that was the case for me.when i played the drums in high school.i knew i wasn't a great drummer.so i would concentrate on playing a good beat at the right tempo.and people thought i was a real good drummer.but i did have fun.
that was the case for me.when i played the drums in high school.i knew i wasn't a great drummer.so i would concentrate on playing a good beat at the right tempo.and people thought i was a real good drummer.but i did have fun.
P_erfect advice ..develop whats really in you . I got an instructional cd by him 15 years ago...& the part i enjoy most ? ....the wise words and storys .
Interesting man ....reunited with his son harry . R.I.P.
Thats exactly the whole idea for me. A perfectly technical drummer without music inside him is just a worker. A drummer that makes music with his playing, even if he can only perform just a single beat in time, is at least a genious.
@mdgab321 I Disagree,music is purely subjective.What you may consider great others my think is horrible.But the technical monster is undeniable to whom ever listens to him or her.
When I feel like I suck as a drummer I come to this clip and just listen to Jim - inspires me every time. And he is right.....I'm not a tech monster but I have pretty decent chops, strive to be creative whenever I play, bring a positive attitude, and LISTEN TO THE OTHER MUSICIANS I'M JAMMING WITH....I seem to get calls for gigs so I must be doing something right
this is very true there is no use of playing music if you dont communicate with others, if you dont feel it. music is a language everyone speaks its just a matter of fluent speaking that makes a good musician
Charlie Watts, Mic Fleetwood vindicated and verified. Response to the moment with other music makers is where the magic happens. Synergy. The quality/value* of the whole exceeds the sum of the parts in cooperative efforts.
*Read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Quality art defined by certain primary ingredients. Depth, Remoteness, Contrast, Concision, Authority, Brilliance, Direction, Beauty. Personally, I sip my soup with a sledgehammer. BTW, Billy can Cook, Fry and Smoke as well.
having different techniques is so useful in drumming i witch between matched, traditional, and french grips when im playing it just depends on what style and what the music demands in terms of touch
@travisismyidol Yes i have and its hardly impressive to say the least , im a fan of Travis's drumming but he's no where near the skill,experience and wisdom of this old fart god rest his soul . do some research for fucksake and you'l realize Travis is not as good of a drummer as u think he is.
I agree absolutely! There are always different ways to accomplish an aim. If the technique applied sounds good, it^s ok! And an important slogan says: "There's always a better drummer out there!"
I love watching Jim Chapin play in these videos. I just read that he passed away. I can't tell you how sad that makes me feel, struck by grief. I always wished that I could meet this man. I practice the Moeller method thanks to Jim. I've been working on it since 1999 and still can't accent the second beat worth a darn. But Jim Chapin will always have me trying and I will never quit. Thank you for the inspiration and I hope you can live on through the legions of those you've inspired to try.
@alexanderracho I found practicing moeller in reverse instead of accenting the down beat acctent the upbeat but very slowly and controlled. Then, as you pick up speed utilize the motion of your wrist kind of like a piston moving up and down with small movement in your forearm. the forearm will give some added power on whatever your trying to acct, and the wrist will keep the stick movine with adequate finger control.
My Drum Teacher told me that he has took-en drum lessons from Jim chapin 2 times only and he said it costs 150 $ per hour to take lessons from him. crazy huh?
That just re-inspired me to take the time to enjoy just playing...I can get so frustrated not being able to do certain things, that I forget to enjoy the activity for what it is...damn. What a good man.
A great teacher and the place to go if you need to take your technique to that next stage.However,as the great man says,technique for the sake of technique is the wrong approach.One of the drummers Jim had in mind re, not a lot of drum technique I'm sure would have been the great Dave Tough.Well,I sure hope one day I dont have that much technique because Dave was a bonafide genius.Check him out with Woody Hermans band in 44/45.Beyond brilliant!Enough chops for the job,thats the secret.
as if it wasn't enough the fact that he was extraordinary at drums, he was also a very nice person judging from this video. that's pretty much it. what a loss. RIP Jim.
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dude in your nest video please stop playing on thoise rediclous pads and take the books off the base drum and rock out on the fucking dws dude, what a waste of a great set, are those collecters seriees dude?
This has made me become better, my parradiddles and control with both hands are insane which made metal easier for me to play.. i wsh he did a bass drum technique. RIP jim.
Play the hand parts of his book with your feet. If that doesn't build your bass technique nothing will. . . . or create your own exercises. Maybe you'll be the next Chapin.
And refering to his words, I almost immediatelly think about Lars from Metallica... I love metallica, but I spent some time watching his playing style and he isn`t so technical, but he makes good work there !
Very wise words, it just sucks when you're a drummer in a metal band and you're guitarists try to make metal beats to go to their songs, which end up just sounding awfull, it's the worst thing ever haha
Jim Chapin looks like he can play with either grip equally well. I play matched American or German, but when i go from snare to ride with the right i play the ride french. seems like a smoother transition. I just started playing a month ago. Playing traditional still feels hugely unnatural and awkward to me. but i've noticed after practicing traditional it improved my overall left hand strengh/coordination playing overhand.
if your right handed, 90% of the strokes you play will be on the hi-hat or ride. To get to your ride, you need reach which you get with an overhand/matched grip. Your left hand usually keeps with the snare 90% of the time, and since your snare is right in front of you(in a conventional drumset), you don't need reach for your left hand, and you can play either over- or underhand/traditional grip, in which case your preference is the deciding factor
Sure, when playing left and right open handed you need some more reach for both hands and trad would be less comfortable, I guess, althoughone could learn to play open handed trad.
