The road to success is different for every drummer. If you ask for advice from professional drummers, you’ll get lots of different answers. Success looks different for everyone, because everyone has their own idea of what makes them feel happy or fulfilled as a musician.
Some drummers don’t feel happy or successful without a lot of public recognition for their talents. Drummers who need recognition might want to win contests. They might want to be famous, perform with famous bands or perform on hit recordings. Not achieving some of these things makes them feel unsuccessful as drummers, no matter how talented they may be, or how much money they make.
For other drummers, playing music they believe in and enjoy is much more important to them than public recognition or fame. For these drummers, having a hit recording with an artist they don’t really respect seems like a lie. They feel like they’re prostituting their art for the sake of money. They feel that if they’re playing really good music, and playing really well, with good musicians that they respect, they’ve achieved the success they’re after.
I found that to really make money, you had to give up music. So I gave up money.
– Mel Lewis
Other drummers just want to have successful careers as professional, working musicians. Their idea of success is that they are in high demand as sidemen, studio players, clinicians and teachers. These players are just happy to be making a living doing what they love, whether or not they ever get the recognition that the famous players get. They have their favorite styles of music just like everyone else, but they welcome every opportunity to play music, just so they can stay busy. This is their idea of a successful professional drummer.
All these ideas are personal choices. No one can make these decisions for you. You need to decide for yourself what constitutes success as a drummer, and what price you’re willing to pay in order to achieve your goals.
The following is a guide, a kind of map, to help you on your journey. This will show you where some of the potential “pit falls” are on the road to success as a drummer. These are things that have tripped up many other drummers on their journey. This article was written in the hope that you can make wise decisions in your career and achieve the success you’re after as a drummer.
Drumming Career Mistakes
1. Not Getting Enough Training
In most cases you will find that the drummers who have had the best instruction play better than everyone else. It is no accident that jazz greats like Tony Williams and Terri Lynn Carrington took private drum lessons with Alan Dawson or that Vinnie Colaiuta, Steve Smith, Jonathan Mover, JR Robinson, Kenwood Dennard, Joey Kramer, and David Beal all studied with Gary Chaffee. Most of these players probably would not have become the players they did if they hadn’t had such great instruction. They eventually got the career opportunities they did, because they could play so well.
There are certainly exceptions to this rule. Many times young drummers hear of self-taught drummers who play very well, and are even famous in some cases. You will find this to be rather unusual though. If being a successful drummer is important to you, don’t gamble on your career. Don’t assume you’re the one in a thousand genius drummer that can become great at it without studying. Why not put the odds greatly in your favor by finding a great teacher who can help you get where you want to go? Why try to reinvent the wheel?
2. Not Finishing Your Music Degree
Many successful drummers do not have a college degree. That’s a fact. When you’re young and just starting your career as a musician, going to college can seem like a waste of time. At that point in your career, you’re probably interested in nothing but performing. You figure spending 4-5 years in college to get a music degree would be a waste of time. You figure the degree isn’t going to matter anyway when it comes to performing. No one is going to hire you just because you have a college degree from X College. It’s all about being able to play well and who you know.
Whether or not avoiding getting your college degree is a mistake depends on your goals and your situation. If you never do any teaching in your drumming career, not having a music degree might not make a difference.
You may find though that as you go through life, and pursue a career in drumming, that not finishing your music degree is a mistake. For one thing, what you want at 20 years old and what you want at 40 are sometimes very different things. By the time you’re 40, you may have a wife and kids. You may want to spend more time with them rather than being on the road all the time. You may also get tired at some point of playing smoky bars, and playing till 1 o’clock in the morning. You may get tired of low paying gigs, etc., if you’re not a famous drummer by then, or playing with famous musicians.
At that point, having a degree may give you other options, instead of having to go get another job doing something you hate. It will give you the option of teaching percussion classes at a junior college or university, as well as give you more credibility as a private drum instructor.
The training you get by pursuing a degree in percussion can open up lots of performing opportunities as well. This training will make you more versatile, which will qualify you to play other percussion instruments with various bands and artists. You’ll also be qualified to do studio work as a percussionist as well as a drummer. It will qualify you to perform with symphonies and do theatre work as a percussionist and qualify you to play in military bands.
So while getting a college degree isn’t mandatory towards being a professional drummer, it can help you in lots of potential ways. Not getting your degree could be something you regret later in your career.
3. Failure To Build An Impressive Resume
Not having an impressive resume can hurt your opportunities for success as a drummer in lots of different ways. Obviously, when you’re first starting your career, there’s nothing to put on your resume. But you need to think about things you can add to your resume as you develop your career that will move it forward, rather than just things that keep you busy or pay the bills.
If you want to teach college percussion for instance, or if you want to perform in a symphony, the school you graduate from may make a big difference. Graduating from Eastman School Of Music will give you
much more credibility with colleges or symphonies than graduating from your local community college, even though the teachers at your local college may be very talented. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t go to a community college. It just means that if your goal is to play with the New York Philharmonic, you may need to further your education and get a bachelor’s or master’s degree from
a more well-known school to achieve your goal.
