What I Learned at My Favorite Drummer’s Masterclass

I had the opportunity a little over a year ago to attend a masterclass by one of my all-time favorite drummers. This masterclass wasn’t a clinic, though, where a bunch of folks gather in a music store to listen to their favorite fusion drummer shred for an hour. This was a true “masterclass,” where the objective was to actually just hang out and have a Q&A session.

Only 12 slots were open, so the group attending was kept small. This allowed for more of a “hangout” kind of vibe, where the masterclass was all about group discussion instead of watching a performance. The entire event lasted for 3 hours, and it took place in a recording studio.

For the first hour and a half, we all sat in a circle in the tracking room and just asked this drummer questions. We talked about the music industry, getting paid, working in studios, how to learn songs, and lots more. It was really fun being in a room with 11 other guys my age who shared my exact interests and asked some of the exact questions I had on my mind. Being able to pick the brain of a drummer who’s played on Grammy Award-winning records from the last two decades was awesome, simply put. There’s no better way to learn than to ask questions of someone who’s already been there and done that.

Now I could write a mile long email telling you everything I’ve learned from this guy. I’ve listened to interviews with him, I’ve listened to a ton of records he played on, and I’ve now been to his masterclass. He’s probably the most influential drummer to me personally, since I’ve learned so much from him. But I’d like to highlight just a couple of major, game changing things I learned from him.

My mind was blown several times just listening to interviews with this player before I ever met him in person. Things he would talk about…methods he employed in the studio, etc. But now I could get more specifics on these things by asking him face to face.

My first big question, pertaining to recording a drum track in the studio, was this:

“How much does the melody of a song influence what you play on the drums?”

His answer? 100%.

We could stop right now, because this is the most important thing any drummer needs to understand and apply in his or her playing. The melody determines everything about what you should be playing. That’s it. That’s the answer.

I had heard this drummer mention in an interview a few years before that he didn’t mind a bad bass player on a session, and that he could actually get by without listening to the bass at all. The drum-bass relationship actually shouldn’t be a drummer’s priority. He went on to say that a bad acoustic player is the worst (that’s like someone playing a shaker out of time, pretty much), and a bad vocal makes things tough. When asked why that’s the case, he elaborated further that the vocal is the one thing he really wants to hear. The melody tells him everything.

That blew my mind the first time I heard it, and it forever changed my approach to playing songs and creating drum parts. Being able to ask him more about this in person at the masterclass was really cool and extremely helpful.

For the second half of the masterclass, we all moved from the tracking room to the mixing room. We gathered around the mixing desk so that this drummer could share with us several recent tracks he’d played on. This would prove to be the absolute coolest part of the masterclass, because as we listened to the recordings, he explained exactly why he played what he did throughout the song. I was getting into my favorite drummer’s head, and I was really understanding the way he thinks and approaches songs. This was extremely exciting to me.

We got to a key fill in one of the songs, and he turned and looked at me in reference to my earlier question about melody. “That fill I played there was emphasizing the melody, following it exactly. You pretty much want to emphasize or offset a melody so that whatever you play supports it rather than clashes with it.” This took me back to my old drumming mentor’s quote about how "the fills separate the men from the boys" (you may remember that from last week's email.)

Seeing and hearing my favorite drummer walk us through several very different tracks he’d played on was a hands-on learning experience I’d never gotten before on the drums. These were things I’d gradually learned over the years by osmosis, listening to records and playing gigs and recording. But now hearing these details spoken by the pro who has the credits to support them…that was invaluable.

The discussion in the mixing room landed on the topic of quantizing and whether or not you should play right on the beat, just ahead, or just behind when recording. After all, why would that even matter if your playing will get locked to the grid in mixing? This was something I’d wondered about a lot too, since some drummers like to play ahead and others behind. (Think John Bonham for behind the beat and Stewart Copeland for ahead of the beat.)

I asked, “So do you intentionally try to place your snare just ahead or just behind the beat? I know of another studio drummer who does exactly that, but I want to know if you’re ever trying to do something that precise.”

“Nah - I just place it wherever it feels right for that moment in the song,” he replied. “If the chorus needs to push, I’ll push it a little. If the verse needs to lay back, I’ll let it lay back a little.”

Woah. I thought to myself. That’s actually a relief. I don’t need to be a robot! I don’t need to be a metronome when I play. Just place things where they feel right!

I actually discovered evidence of this very thing on a record this drummer had played on, where the time was a bit elastic in a section. I could tell they’d recorded to a click, but there was still room for breathing. It was good to know that drumming isn’t all about being a human metronome that plays everything perfectly in time to the millisecond every measure.

That whole day was such a cool experience, and I still think back on it a lot (hence this email!). I hope that this knowledge shared with you guys helps you out in your personal growth on the drums, whatever level you're at. The whole “melody is 100%” thing… that’s a big deal. Always have a why behind what you play, and let the melody be that reason.

Focus your ear on the melody, and support the song with your parts. You’ll always sound great as a result, and you’ll always have a “why.”

To musical drumming! God bless,

Stephen

P.S. - This drummer's name is Aaron Sterling. Look him up, and dig his stuff. I've learned a ton from him! You can find him on Instagram and on his website.