drummer is fustrating

he really really wants to be rhythmn guitar. thing is we have one. and the other thing is that our drummer is way better at drums than guitar. now hes even saying he doesn't want a singer because he can sing if only he was playing guitar. hes not too attractive of a frontman either. i dont know what to say to him. he wont listen

Fire him, and get a better drummer.

ask the guitar gurus!

Well well well, if it isn't my old pal Negative Johnny Simms spreading more of his knee jerk propoganda. I wouldn't fire the drummer just because he wants to play guitar. Let him play on a song or two in your set and thats it, then maybe if he gets better at his guitar playing, he can play more guitar. But don't just fire him because he desires to play the guitar. That would be as retarded as the man who suggested it.

lol.. nah ..my drummer is on that forum ..dont want to offend ne one

if he's gonna play guitar during the set, who's gonna play the drums??

Try recording yourselves with him on drums and then pay some kid if you have to who is pretty good on drums and let your drummer play guitar. Close mic his guitar and his vocals and then play it back while he listens with the band to critque your new sound. Then hint later that you're not sure if the new drummer will stay or not. Use a drum machine if you have. But be prepared to tell him some one may have to use his drums for a while he is playing guitar until the new guy can get some drums. That way the new fella who comes over to help out does'nt have to bring any drums at all. Make sure your drummer is aware to he can go back to drums if he wants to. Then he should really know how he sounded on drums and guitar.

Failing that just tell him plainly its cause you are better as a drummer and your rymthm guitarist is better as a guitar player.

You obviously don't know the first thing about being in a band. It takes commitment; it takes heart. If the guy's heart is more in playing rythm guitar and singing than it is in drumming, then he needs to play guitar and sing.

"And this above all: To thyn own self be true."

-Will Shakespeare

The best thing for this guy to do is get rid of the dead weight, and get someone who is doing what they want to be doing when they sit down to play drums.

I would try letting him hear himself first. A lot of us want to play guitar because it seems to be more glamourous I guess its probably a eye candy thing. But many times we just are not good enought yet. I played bass in several bands before I was. Now if I were in a good band that really needed a good bassist or Keyboard player I'd probably do it. But I don't really wanna play something else and be constantly showing the guitar player how to do his part either. If I'm gonna do that I might as well be playing guitar but if its a good band and we all know what we are doing whats the problem with that? Not. Sometimes too we just don't realize what we are bringing to a band on the instrument we are playing. If he does'nt see it then. It might be better if you part ways. After all on his own he would be just a would be rymthm guitar player. But you and your friends on the other hand have a whole band minus just a drummer. Try it with him first you have nothing to lose. If not explain it to him nicely that you already have a rymthm player and that he started with you on drums that you would like him to continue as your drummer and that he is a good vocalist as well but he if he does'nt want to continue wish him luck and put an ad around in the best places for a drummer. The Beatles had to do it with Pete Best so why not you?

Do you know me? No, you dont, because if you did you would know that I've been playing in bands for 8 years and have been in the same band for five. I just said that he should be able to play guitar on a couple songs just to try it out. I step out from behind the set to play guitar and sign on the songs I have written and it works very well. My heart can be in the drums when Im behind the kit, and in the guitar when Im playing up front. It seems that YOU dont know the first thing about being in a band. You must be versitile and you must try new things. I hope I never get to see the Negative Johnny Simms Band where he fires his bass player because he desires to play bongos.

Steppin out is a good thing in some bands of you've people in there to be able to play different instruments. I have swapped with people. But Lets say you have a keyboard player that just plays keyboards. Lets say everyone there wants to play guitar but really can't. Then you force your audience to listen to joke night when they came to see a good band. I have a friend who is a good bass player, good rymthm guitarist, and good keyboard player but if he gets on a set of drums he thinks he's alright but in reality its like a four year old kid playing drums. Should we kill everyone in the audience just so he can play drums so horrible. No we swap with him on other instruments if he wants. The rymthm player can play rymthm and keyboards but not bass or drums. I would like to be as specfic as possible and not put the audience thru somethng that will make you look and sound bad just because some person wants to play badly on some instrument he can't play well and never practices on vrs, letting the guy you've got in the band who is better on that instrument than all the rest of you put together and continues to practice and improve. In some band it may work in others its not. Its really about those individuals as a team. In the army we would'nt want a guy taking turns as the gunner if we know he can't hit anything. Thats not whats best for the team but I would try to work with him but afterall he did come in there with the intention or pretention to the other musicians that he would be the drummer and he knows there already is a rymthm guitar player who's job he now is apparently coveting. Who does he expect to play drums? What does he expect the rymthm guitar player to do? So then by wanting to change the entire make upmake of the band who is causing the problem? We are not talking about a change up for a song here or there either is what I'm getting here he wants all this his way and permanent.

Tell him he has to do either both at the same time or nothing at all.

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Eight years? Wow. You have been playing in bands for less than half the time that I have. Not that time really matters, but if you want to put a # on it, there it is.

This drummer, doesn't want to play rythm guitar on some songs, he wants to be the rythm guitar player. He obviously has no desire to be a drummer, therefore he is dead weight. SporksForever either needs to let him play rythm guitar i.e. have two rythm players and find a new drummer, or get rid of him.

Ok ok, if this drummer is good enough to play rythm guitar, and the current rythm guitar player were good enough to play drums while the drummer is playing guitar, then fine. That would be an exceptional situation but not impossible, however from what SporksForever has said, the guy is no rythm guitarist.

Versatility is a fine thing, and branching out to try new things is also important, but when it comes down to it, someone has got to make the hard decisions. If I am in a band and I want to play rythm guitar, yet I was hired as a drummer, I would quit, or I would not be surprised to be fired.

Well said I played Bass and did my best at it until I got better and was offered a lead position with another band. The experience was good for me to get better and made me ready to branch out. From the way this was orginally put though he is ready to branch in and move the Rymthm player out. So unless he takes the hint, might compromise with your rymthm player to swap some, or wants to play keyboards provided you don't have one. Then this is eventually gonna be a split at some point anyway because if none of the above works then its gonna fall thru. After that the hints just put it to him what does he want to do. Play drums as he was orginally intended to or move on what ever he wants to do. Then its his final decision and no hard feelings. Fini

Personally, i think the kid sounds like a jackass. If you want to be in a band and play out and be relatively successful, part of that is working together as a team and performing to the best of your ability. That includes playing the instrument that you can best use to contribute to the sound of the band. If he's a good drummer he should be playing drums, especially when you are depending on him. Otherwise, he should get lost and practice his guitar till he's compotent enough to play in front of an audience. Some people are so godamn wrapped up in the concept of playing in a band that they don't stop to think "HEY.......maybe i suck and shouldn't be playing out just yet."

I think it's cool if a band has people who can play more than one instrument, and they switch between songs. One band that I see, and play with, on a fairly regular basis switches the bass around all the time. All three guys can play bass, so they do. Only one guy plays the stand-up bass though, so when they use that, it's all him. They switch around within their abilities. The singer can't play anything, so he doesn't try. The old drummer couldn't play anything else except trumpet, so he didn't try. The new drummer can barely play drums, let alone anything else.

Then there are bands like Metallica where they totally switch around. James is actually half-decent on the drums, and Lars isn't as bad as you would expect on guitar and vocals.

But you don't have to be super-good at other instruments in order to switch. People will understand that you normally play your best instrument in the band, and if you only switch for one or two songs, mistakes will be acceptable. This is something you could do with your drummer, if anyone else in the band is passable at drums. Just let him play guitar (and maybe even sing) for one song per show.