@allmetaliswelcome When the drumhead is tilted up on the left hand side (which makes it not symmetric), your left hand has to hit a surface lower than the palm of your hand and your right hand has to hit higher. In the traditional underhand grip, your stick naturally hangs a little bit downwards, making hitting a drumhead lower easier. When playing a overhand grip it is more natural to play on a surface a little bit higher or equal height as the palm (that's why toms are often tilted). Try it.
@9Skateboard7 I think that open handed and cross handed are equally difficult, the easiest way is always the way you have played for the longest time, I don't think there is any real inherent difficulty in one or the other. Actually when you look at it from a physiological standpoint open handed is more natural than crossing your hands.
well it comes down to why we ever used traditional grip, because the drum used to be tilted, so it made drumming easier when you changed the grip of one hand to get the angle
you will notice even though we have the ability to have flat drums today a lot of pro corps tilt their drums to get a better sound, so they keep traditional grip to compliment the drum
so using "full traditional" grip wouldnt really make sense...
In fact since we're able to hold drums flat, we're no longer in need for traditional grip.
Although that I must say I still play traditional, and love to do so.
Jojo Mayer maybe gave the best explanation of this much personal feeling. Since he has two different hands (the right one and the left one are in fact different, or anyway that's what he feels) he prefer to hold the sticks in different ways. Kinda mental matter, rather than physical....
For me traditional grip has always been better for playing doubles, but not as good for playing buzzs. I switched to matched grip because traditional grip requires you to tilt all of your drums slightly away from you in order to have an efficient rebound. That's fine if you're just playing jazz, and primarily right hand lead. As soon as you branch into other styles and begin left hand leading, setup can cause a problem. If you adjust your entire setup, you could play both hands traditional!
@ZackPomerleau yeah I'm convinced that matched is better. it just makes more sense. the only way traditional is better is if you're gonna march with your drum tilted. otherwise it's just awkward and unnatural. doesn't make any sense to use traditional grip on a kit.
@digitaldown Although I bet it is better technically, I'm not going to tell Jojo Mayer or guys like that to stop using it!!! Some people may just like it better, plus I can do it and I find underhand (left going under your right arm) is much easier. But, that's not a huge benefit now is it?
@ZackPomerleau hell no. i would tell jojo mayer anyting about how to play. obviously trad grip works. it's just a lot harder to master. as for advantages of going under the right arm? marginal, but maybe. depends on how you play. i have no trouble going under my right arm with matched. plus you can avoid that problem altogether if you learn to play the high hat with your left instead of right. once i learn a groove playing hihat on the right hand, i try to learn it with the left.
@digitaldown Well, there are times when I solo that I go under. I can do it either way but the traditional grip actually makes it easier because of the angle of the stick...Traditional works incredibly well for brushes, though, and I will never use matched for left hand 'snare swishing' as the motion is so natural with traditional grip.
As me and most of my "drum friends" in NY were lucky enough to studie with this guy. AMAZING! His point in this video is so understated. I have seen guys with "cops" from hell, but once the music starts (THEY SUCK) but if your lucky enough to be able to play with music and have some or good technique, then it gravy!
i love this guy's philosophy, i played drums for a living for about 20 years. i was never one who could do an incredible solo, nor could i do all the fancy rudiments at breakneck speed. BUT, i can play music, i was one of the most requested fill-ins in my area. mainly because i could do what was needed to make the band groove. at one time i was intimidated by "technical giants" thinking the were better than i. not anymore i am still considered one of the better drummers around. great tip Jim!
He knows exactly what he's talking about, you still have to be a great rudiment player, a marching drummer, who uses traditional grip to become the monster player. I had an incredible feeling with traditional grip last night and I finally "got it"...That incredible feeling of knowing you can play clean powerful rolls and doubles and paradiddles and the stick was bouncig effortlessly. I am on a mission to play traditional grip...there is no turning back.
In a way...he completely contradicts himself by performing his last solo lol. If he wanted to practice what he preached then he should have had music that he likes in the background and then him freestyling to it to show himself as being a Musical Giant.
He's my favorite drum teacher by far through. No disrespect intended.
He's merely being charitable to those with no potential. Disciplined practice with pad, traditional grip, books and rudiments is the only way to become a monster.
Take a drummer and sit him in a room for a year and have him practice technique and rudiments and whatever, and all you're going to have is, like Chapin said, a "technical monster." That's not a drummer that musicians are going to want to play with, because he's going to have shitty musical ability.
Playing with other musicians is just as, if not more, important as everything else you said in "becoming a monster."
The techniques and rudiments are what open doors for you. I agree w/ you and it is a mix of both. For example, I am getting pretty comfortable w/ the Ruff (beginning rudiment, right?). Once you get that sucker going faster, it changes how it sounds/feels and actually will sometimes throw me into the most solid, loud (or soft) double stroke roll I have ever performed. So a drummer who uses ruffs and the stuff that 'transpire' from them, is using some nifty expression IMO.
if a technical giant says that, we can believe is true. great Jim Chapin!!first:be musical secon: have technique necessary to do that. Love music before love drums
haha i love how he boosts all my confidence with the "play to be happy" speech, then proceeds to destroy it with a little pad solo at the end. the good jim giveth, and he taketh away.
it's awesome to hear that stuff from jim chapin. i was just searching on the net 'advanced techniques for the modern drummer' book, and now, i don't really need it at this point. this man is a treasure map!
