month for lessons.

Time to take out the metronome and the books and sit down with the practice pad.

Drummer of the Week: Travis Barker

I've mentioned Travis Barker many times on this blog, so you might be wondering why I find him amazing. When I first saw him on MTV in 1998, I think what attracted me the most was how involved he was with his set -- he looked like he was using his whole body to play. Blink 182 wasn't one of my favorite bands, but Travis always stuck out to me as an energetic, cool drummer.

I recently found this video of him:

Isn't that cool?

Sometimes he does remixes of popular songs, such as the rap song, "Forever" by Drake. This is the kind of energy I'm talking about:

Doesn't he look like he's having a blast? I love it.

When he was in a plane crash with DJ AM in 2008, I freaked out thinking he wouldn't be able to play drums anymore. Thankfully, he can.

Best Menu Ever

I went to T.G.I. Friday's with some co-workers today and was delighted to find this amazing menu...

Why So Few Female Drummers?

Let our young ladies -- always saving, of course, those who have the gift for the special instrument -- leave that and address themselves to the violin, the flute, the oboe, the harp, the clarinet, the bassoon, the kettledrum. It is more possible that upon some of these instruments the superior daintiness of the female tissue might finally make the woman a more successful player than the man. -- Sidney Lanier, 1898

When I joined school band in elementary school, I settled with the flute after learning my favorite teacher played. The flute section was quiet, reserved, and female, just like myself. No boys were in the flute section, which now surprises me considering the most famous flautists are male, such as James Galway. Girls played the flute, oboe, and clarinet, and boys were drawn to the saxophone, trumpet, and of course, percussion. Since I didn't see any female drummers on TV, I wondered if females SHOULD play drums. Was it acceptable for females to be drummers? If not, how come? Like I said in a previous blog posting, the drum set was not even offered, but even it was, would I have selected the drum set, knowing that I would most likely be labeled a tomboy by my peers?

The first female drummer I ever saw was Caroline Corr, drummer of the Irish pop band, The Corrs. They were performing their song, "So Young," on MTV Unplugged in 1999. I was beyond excited. Caroline styled her hair half up, half down, and wore a red dress. She energetically moved her arms around the set and smiled every now and then. Though the camera mainly focused on the lead singer and violinist, I could not wait for the camera to flash back on her. I was used to seeing drummers like Travis Barker and Tommy Lee -- lanky, tattooed, wild males. I definitely adored them, but I wanted to see a drummer I could identify with, someone who would make me feel like it was acceptable to want to play the drum set. I wanted to throw my arms in the air and create the sizzle sound of the cymbals and cracking sound of the snare that perked my ears, making me want to dance.

Seeing Caroline changed the stupid stereotype for me at 12 years old. Girls could play drums. Playing drums was a matter of WHEN not IF. Luckily, I am able to fulfill my dream 11 years after I first watched The Corrs' performance. I am also lucky that my drum teacher does not find it strange that I have a huge desire to play.

A few months ago I went to see Adam Lambert at the 9:30 Club. Allison Iraheta was his opening act, and I was delighted to see the drummer, who happened to be female.

"The drummer is a girl!" I said to my sister.

I quickly took the following picture of her. (Her name is Valerie Franco)

How come 11 years later I am still surprised to see a female drummer? And why are female drummers uncommon? Female drummers are out there, such as Debbi Peterson (The Bangles), Torry Castellano (The Donnas), and Elissa Bello (The Go-Go's), but are any of these female drummers household names? Everybody knows Buddy Rich, Ringo Starr, and (I hope) John Boham (Led Zeppelin). Maybe if female drummers were more recognized, females would feel more comfortable playing.

I wonder if females shy away from drums because they think they need massive upper body strength. Maybe some think playing is very powerful and violent, considering it's an instrument that you have to HIT to create a sound. The flute and clarinet are much more delicate -- all you have to do is gently move your fingers and make sure your embouchure is correct. Drumming is very physically demanding, though does not require much strength. Speed and technique are mostly formed by wrist control and muscle memory. Your heels and legs move, too, but again, not much strength is needed.

Maybe the misconception that major strength is needed is that the majority of male drummers on TV, like Travis Barker (pictured to the right) and Tommy Lee, are muscular guys with tons of energy. The two of them drum shirtless with tattoos covering their arms, neck, and chest.

In a BBC News article "Why don't girls play guitar?" I found this quote interesting:

The size of the instrument (bigger, male), its pitch (higher, female) and the physical characteristics needed to play it could be partly responsible.

