Becoming a More Successful and in Demand Session Drummer Tip #2

Becoming a More Successful and In Demand

Session Drummer

Tip #2

            This article series is designed to provide drummers with some ideas on how to become more successful and in demand session players. These tips are based on my experience as a freelance drummer. I have a music degree and some of my experiences include touring Canada and The U.S. and working as a cruise ship show band drummer. For approximately the last 4 years I have also been freelancing in my home town doing over 100 gigs a year with many bands in a wide variety of styles including jazz, rock, pop and various Latin and World music styles.

This article deals with tip #2:

Strive for Diversity

This concept is fairly straight forward. The more diverse your skill set is the more work opportunities you will be eligible for. In addition, you will be better able to succeed in the challenges that each of your gigs present.

One way to become a more diverse drummer is to learn how to play more styles of music. The more styles of music you can play authentically and convincingly, the more gig opportunities you will have. In your city there are likely a certain number of rock gigs, a certain number of pop gigs and a certain number of jazz gigs etc.. Each one of these styles of music makes up a certain percentage of the total gigs in your city. If you only play one style of music then it is possible that you are ineligible for employment consideration for a significant percentage of the gigs in you city. The more styles of music you play the higher the percentage of gigs you are eligible to be hired for in your city. You do not have to be incredibly enthusiastic about every style of music you play, but if you are a musician who cares about music and wants to derive an income from it then you should be able to get some enjoyment out of any particular style of music and develop the basic skills necessary to play that style well.

Being a diverse drummer also means being open to setting your drums up differently and using different types of drums and cymbals. It also means employing different types of tunings in order to create the specific sound you need for each style of music that you play.

In general, being a diverse professional means looking into other possible revenue streams within your industry. Consider some of the following ideas:

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   1. Writing drum charts to sell online or to sell to local wedding bands or big bands that may purchase charts.

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   1. Teaching lessons.

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   1. Applying to teach lessons to drum students at a local university or college music program.

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   1. Writing music and drum related articles for websites or magazines.

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   1. Setting up a home studio where you can record drum tracks for other musicians and bands over the internet.

           By exploring some of these ideas you may become a more diverse musician and may find more success in your career as a session drummer.