I believe Thomas Lang is a great drummer and if you derive that of this video you could also say that Jim isn't a good drummer since he has such great technique
i thing you didn't catch the point.Jim says that music is more important than technique but technique is the only way to learn music. so,if you study a lot ,but somehow the music dosn't flow from inside you there is a problem. Thomas Lang has perfect technique with zero musicality .
"Their technique is geared toward sounding good"... this is what Chapin said. He also mentioned the relationship between musicians -do you make other people smile, or wince? No one wants to be known as a technician. I want to be known as a musician. Artistry is the next level - that's when your technique serves YOU. Some people serve technique, which is what he's saying when we practice with the goal of sounding good.
If you're a musician, you'll sound like an individual relating to other individuals in a colective musical setting. If your a technician, you'll just sound like someone playing drums - you won't have anything unique about you. I should be able to tell who is playing by the musical decisions that they make. You should be able to tell who I've been influenced by if I'm a musician, or if I'm going in my own direction. A technician doesn't sound like anyone.
Let me suggest you all go and listen to Shelley Manne or Mel Lewis, the great jazz drummers. Neither one could play a single stroke roll worth a damn, or flam tap diddle doodles with a ratamafuck thrown in. But listen to the MUSIC they made on the drums. Ideas, phrases, rhythms and tones, sounds, shades. Damn it, it's so frustrating to hear all you kids express your ignorance.
It's like baking a cake, you have the cake and the icing, the icing is the technical side of drumming, you can eat it and it can taste good but the cake is gonna fill you up. the cake being musicality, obviously you need some technical ability to play but listening to the rest of the band and what they are doing and complimenting the music with drums is what the drummer's job is first and foremost. You may say it is keeping time but that is everyones job in a band.
and speed on a drum pad shows how much CONTROl you have of your sticks. and control is everything. you cant reach your full potential without perfect control of the sticks. so yes, speed is very important to being a great musician overall.
at one point it sounds like he's basically implying there are some drummers who have bad technique but are great musicians but maybe he didn't mean that.
I think it is more like listening to a Jimmy Page who wasn't the cleanist guitarist but could groove & come up with stuff that was interesting musically as opposed to a Michael Angelo Batio who is technically perfect but has no soul in most of his music. A musician no matter what instrument should strive for perfection in technique as well as feeling. If a person is only a technical player then they rely soley on formula and if they are purely a feeling player they cage their expression.
i can't believe what jim chapin is saying!! seriously.. is he senile or what.. practicing TECHNIQUE is crucial to being the best musician you can possibly be. no musician can reach his full potential without perfecting their technique.. being 100% comfortable with their instrument. cant believe this guy.
Bollocks, there are many good musicians who don't have great technical skill. for example, you don't have to be able to play a double paradiddle at 210 Bpm to play a stones song or Beatles song. Ringo was a crap drummer, but the Beatles produced some of the most popular music ever. Jim is saying you need a balance, you wouldn't go and bust out a polyrythmic sextuplet solo in 20 over 5 bars of 4 at a club when people want to have 4 on the floor and dance!
Hell yeah!!!!!! At the end of the day were supposed to make people dance!! Thats our job. That chick dancing at the bar is not gonna care about you playing double paradiddles. She wants to shake her arse to your groove!!!!!!!!
No, he's actually talking a lot of sense. If you speak English as your first language, then you speak it fluently but don't necessarily know anything about the grammar - you just know how to speak it. But if you were a foreigner learning how to speak English then you would concentrate lots on grammar so you would be grammatically perfect but you wouldn't be as good an English speaker as a native Englishman.
paradiddle i agree with you completely. i can't believe someone like jim chapin is diminishing the importance of PERFECT technique... not enough drummers give a rat's ass about technique. we have too many drummers today running without learning how to walk first. buddy rich, jojo mayer, and wekcl/gadd/colaiuta seem to be the ONLY drummers out there that are truly ambidextrous. nobody else. technique is so important, it is crucial to being a great musician. i agree with you.
I just had enough of those freakin "sport-drummers"and their competitions about speed and technique...most of em dont even listen to descent music anymore,so no wonder why the real meaning of "musicality" of the player faded away...play some music freaks
Too many drummers today think 'fast' is all that matters. No way. The best play music with other musicians (ex Steve Gadd) and play for the song/band not how many BPM double bass crap. Jim Chapin is so good.
The Great thing about Jim is that with all that experience he can still identify strongly with being muusical as a drummer. This my friends is the example of greatness. If you listen to him solo you can hear the trad Jazz phrass underneath what he is doing. In effect he has both worlds but is really more famous for his abilities as a monster chopmeister than a smooth musical operator. Mr. Chapin, thank you for all your love and dedication. We salute you...!!
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that was the case for me.when i played the drums in high school.i knew i wasn't a great drummer.so i would concentrate on playing a good beat at the right tempo.and people thought i was a real good drummer.but i did have fun.
rogerbahakel 1 month ago
that was the case for me.when i played the drums in high school.i knew i wasn't a great drummer.so i would concentrate on playing a good beat at the right tempo.and people thought i was a real good drummer.but i did have fun.
rogerbahakel 1 month ago
this is one cool guy,wish i could have met him
DrHowlingMad 2 months ago
P_erfect advice ..develop whats really in you . I got an instructional cd by him 15 years ago...& the part i enjoy most ? ....the wise words and storys .