Though the size probably does not have much to do with it (like the article suggests, the harp, a "feminine" instrument, is pretty large), the weight of the instrument might. Females supposedly prefer lighter instruments. However, the idea stems from adults, not children. Parents might look in horror when their daughter says she wants to play drums -- the gender stereotype is an influence they don't even notice. Drums are heavy, but not unbearable. I remember feeling very lucky that I was out on the football field with my little piccolo when the drum line had their equipment strapped around their shoulders. But that was only necessary for marching band. Regardless, their love of drumming was so strong they never even complained about their hefty equipment.

It's not surprising that gender stereotyping influences the instrument that children choose -- like I said, I don't think I would be comfortable with the teasing. In the article, peer pressure is listed as a reason students choose their instruments. Nobody wants to be teased in elementary school.

Percussionist Layne Redmond wrote a book called "When the Drummers Were Women," and a featured article with the same title for Drum! magazine online. For a large part of our history, percussionists were female, beginning with Lipushiau, a Mesopotamian priestess in 2380 BC.

In every ancient Mediterranean civilization I studied, it was a goddess who transmitted to humans the gift of making music. In Sumer and Mesopotamia it was Inanna and Ishtar; in Egypt it was Hathor; in Greece, the nine-fold goddess called the Muse. Musical, artistic and poetic inspiration was always thought to spring from the Divine Feminine. One of the main techniques for connecting to this power of inspiration was drumming.

Isn't that fascinating? It's amazing how history shows that percussionists were predominately female, and now they are male and drums are considered a "masculine" instrument.

It's pretty annoying when people are surprised that I am a drummer. Is it really that difficult to understand that a quiet girl could be attracted to a loud instrument? The drum beat is my favorite part of listening to songs; sometimes I close my eyes and visualize the beat being played on my drum set so I can mimic it later. I fell in love with the sound -- I didn't care about the physical demand or size of the instrument. I just wanted to play.

I hope female drummers become more prominent so that females out there feel more comfortable wanting to play, just like I felt comfortable after watching Caroline. It seems silly that such a gender stereotype even exists...but I'll try not to let it bother me.

Drummer of the Week: Dave Grohl

Yesterday, I walked into the kitchen and found my sister watching an SNL re-run on MTV. The Foo Fighters were performing their hit song, "Learn to Fly."

"Did you know that Dave Grohl was the drummer of Nirvana? He formed the Foo Fighters after Kurt Cobain died," I said.

"I didn't know that," she said. "And now he's a lead singer?"

Dave Grohl is a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, but he started off as a drummer. He's considered one of the best living drummers, actually -- his speed and coordination are amazing. He still participates in many projects, such as playing drums for other artists' records. John Bonham, drummer of Led Zeppelin, is Grohl's greatest influence.

Neat fact: He's from Northern Virginia.

What Does a Drummer Do?

The drum set is not a solo instrument. The sound is not melodic, unlike the violin or the piano. So most people think a drummer's job is to keep the beat, set the tempo, and ensure the band keeps up with the tempo. But, as my drum teacher says:

It's everyone's job to keep time. But the drummer will get blamed if you speed up or slow down to keep up with them. It's a Catch-22.

He's right. Every musician should be able to keep a steady tempo, without depending on the drummer. If they can't, they need to go back and start practicing with a metronome. Really, it should only be the drummer's job to keep time when others start slipping.

So if everyone's job is to keep time, then what does the drummer do?

Drummers emphasize dynamics. When a drummer plays a crescendo (gradually playing louder), the song sounds explosive. The effect is much more easily created than other instruments, even when trying to play a decrescendo (gradually playing softer). Would heavy metal exist without drums?

Drummers indicate changes in structure. My favorite part of listening to most music is paying attention to the drums fills -- a fill is a phrase that is played between sections of the song. Sometimes a drum fill is simple, and other times very complex, like quick, erupting notes, mainly played on the tom-toms. The fill leads us in the next section of the song. Just listen to the song "Creep" by Radiohead. In 2:24-2:27, the drum fill leads into the climax of the song when Thom Yorke sings for the first time, "She's running out the door..." In the song "Pretty Girl (The Way)" by Sugarcult, the drum fill at 1:50-1:56 leads into the guitar solo.

Drummers complement other instruments. Sometimes the drummer will play the bass along with the rhythm of the bassist -- together, they create a solid beat. Drummers make everyone else in the band sound better. Like the song "Pretty Girl (The Way)" the drummer, Kenny Livingston, adds the perfect punch for the soloist. With the right fills, accents, and crashes, the soloist instantly sounds more alive.

Imagine a world of music with no drums. Honestly, I can't listen to music without the drums for very long -- I need the beat in the background that makes me bob my head and tap my foot. (The only song I can listen to repeatedly with no drums is "Yesterday" by The Beatles). Drummers give a song the extra oomph it needs to sound brighter, groovier, and more exciting.