Can you give me a few pointers on what you think makes a good drum solo e.g. how to start, , a good way to finish, crowd pleasers etc.?
by 
Seraphim - Angel of Ninja
ANSWERS: 6
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Start with a steady bass line, then build up every 16 beats or so. Then use a 4 beat fill and have a clean ending, no building down or anything.
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Start with a theme...something you can return to periodically in the solo. Dynamics Dynamics Dynamics. If you don't use Dynamics your solo will sound mundane and uninteresting. Crowd pleaser is repetition. Even the simplest rhythm repeated over and over starting at pp and ending in fff can get them going. End with your flashiest, loudest, cymbal crashing lick. Stand up right when you hit, look down at your drums, hold out your hand with straight hand and give them the four finger pull...as if sayin, 'Yeah im bad ass, now give me the props..." lol Confidence will get the best results. :)
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Start out with the beat of the musical part which just ended, or close to it. This provides a natural transition to the listener. Then do your creative stuff. Then, return to the original beat, or something very similar to bring the listener back to the band.
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As a drummer myself, I would start with some rudimentary snare work, show off a little stick control and warm up at the same time, while doing this, start introducing the other sounds of the set, Hi-hat, bass, slowly work to the toms with some syncopation, triplets etc...do you play double or single bass, show your foot speed.. try to be visual, stick twirls, cross-overs with your hands, Build up and up, Play with volume and intensity, going back and forth between loud and soft, tell a story...The worst solo's are the ones where the drummer goes all out for 5 minutes as loud and fast as possible.. Think of it like making love, you don't just go in balls out, you have a little foreplay, a little stroking, build her up ,then go back down, make them feel what you feel, and when you are both ready... climax.... Have a smoke and go to sleep!!!hahaha
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Drum solos are usually improvised. In order to practice for one you should work mainly on learning, creating and improving your drum chops, such as fills and interesting patterns. Cool things to add into drum solos that you might not have thought of are dynamics, tempo changes and polyrhythms. http://bit.ly/408nCb - Learn more about Drum Chops
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...put your head down, and work them sticks--like OPRAH with a KNIFE and FORK!!!
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