Interesting man ....reunited with his son harry . R.I.P.
TheMichaelseymour 4 months ago
Thats exactly the whole idea for me. A perfectly technical drummer without music inside him is just a worker. A drummer that makes music with his playing, even if he can only perform just a single beat in time, is at least a genious.
mdgab321 5 months ago
@mdgab321 I Disagree,music is purely subjective.What you may consider great others my think is horrible.But the technical monster is undeniable to whom ever listens to him or her.
cast390 5 days ago
That is the best advice I've ever heard about being a musician. Love it when masters like Chapin or Vai give such simple tips.
furcifur3 7 months ago
YES
robbyfrags 7 months ago
When I feel like I suck as a drummer I come to this clip and just listen to Jim - inspires me every time. And he is right.....I'm not a tech monster but I have pretty decent chops, strive to be creative whenever I play, bring a positive attitude, and LISTEN TO THE OTHER MUSICIANS I'M JAMMING WITH....I seem to get calls for gigs so I must be doing something right
rtweber37 8 months ago
That is a killer improv solo at the end. Wonderful!
MrJonnyNitro 9 months ago
and i thought buddy rich was good!!!!
thrashkid666 11 months ago
Whish I could shake this man's hand...
koobi180 1 year ago
No dislikes. thats the first video ive seen without any, And i can see why
Good job jim! you outdid the impossible!
chavosucks 1 year ago
Ain't that the truth
MrTprezioso 1 year ago
this is very true there is no use of playing music if you dont communicate with others, if you dont feel it. music is a language everyone speaks its just a matter of fluent speaking that makes a good musician
murdok620 1 year ago
Charlie Watts, Mic Fleetwood vindicated and verified. Response to the moment with other music makers is where the magic happens. Synergy. The quality/value* of the whole exceeds the sum of the parts in cooperative efforts.
*Read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Quality art defined by certain primary ingredients. Depth, Remoteness, Contrast, Concision, Authority, Brilliance, Direction, Beauty. Personally, I sip my soup with a sledgehammer. BTW, Billy can Cook, Fry and Smoke as well.
aavery6801 1 year ago
having different techniques is so useful in drumming i witch between matched, traditional, and french grips when im playing it just depends on what style and what the music demands in terms of touch
whitecastleawesome 1 year ago
Thing about Chapin, was that he was a master of matched and traditional grip. Doesn't matter which you choose (or if you do both)...
thegougeman 1 year ago
travis is way better than this old guy! have you seen his snare solo?
travisismyidol 1 year ago
@travisismyidol yeah have you seen dci travis is shit the opening lick chapin plays was light years better than travis's "solo"
whitecastleawesome 1 year ago
@travisismyidol you are a dumb penis
sonofnothing 1 year ago
@travisismyidol Yes i have and its hardly impressive to say the least , im a fan of Travis's drumming but he's no where near the skill,experience and wisdom of this old fart god rest his soul . do some research for fucksake and you'l realize Travis is not as good of a drummer as u think he is.
StealthMode90 1 year ago 12
amazing... the first video ive ever seen without one dislike
drk9six 1 year ago
I agree absolutely! There are always different ways to accomplish an aim. If the technique applied sounds good, it^s ok! And an important slogan says: "There's always a better drummer out there!"
sambamac 1 year ago
Thank you for those words
yapludenomdispo 1 year ago
I love watching Jim Chapin play in these videos. I just read that he passed away. I can't tell you how sad that makes me feel, struck by grief. I always wished that I could meet this man. I practice the Moeller method thanks to Jim. I've been working on it since 1999 and still can't accent the second beat worth a darn. But Jim Chapin will always have me trying and I will never quit. Thank you for the inspiration and I hope you can live on through the legions of those you've inspired to try.
alexanderracho 1 year ago 11
@alexanderracho I found practicing moeller in reverse instead of accenting the down beat acctent the upbeat but very slowly and controlled. Then, as you pick up speed utilize the motion of your wrist kind of like a piston moving up and down with small movement in your forearm. the forearm will give some added power on whatever your trying to acct, and the wrist will keep the stick movine with adequate finger control.
drumdadio 11 months ago
MASTER!!!! RIP :)
zajebach 1 year ago
Legend.
jarhat 1 year ago
My Drum Teacher told me that he has took-en drum lessons from Jim chapin 2 times only and he said it costs 150 $ per hour to take lessons from him. crazy huh?
burrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr 1 year ago
great effin advice!!
nji81 1 year ago
What an incredible man. Saying it just plain and simple, enjoy playing music. RIP Jim
MYNAMETAYLA 1 year ago
That just re-inspired me to take the time to enjoy just playing...I can get so frustrated not being able to do certain things, that I forget to enjoy the activity for what it is...damn. What a good man.
sasquatchpatch 2 years ago 2
BOOTIFUL
Dilwiid 2 years ago
god bless jim!
1dmilz 2 years ago
Speed and teeth don't mean shit if nobody wants to play with you. You were my teacher Jim on so many levels...
satziebaby 2 years ago
CAN YOU DIG IT?!?!?!
SonorPhonics 2 years ago
A great teacher and the place to go if you need to take your technique to that next stage.However,as the great man says,technique for the sake of technique is the wrong approach.One of the drummers Jim had in mind re, not a lot of drum technique I'm sure would have been the great Dave Tough.Well,I sure hope one day I dont have that much technique because Dave was a bonafide genius.Check him out with Woody Hermans band in 44/45.Beyond brilliant!Enough chops for the job,thats the secret.
