Drum Solo Help

"Hey CAN YOU HELP!!!

Im going to be in a drum off and have been watchin your videos for help and love them. Got any ideas to make my solo pop and stand out to others? and any ideas on what i should play?

THANKS!"

100jasonallin (YouTube)

Sorry it took me so long to respond...I've been swamped!

And sure...the biggest thing you want to have in your pocket when you go to a drum off or drum competition is a clear idea of what you're going to play. I always come up with a motif...a recurring theme that I will come back to, build upon, revert to if I lose my head and get lost in the solo. It can be a 1 bar phrase, an interesting groove, a 4 bar idea, etc...there are no rules, you simply want to have a reference point that you can come back to, one that links the whole solo together for the listener and judges. After you figure that out, make 4-5 different sections. Each section should lean heavily on skills and licks that you already have down cold.

The biggest thing you want to do is HAVE FUN! You'll learn so much just by participating in something like a drum competition...the next one you enter will be ten times better than this one, I promise you that.

Hope that helps!

-ST