Creativity

Ok, I've been playing for over a year now, and I'm getting pretty good. But one thing I'm horrible at is being creative with beats. My brother will play something on the guitar and I always just start playing the same beats over and over again to meet those riffs. A major problem with this, apart from the fact that no creativity is bad in general, is that if my brother plays a riff that one of my simple beats doesn't sound right with, I have a hard time thinking of something that does sound good.

I'm basically looking for any tips from you or any websites that could help me here. I don't have the time or money for lessons right now, but maybe a book or something that I could read in my spare time would help as well.

Thanks for any input!

Try and listen to some of the drummers in the music you listen too and just build off of some of the beats they may be using or just use parts of their beats to go with yours, etc...

Damn, this forum is slow. I'm too used to the OJ.

Anyone got ideas?

Thanks for the reply.

I've been listening to more varieties of music lately, and it has helped some. Maybe time and more practice is the only remedy.

Still......anyone else?

You're playing a full year now, and you don't know every possible rhythm? How disappointing.

(Cut yerself some slack. It takes years to become a good, creative drummer.)

Another thing you could try to stir some creativity is to change your setup. Maybe if you are using a larger kit, scale it down to something smaller, like a 4 piece, 1 crash, hi hats and a ride.

another thing, is every issue of modern drummer notates about 20 snippets from songs, check those out.

Yeah all of the above are great suggestions. If I was you I would just concentrate on holding down a good solid beat for a song. You're still learning. When I'm writing to a song I usually listen to what the guitars and bass are doing and really figure out the structure of the song. I'll think of some beats and what not and I'll play them out in my head while the guitarist and bassist play, then when they plug in, I'll try out the beats. Some of them are horrible and don't fit, but others go real well. Then I'll do a rough (I mean rough) recording of the band and me playing. Then, I think about what I can change and what not. Usually the beat that I use is the first thing that pops into my head. Also you might want to consider I'm still pretty new to the whole writing thing too. Don't forget that everyone hits writers block at sometime or another. Since you're still new to drumming you don't want to be too hard on yourself or put yourself down.

okay well good luck sorry for the long post

try stuff, dont be afraid to sound like crap, it is jsut rehersal. Have fun w/ it, make the rest of the band mad

I'm with the Coyote. Creative freedom comes only with mastery.

At your level [if you're on the level :-) ] this would probably

mean technical stability.

Ask around about 4 way coordination and linear patterns, and what you require to prepare for them.

Learn to think on the 'Grand Staff' and not just the drum beat.

You may find that your creative block is simply physical.

Yes.

While you are practicing, set aside some time to 'play' with the beats you already know.

For example, if you are usually playing the standard Rock beat (quarter notes on hi hat, bass on 1 and 2, snare on 3), vary the bass drum by leaving out the '2' and replacing it with 2-1/2, (the 'upbeat' between 2 and 3), so you'll be playing 1 and 2-1/2. Start slow and keep practicing until you feel comfortable.

That was just an example of what I meant by 'play' with the beats you already know. Make small changes here and there and before you know it, you'll have a whole arsenal of different beats which you can use at your discretion.