MARKMANIATT 2 years ago
so inspiring!!
man thats how i play the drums.... i cant do that shit!! but i can really play if u know what i mean :D
tutman07 2 years ago
I guess another drummer great misician but not so good in technique was KEITH MOON...What u think?
dimitilla 2 years ago 3
@dimitilla dude honestly chapin completely surpasses keith moon in terms of technique
whitecastleawesome 1 year ago
That´s the words!
insightmetal 2 years ago
why does he look like a robot....Jim u tha man
bighai5 2 years ago
as if it wasn't enough the fact that he was extraordinary at drums, he was also a very nice person judging from this video. that's pretty much it. what a loss. RIP Jim.
cipherism 2 years ago 2
Truer words were never spoken
Thank you Jim
3chocolate3clock3 2 years ago
very wise man.. I couldn't said it better myself...
BullyDawg84 2 years ago
Comment removed
mustatiikeri 2 years ago
yes
neildavid 2 years ago
a great master and friend..RIP James..We'll always have Woodys Bar.
satziebaby 2 years ago
what a wonderful, profound statement from jim :)
robertgenito 2 years ago
Thanks Jim, that's really what I needed to hear, much love and respect, peace be with you
cornfarmershamus 2 years ago
Great advice Mr.Chapin,,R.I.P.
neworleansdrummer 2 years ago 3
This comment has received too many negative votes show
dude in your nest video please stop playing on thoise rediclous pads and take the books off the base drum and rock out on the fucking dws dude, what a waste of a great set, are those collecters seriees dude?
scopions84 2 years ago
How true it is................
bcwdrums 2 years ago
R.I.P. master...
macix90 2 years ago
rip
DruMmMeuR 2 years ago
This has made me become better, my parradiddles and control with both hands are insane which made metal easier for me to play.. i wsh he did a bass drum technique. RIP jim.
chavosucks 2 years ago
Play the hand parts of his book with your feet. If that doesn't build your bass technique nothing will. . . . or create your own exercises. Maybe you'll be the next Chapin.
bodgaard 2 years ago
Thank you Jim!
drumseltzer 2 years ago
inspiring! thanks..
tutuyin 2 years ago
OUTSTANDING advice!!!
this is some of the best wisdom one could impart upon ANY player, drummer or otherwise.
R.I.P., Mr. Chapin.
jofujenkins 2 years ago
Wow... as a vocalist, I wish every drummer thought this way! RIP, Jim.
MORGAN999 2 years ago 6
amen
chavosucks 2 years ago
wise old guy
daneeehhhh 2 years ago
I wish more drummers thought this way!!!
winkabloblob 2 years ago
R.I.P Jim...
And refering to his words, I almost immediatelly think about Lars from Metallica... I love metallica, but I spent some time watching his playing style and he isn`t so technical, but he makes good work there !
TheGreatLolMan 2 years ago
Genial!!!! All the drummers of the world should watch this.
From Brazil!!!
ParadiddleMaster 2 years ago 2
this guy is great
kosephdrums 2 years ago
RIP! You will be missed.
PicklesandFrogs 2 years ago 3
great artist
joc120 2 years ago
What great advice. Keith Moon fell into this category.
AstralPlane1951 2 years ago
He was truly a fantastic drummer ..
Rest in peace Mr. Chapin ..!
vicarioushism 2 years ago
RIP. The music world lost a true giant on the 4th.
ArtVandalay666 2 years ago
This is how I'll remember him, be musical, the most important thing.
jrcel21 2 years ago
R.I.P. Jim.
Another Giant's gone
mellilore 2 years ago
R.I.P. Jim Chapin
You'll be missed. Never Forgotten.
bobbio801 2 years ago
he s kickin the pure truth, BIG UP!
PullerPranke 2 years ago
Very wise words, it just sucks when you're a drummer in a metal band and you're guitarists try to make metal beats to go to their songs, which end up just sounding awfull, it's the worst thing ever haha
xo.
drew3usa 2 years ago
Sacred words.
cliffordgeertz861 2 years ago
Jim Chapin looks like he can play with either grip equally well. I play matched American or German, but when i go from snare to ride with the right i play the ride french. seems like a smoother transition. I just started playing a month ago. Playing traditional still feels hugely unnatural and awkward to me. but i've noticed after practicing traditional it improved my overall left hand strengh/coordination playing overhand.
digitaldown 2 years ago
question: if traditional grip is better then why not grip with both hands traditional?
digitaldown 2 years ago
if your right handed, 90% of the strokes you play will be on the hi-hat or ride. To get to your ride, you need reach which you get with an overhand/matched grip. Your left hand usually keeps with the snare 90% of the time, and since your snare is right in front of you(in a conventional drumset), you don't need reach for your left hand, and you can play either over- or underhand/traditional grip, in which case your preference is the deciding factor
sikory 2 years ago 5
@sikory
Unless of course, you play open handed where your left is always on the hi-hat and right is on the ride.