The same is true in the field of jazz. If you graduated from North Texas University, there is little doubt in anyone’s mind that you probably play jazz very well, and that you’re an expert in the genre. If you graduated from Kansas State College, it simply doesn’t hold as much weight in the jazz community, even though they might have a great jazz program as well. So, getting all your college degrees from these lesser known schools could be a mistake, depending on your career goals.
There are ways other than college to gain credentials. Touring or recording with a nationally known act is one of the best. Having a national act on your resume can definitely open other doors for you in terms of teaching clinics, landing other performing opportunities, etc. So, turning down this type of opportunity could be a mistake, regardless of how little it might pay, or how inconvenient it is to do the tour.
Writing books about drumming is another way to build your credibility as a drummer. There are drummers who became famous or very well respected because of one drum book they wrote. Writing established them as experts in the field. A couple of drumming authors that come to mind are Jim Chapin and Rick Latham.
4. Failure To Set Long Term Career Objectives
Your music career is a marathon, not a sprint. You need to think long-term. Someday, when you’re 70 years old and looking back over your drumming career, what do you want to have accomplished? If you don’t think ahead, you may eventually end up someplace in your career you don’t want to go. Believe it or not, there are people who end up achieving outward success in their careers, and still end up very unhappy. In some cases, they have a very natural talent for something. They get opportunities and make the right connections, and they start to make a very good living. Sometimes they stay on that career path their whole life. Later in life, they may feel like it was all a huge waste and that they accomplished nothing.
Don’t let this happen to you. Think about where you’d like to be in your drumming career 5 years from now. Then think even further out. Think of where you’d like to be in 10-20 years. Do you want to be a full-time musician? Do you want to play with nationally touring acts? Write your goals down. This is actually the most important step in achieving them.
5. Failure To Make Plans
After setting your goals, you need to figure out how you’re going to reach them. Your plans can, and probably will change over time, but you should still have a plan to start from.
If your goal is to make a living doing studio work as a drummer, what do you need to do to make that happen? Part of that plan may be to become more versatile as a drummer, and learn to play more styles of music.
If your goal is to play with nationally touring acts, you need to have a plan to make those connections. Can you make the right connections over the internet? Maybe part of your plan is to make frequent trips to Nashville or Los Angeles to make the necessary contacts.
Again, everyone’s situation is different, because every drummer has different goals. But the one thing that’s true is that everyone has a better chance of achieving the success they’re after by creating a plan to reach their goals.
6. Closing Yourself Off To Musical Genres
Most professional drummers today are very versatile, which is very different from the way things were many years ago. This versatility is partly a reflection of all the excellent instruction that’s available, both privately and on the internet.
It is still quite possible to become a successful drummer playing one genre of music only. This is especially true if you become the member of a very successful band. Drummer’s like Neil Peart of Rush have spent their entire careers playing in one band and in one musical genre. Peart has even stated in interviews that if he wasn’t making his living playing with Rush, he’d do it as a hobby, and do something else for a living. There’s nothing wrong with this type of career decision. It’s simply his personal definition of success as a drummer.
However, if your personal goal and idea of success is to make a living as a full-time drummer, being open to different genres of music definitely helps. It simply gives you the opportunity to work more often as a player. You can still have your favorite styles of music, but be able to play whatever gigs come up.
7. Not Making Enough Of The Right Contacts
It’s not enough to be just a talented drummer. You have to know the right people. Fortunately, you have more control over this than you think.
If you want to be a successful jazz or blues drummer in your local market, go to jam sessions. Also go to gigs where the musicians you meet at the jam sessions are playing. Eventually you’ll get to know the musicians, and they’ll get to know you. If you’re a good player, they’ll eventually start calling you when they need a drummer.
The same thing applies to every area of drumming you want to break into.
8. Failure To Develop People Skills
People work with people they enjoy working with. These people include drummers. You become the type of person people like to be around by developing a positive attitude.
When you do get called for a gig, be thankful they called you and not someone else. Avoid complaining as much as possible. If you’re called to do a gig, and you honestly can’t show up and do it with a good attitude, don’t take the gig.
There is much more to the skill of dealing with people than just having a positive attitude. There have been many great books written on the subject. Start with “How To Win Friends And Influence People”, by Dale Carnegie.
9. Not Recognizing Opportunities When They Come Up
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Sometimes opportunities will present themselves in your career that you hadn’t anticipated. You may have a well thought out plan, but then something even better and unexpected comes along. You can blow your chance at a very successful drumming career by not recognizing the opportunity in front of you.
Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones began his career as a jazz drummer. When the opportunity to play with The Rolling Stones came along, he accepted it. The rest is history. If he had said no to that opportunity, because he was hell-bent on playing only jazz, he might have lived his whole life in obscurity and poverty.
Kenny Aronoff started his career off as a symphony percussionist. He later got an opportunity to play drum-set with John Mellencamp. He eventually decided he’d rather make his living playing the drum-set than classical percussion. Later he became one of the most in-demand drummers in the world, all because he kept his mind open to unexpected opportunities.
10. Not Learning Other Musical Instruments
Not learning to play other percussion instruments other than the drum-set could be a mistake, depending on your goals. You are less versatile as a drummer without the skills to play other percussion instruments.