Gretsche87 1 year ago
@Gretsche87
Sure, when playing left and right open handed you need some more reach for both hands and trad would be less comfortable, I guess, althoughone could learn to play open handed trad.
sikory 1 year ago
@sikory but then why didn't the old marching drummers play traditional on both hands?
allmetaliswelcome 1 year ago
@allmetaliswelcome When the drumhead is tilted up on the left hand side (which makes it not symmetric), your left hand has to hit a surface lower than the palm of your hand and your right hand has to hit higher. In the traditional underhand grip, your stick naturally hangs a little bit downwards, making hitting a drumhead lower easier. When playing a overhand grip it is more natural to play on a surface a little bit higher or equal height as the palm (that's why toms are often tilted). Try it.
sikory 1 year ago
@sikory to bad im a lefty playing open handed is not easy and playing the opposite way pisses the other drummers off at my school
9Skateboard7 7 months ago
@9Skateboard7 I think that open handed and cross handed are equally difficult, the easiest way is always the way you have played for the longest time, I don't think there is any real inherent difficulty in one or the other. Actually when you look at it from a physiological standpoint open handed is more natural than crossing your hands.
sikory 7 months ago
well it comes down to why we ever used traditional grip, because the drum used to be tilted, so it made drumming easier when you changed the grip of one hand to get the angle
you will notice even though we have the ability to have flat drums today a lot of pro corps tilt their drums to get a better sound, so they keep traditional grip to compliment the drum
so using "full traditional" grip wouldnt really make sense...
SteveTheScotDrummer 2 years ago
Smart question, Digitaldown.
In fact since we're able to hold drums flat, we're no longer in need for traditional grip.
Although that I must say I still play traditional, and love to do so.
Jojo Mayer maybe gave the best explanation of this much personal feeling. Since he has two different hands (the right one and the left one are in fact different, or anyway that's what he feels) he prefer to hold the sticks in different ways. Kinda mental matter, rather than physical....
mellilore 2 years ago
.... And I feel the same.
However, I can't (and won't) blame guys playing matched grip, for sure, and in the same way matched grip guys can't blame me, ok?
Keep on drumming ;D
PS Sorry for my english
mellilore 2 years ago
I love it, his "split personalities"
jp60476 2 years ago
For me traditional grip has always been better for playing doubles, but not as good for playing buzzs. I switched to matched grip because traditional grip requires you to tilt all of your drums slightly away from you in order to have an efficient rebound. That's fine if you're just playing jazz, and primarily right hand lead. As soon as you branch into other styles and begin left hand leading, setup can cause a problem. If you adjust your entire setup, you could play both hands traditional!
Edwordless 1 year ago
@digitaldown Traditional is not better, it's just different.
PingaloBill 1 year ago
@digitaldown Jim Chapin himself I have heard taught his students to use matched because he thought it was better.
ZackPomerleau 1 year ago
@ZackPomerleau yeah I'm convinced that matched is better. it just makes more sense. the only way traditional is better is if you're gonna march with your drum tilted. otherwise it's just awkward and unnatural. doesn't make any sense to use traditional grip on a kit.
digitaldown 1 year ago
@digitaldown Although I bet it is better technically, I'm not going to tell Jojo Mayer or guys like that to stop using it!!! Some people may just like it better, plus I can do it and I find underhand (left going under your right arm) is much easier. But, that's not a huge benefit now is it?
ZackPomerleau 1 year ago
@ZackPomerleau hell no. i would tell jojo mayer anyting about how to play. obviously trad grip works. it's just a lot harder to master. as for advantages of going under the right arm? marginal, but maybe. depends on how you play. i have no trouble going under my right arm with matched. plus you can avoid that problem altogether if you learn to play the high hat with your left instead of right. once i learn a groove playing hihat on the right hand, i try to learn it with the left.
digitaldown 1 year ago
@digitaldown Well, there are times when I solo that I go under. I can do it either way but the traditional grip actually makes it easier because of the angle of the stick...Traditional works incredibly well for brushes, though, and I will never use matched for left hand 'snare swishing' as the motion is so natural with traditional grip.
ZackPomerleau 1 year ago
Remember what he said in this 1 guys......what a speach for a musician not only for a drummer!!
dreymaddox 2 years ago
As me and most of my "drum friends" in NY were lucky enough to studie with this guy. AMAZING! His point in this video is so understated. I have seen guys with "cops" from hell, but once the music starts (THEY SUCK) but if your lucky enough to be able to play with music and have some or good technique, then it gravy!
THANKS JIM!
urajokeMC 2 years ago 2
outstanding advice. young players in particular need to really "drink" this in and absorb the message he's conveying.
jofujenkins 2 years ago
Hmm... I wonder who he endorses...
lordieuan777 2 years ago
i second that..i concentrate on 'groovin'with the band and making the audience listen to the song instead of listening to me and my chops.
great drummer and wise words of wisdom that some drummers should take on board
seasondrummer 3 years ago 3
i love this guy's philosophy, i played drums for a living for about 20 years. i was never one who could do an incredible solo, nor could i do all the fancy rudiments at breakneck speed. BUT, i can play music, i was one of the most requested fill-ins in my area. mainly because i could do what was needed to make the band groove. at one time i was intimidated by "technical giants" thinking the were better than i. not anymore i am still considered one of the better drummers around. great tip Jim!
cremsoncream 3 years ago 5
Nice! Being a must requested fill in player is the greatest compliment!
BrooksFe 3 years ago 2
be happy! Gracias JIM!
aqmnsk8 3 years ago
He knows exactly what he's talking about, you still have to be a great rudiment player, a marching drummer, who uses traditional grip to become the monster player. I had an incredible feeling with traditional grip last night and I finally "got it"...That incredible feeling of knowing you can play clean powerful rolls and doubles and paradiddles and the stick was bouncig effortlessly. I am on a mission to play traditional grip...there is no turning back.
chezgroove2008 3 years ago 2
wow !!! he is great !! he wrote some of the most important book for the drums !!!
giosmrbig 3 years ago
I agree with everything he said. But one thing...
In a way...he completely contradicts himself by performing his last solo lol. If he wanted to practice what he preached then he should have had music that he likes in the background and then him freestyling to it to show himself as being a Musical Giant.
He's my favorite drum teacher by far through. No disrespect intended.
AirmetalDrummer 3 years ago
A truly wise man. I appreciate words spoken from the heart like that.
Very, very informative and well-said.
CodyRockLee13 3 years ago 4
i didn't know J.R. Ewing was a drummer! this guys rocks for sure. very informative.
benwastyxx 3 years ago 2
Well played sir, Well played......
scampionh 3 years ago
He's merely being charitable to those with no potential. Disciplined practice with pad, traditional grip, books and rudiments is the only way to become a monster.
jeishein 3 years ago
No, he's making a valid point.
Take a drummer and sit him in a room for a year and have him practice technique and rudiments and whatever, and all you're going to have is, like Chapin said, a "technical monster." That's not a drummer that musicians are going to want to play with, because he's going to have shitty musical ability.
Playing with other musicians is just as, if not more, important as everything else you said in "becoming a monster."
Cervy18 3 years ago 7
The techniques and rudiments are what open doors for you. I agree w/ you and it is a mix of both. For example, I am getting pretty comfortable w/ the Ruff (beginning rudiment, right?). Once you get that sucker going faster, it changes how it sounds/feels and actually will sometimes throw me into the most solid, loud (or soft) double stroke roll I have ever performed. So a drummer who uses ruffs and the stuff that 'transpire' from them, is using some nifty expression IMO.
kneedragger81 2 years ago
That's right Mr. Chapin! Cheers to you sir!
rudeboyjohn 3 years ago 9
Damn, chapin, you make me happy in the pants.
Skankerjerk 3 years ago
what a cool guy
dartosdeathmetal 3 years ago 4
if a technical giant says that, we can believe is true. great Jim Chapin!!first:be musical secon: have technique necessary to do that. Love music before love drums
valentynesuite 3 years ago 12
simply the best teacher.
zardashty 3 years ago 5
That's right, Sir!
GiovanniAv 3 years ago
Pure class!
Raksaht 3 years ago 3
haha i love how he boosts all my confidence with the "play to be happy" speech, then proceeds to destroy it with a little pad solo at the end. the good jim giveth, and he taketh away.
jograves89 3 years ago 2
Words of wisdom for ANY musician. Thanks Jim, i needed that...just like a great drummer...always on time.
ShortBusRefugees 3 years ago 7
What a classy dude - one would have to really work at it to say it any better than this guy.
rx2411 3 years ago 5
it's awesome to hear that stuff from jim chapin. i was just searching on the net 'advanced techniques for the modern drummer' book, and now, i don't really need it at this point. this man is a treasure map!
underpolka 3 years ago 6
amen jim so heavy words and i think the same about the coments of lang is just a great technician with zero musicality
RaulGuereca 3 years ago 3
amen
letalvoz 3 years ago
he played drums so long that his voice follows a beat everytime he talks
this guys awsome
AnuarLopez 3 years ago 3
Amen
iamcharliecooper 3 years ago 4
he just blew my mind.
jeenyu5 3 years ago
Well said!
AlainHubert 3 years ago
Man, this guy just changed my whole view point on drumming :P
bradybrignac 3 years ago 7
I want this guy to teach me! I am hunting him down - oh yeah!!
unimoggie 3 years ago 4
musicianship comes first and technique comes second. both are important.
jesusdavilam 3 years ago 2
That's why Thomas Lang is not a good drummer.-
Thank you Jim!
Lenswide 3 years ago
I believe Thomas Lang is a great drummer and if you derive that of this video you could also say that Jim isn't a good drummer since he has such great technique
sikory 3 years ago
i thing you didn't catch the point.Jim says that music is more important than technique but technique is the only way to learn music. so,if you study a lot ,but somehow the music dosn't flow from inside you there is a problem. Thomas Lang has perfect technique with zero musicality .
Jim is a teacher ,,is different
Lenswide 3 years ago 6
Thomas Lang is a great session musician.
Lahed92801 3 years ago 4
"Their technique is geared toward sounding good"... this is what Chapin said. He also mentioned the relationship between musicians -do you make other people smile, or wince? No one wants to be known as a technician. I want to be known as a musician. Artistry is the next level - that's when your technique serves YOU. Some people serve technique, which is what he's saying when we practice with the goal of sounding good.
holygroove2 3 years ago
If you're a musician, you'll sound like an individual relating to other individuals in a colective musical setting. If your a technician, you'll just sound like someone playing drums - you won't have anything unique about you. I should be able to tell who is playing by the musical decisions that they make. You should be able to tell who I've been influenced by if I'm a musician, or if I'm going in my own direction. A technician doesn't sound like anyone.
holygroove2 3 years ago
Let me suggest you all go and listen to Shelley Manne or Mel Lewis, the great jazz drummers. Neither one could play a single stroke roll worth a damn, or flam tap diddle doodles with a ratamafuck thrown in. But listen to the MUSIC they made on the drums. Ideas, phrases, rhythms and tones, sounds, shades. Damn it, it's so frustrating to hear all you kids express your ignorance.