There are situations where people perceive the volume of a drum-set to be too high for the venue an artist is performing in. In these situations, you can’t do the gig unless you play congas, etc.
Most of the military bands require you to play multiple percussion instruments. This is also true with theatre work, and obviously orchestral work.
In addition, if you can’t play multiple percussion instruments, you can’t teach them either. So the inability to play other instruments limits your possibilities for teaching as well.
Not learning a non-percussion instrument could also hurt your success. With all things being equal, a drummer who can sing and play will get hired over a drummer who doesn’t sing. Drummers who play guitar, bass or keyboards tend to have a deeper understanding of music, and really understand what a song really needs from the drummer. Sometimes these drummers are more in demand because they tend to play more musically.
11. Failure To Keep Up With New Technology And Musical Trends
Failing to keep up with technology can also limit your success in different ways. If a producer needs a drummer in the studio who is familiar with current music trends, and you’re not up on the current technology, he will call someone else.
In the 80’s, when drum machines and electronic drums first came into prominence, the drummers who worked the most in the studios were the ones who embraced the new technology. These were the drummers who bought drum machines before everyone else.
The trend for music technology to keep moving forward continues today. There are still drummers who get hired to create drum loops, program beats, etc. You certainly don’t have to embrace this technology. But just understand that you are turning down potential opportunities for work if you don’t.
12. Surrounding Yourself With People Who Are Negative, Lazy And Lack Ambition
You tend to become like the people you associate yourself with in the music business, like in any other field. If you hang around musicians who are negative, who don’t see any possibilities for themselves, there’s a good chance that you’ll start thinking the same way.
On the other hand, if you associate yourself with musicians who have goals and are going somewhere, you will probably come to believe that it’s possible for you as well. You will then continue to work toward your goals, and make them a reality. In addition, one of these musicians you meet just might take you with him or her when they transition from being a local artist to a national touring act. That’s an added bonus!
13. Failure To Learn The Business Side Of Music
Most drummers do not learn the business side of music. They mistakenly think if they just learn to play really well, that will be enough. But, whether you like it or not, if you’re a professional drummer, you are in the music business.
Like any other business you are selling a product or service. The most obvious product is you. If you don’t figure out how to sell yourself and your drumming abilities to others, you will fail in the music business no matter how talented you are. So a couple of the most important questions you need to answer as a drummer are, who do I need to sell my services to, and how am I going to do that?
Are you going to have your own band? If not, then you need to market yourself to other musicians. This might involve attending jam sessions, attending the right schools, etc.
It may sound ludicrous, but having the right look for specific genres on music can also make a difference in how effective you sell yourself as a drummer. You may have a hard time selling yourself in the heavy metal world if you look too clean cut. By contrast, to land a gig in a symphony or with very serious jazz musicians, you might not want to look like you just escaped from prison. These are kind of extreme examples, but might be worth thinking about, depending on your situation or goals.
Another crucial aspect of being successful in any business is reliability. You absolutely have to keep a careful calendar and show up on time for the gigs, drum lessons, or sessions you agree to. Nothing can kill a potentially successful drumming career quicker than forgetting to show up for gigs, or being habitually late. Bandleaders, students, and record producers probably won’t put up with this lack of reliability more than one time, and word spreads quickly in the music community.
14. Failure To Think About Location
You definitely need to take location into account when you think about your goals as a drummer. If your goal is simply to be a successful, busy working drummer, you may be better off staying where you are than relocating to another city. There may be less drum teachers and less professional players where you are than if you move to a major music center. You may be the best drummer in your city, which could be perfect for your situation.
If your goal is to tour and record with major acts, you may have to move to a major music center to make this happen. Anything is possible, but it’s highly unlikely that you’ll make the necessary contacts to land tours with national acts if you live in a small town in the middle of nowhere. You could make frequent trips to a major music center to make some contacts. However, people usually won’t hire or recommend you until they really get to know you. It’s hard to get to know you if they only see you once or twice a year.
Of course, lots of things are possible in today’s society with the internet. If you and your friends have a local band, and you promote it enough on YouTube, it’s possible that you could parlay that success into a national tour, no matter where you live. You could also become a famous, internationally known drummer simply by creating videos in your basement and promoting them on the internet. It all depends on what your goals are.
15. Allowing Personal Problems to Destroy Your Career
Personal problems can come in many forms. Many musicians’ careers have been destroyed through drugs and alcohol. Some of these musicians destroyed their health, while others destroyed their reputation in the music business and could no longer work. You have a large degree of control over these type of problems. It comes down to making the right choices and getting some help if you need it.
Other problems are unavoidable. Some musicians have experienced very tragic deaths in their personal lives. It is vital to have other people to lean on in these situations. Otherwise you will find it very difficult to get beyond the pain and depression and be able to enjoy music again.
Conclusion
These certainly aren’t the only possible career mistakes that you can make as drummer. They are however, some of the most common mistakes. Hopefully, this guide has made you more aware of some of these common mistakes, so that you can avoid them in your own career, and thereby achieve your personal goals in the music business.
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