1234jncn 3 years ago
It's like baking a cake, you have the cake and the icing, the icing is the technical side of drumming, you can eat it and it can taste good but the cake is gonna fill you up. the cake being musicality, obviously you need some technical ability to play but listening to the rest of the band and what they are doing and complimenting the music with drums is what the drummer's job is first and foremost. You may say it is keeping time but that is everyones job in a band.
DRUMMERJAYable 2 years ago 2
and speed on a drum pad shows how much CONTROl you have of your sticks. and control is everything. you cant reach your full potential without perfect control of the sticks. so yes, speed is very important to being a great musician overall.
MikeyFlorida 3 years ago 2
what he means, I think, is that only technique doesn't make you a musician
sikory 3 years ago
at one point it sounds like he's basically implying there are some drummers who have bad technique but are great musicians but maybe he didn't mean that.
MikeyFlorida 3 years ago 4
I think that is exactly what he means.
rumandwhisky 3 years ago 2
I think it is more like listening to a Jimmy Page who wasn't the cleanist guitarist but could groove & come up with stuff that was interesting musically as opposed to a Michael Angelo Batio who is technically perfect but has no soul in most of his music. A musician no matter what instrument should strive for perfection in technique as well as feeling. If a person is only a technical player then they rely soley on formula and if they are purely a feeling player they cage their expression.
MushaTetsujin 3 years ago
i can't believe what jim chapin is saying!! seriously.. is he senile or what.. practicing TECHNIQUE is crucial to being the best musician you can possibly be. no musician can reach his full potential without perfecting their technique.. being 100% comfortable with their instrument. cant believe this guy.
MikeyFlorida 3 years ago
Bollocks, there are many good musicians who don't have great technical skill. for example, you don't have to be able to play a double paradiddle at 210 Bpm to play a stones song or Beatles song. Ringo was a crap drummer, but the Beatles produced some of the most popular music ever. Jim is saying you need a balance, you wouldn't go and bust out a polyrythmic sextuplet solo in 20 over 5 bars of 4 at a club when people want to have 4 on the floor and dance!
rumandwhisky 3 years ago 2
Word dude!
OldSteamer 3 years ago
Hell yeah!!!!!! At the end of the day were supposed to make people dance!! Thats our job. That chick dancing at the bar is not gonna care about you playing double paradiddles. She wants to shake her arse to your groove!!!!!!!!
themilksnatcher 3 years ago
lol...that's like saying why bother learning the grammer and phonics of a language....just speak it. Just doesn't work out very well.
paradiddle1 3 years ago
Jim Chapin was a master of the language so I think we should all take his word. I feel the same way as he does.
drummer78 3 years ago
No, he's actually talking a lot of sense. If you speak English as your first language, then you speak it fluently but don't necessarily know anything about the grammar - you just know how to speak it. But if you were a foreigner learning how to speak English then you would concentrate lots on grammar so you would be grammatically perfect but you wouldn't be as good an English speaker as a native Englishman.
mynameistoosecret 3 years ago
paradiddle i agree with you completely. i can't believe someone like jim chapin is diminishing the importance of PERFECT technique... not enough drummers give a rat's ass about technique. we have too many drummers today running without learning how to walk first. buddy rich, jojo mayer, and wekcl/gadd/colaiuta seem to be the ONLY drummers out there that are truly ambidextrous. nobody else. technique is so important, it is crucial to being a great musician. i agree with you.
MikeyFlorida 3 years ago
Great WOrds!
Please all drummers in the world focus on music not on technique, then we find more really good musicians in the world and not freaks.
Ps; Watch my drumsolo on my Channel.Peace.
OldSteamer 4 years ago
HE HAS SPOKEN...
I just had enough of those freakin "sport-drummers"and their competitions about speed and technique...most of em dont even listen to descent music anymore,so no wonder why the real meaning of "musicality" of the player faded away...play some music freaks
tcezone 4 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
dude, next time set up that DW set and jam, what a fucking waste to be playing all this time on a cheap pad
scopions84 4 years ago
Beautiful.....
bornDRUM 4 years ago 6
Too many drummers today think 'fast' is all that matters. No way. The best play music with other musicians (ex Steve Gadd) and play for the song/band not how many BPM double bass crap. Jim Chapin is so good.
ccadp 4 years ago 4
WELL SAID!!!!
Thank you
joe d
2stixx 4 years ago 3
Tadaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
thats the ticket
Thank You Jim
for Validating all if us Musical Drummers
Ive Been Playing 40 years still dont know Jack
jltheriot 4 years ago
The Great thing about Jim is that with all that experience he can still identify strongly with being muusical as a drummer. This my friends is the example of greatness. If you listen to him solo you can hear the trad Jazz phrass underneath what he is doing. In effect he has both worlds but is really more famous for his abilities as a monster chopmeister than a smooth musical operator. Mr. Chapin, thank you for all your love and dedication. We salute you...!!
psyne000 4 years ago
I cant even do that and he is damn near 90..
Aplustradomus 4 years ago
His good, but i think he would be a very strict drum teacher haha.
RWIron 4 years ago 4
those were encouraging words.
tedward73 4 years ago 4
i agree so much!.,., thats so true!! i am one of those musical drummers u know.,., but still wana excell in the technical stuff too hehe .,.,.
koutz19 4 years ago