Thread: drum solo do's and don'ts

i missed out on a workshop with a title like this, and i was bummed about it!

i'm working on a solo now and could use this advice. any suggestions? i'm particularly concerned with any big glaring DON'T!!! i should avoid.

The one drum solo don't that comes right to my mind is: Don't do too much. Don't cram such a steady stream of complex movements in there, hitting every single beat and accent with something, that the audience becomes mentally exhausted after trying to follow what you're doing for the first minute, their eyes glaze over and they wish they had used this time instead for a trip to the bathroom. Seriously. Job #1 is to entertain the audience, not to give an absolute maximal exhibition of technical skill.

And then I could just offer Jim Boz's simple aphorism: "If it looks bad, don't do it!"

Good luck with your drum solo.
Rosette

Ha!! I was gonna say exactly what Rosette said so ditto!!

The other thing too is to think of the shapes the drum is making. i.e. in a drum roll we automatically think shimmy. Well a roll is round so you can do other round type movements like a hip circle or turn.
Also I like to think of the tone of the music notes, if one is high use an upward movement like a hip up vise versa for the down.
Light and heavy movements like techs and doums the same way.
Hope that helps!
xoxo,
-NJ

Ooh, I like this thread! We are coming up to the drum solo class in my Anatomy of am AmCab show class, and I want tips and tricks to give to my students. Keep em coming, please!

Don't be afraid to travel a little. I see so many drum solos where the dancer barely moves her feet at all, and it can get a little boring IMO. Unless you're doing that cool drum solo thing where you hop up on a drum and stay there the whole time, use some of the floor.

Don't ignore your drummer (if you're dancing live, that is). And of course, give him credit at the end. It's his solo too.

As most drum solo's are so fast i like ad a little funny accent at least once - like you have several "tac" and do some hip accents but in the end you just shrug or something like that - whatever accent that is out of the ordinary comes to your mind - so it looses the tension a bit also for your audience 'cause if you get them to smile they will be relaxed in an instant and keep on being interested what your doing - they do not want to miss the next one ,r:;

Originally Posted by laura 2

Don't be afraid to travel a little. I see so many drum solos where the dancer barely moves her feet at all, and it can get a little boring IMO. Unless you're doing that cool drum solo thing where you hop up on a drum and stay there the whole time, use some of the floor.

I totally agree. It's nice to see a dancer travel around instead of just staying in one place trying to hit every accent. And that in turn goes with what the others said about not overdoing it.

Good luck with your drum solo

great advice ladies. i agree with all of it and especially not overdoing it. try to slow it down at some point and hit every fourth beat or something. the audience needs a chance to breath. i think of it like talking to someone who's always got the same level of excitement in their voice. after a while you just don't pay attention. there some be emphasis on some parts and not on others. i hope that makes sense i'm doing a bunch of things at once.

Hmmm... I'm not a drum solo expert by any means, but I'd like to offer some things about what I like to *see* in drum solos.

First, drum solos do tend to be pretty techincally challenging, and audiences may not know what it is you're trying to show them. Pay close attention to your framing, which guides the audience's gaze. "Neutral" arms are everyone's default, because they're safe, but they do nothing to show off your work. So help me see what it is you want me to see by framing your pelvic circle or your shimmy or your hip hits with some deliberate arms. Also, glance down at what it is you're doing every once in awhile. As Aziza says; BE AMAZED that your body is doing what it's doing and your audience will be amazed too!

Also, sloppy drum solos aren't very impressive. Drill, drill, DRILL! Work at being as stuccato as you can (where appropriate, of course). And build up your endurance so that you're not just "getting through" the drum solo, but you're POWERING through it, and have lots left over at the end. Ideally, the audience will be more breathless than you are!

Like I said; this is just what I like to see when I watch a drum solo, so I hope it's helpful.

Break a leg!

wow! this is great advice. thanks to everyone. keep it coming if you can!

Excellent advice so far. Also be very aware of posture -- especially upper body -- and expression. In most venues (other than a raised stage), only a few people can actually see what your hips are doing. You need to provide something for the folks at the back of the room, too. Expression and focus can keep them interested.

Do what the beat tells your body to do. The worst drum solos are the ones where the dancer is completely detached to the music and is obviously just counting in her head '1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8' for each move. If you feel and enjoy the music it comes across great (but I guess thats the same for belly dance in general?).

Dont be afraid to take pauses or finish a phrase with something unexpected. Things like this keep the audience interested in what you are doing. Make sure the speed of your movements vary, if everything is on the same speed and energy level it can get boring or tiring for the audience.

Some very famous dancers actually put several seconds of silence into their drum solo and they continue to express the rhythm with their bodies during the silence. Sometimes it gets the audience clapping along. Definitely gets their attention. Of course, this would work better for a staged show than a restaurant gig.

If you're a great zill player you could accompany yourself during the silence. Otherwise, zill playing during the drum solo is usually a no-no. But you could put the occasional accent in, I suppose. Just don't zill mindlessly through the whole thing. Some drummers get a little ticked at dancers zilling during the drum solo, but if it was something you worked out with a drummer ahead of time, it could be killer.

Originally Posted by dunyah

Some very famous dancers actually put several seconds of silence into their drum solo and they continue to express the rhythm with their bodies during the silence. Sometimes it gets the audience clapping along. Definitely gets their attention. Of course, this would work better for a staged show than a restaurant gig.

If you're a great zill player you could accompany yourself during the silence. Otherwise, zill playing during the drum solo is usually a no-no. But you could put the occasional accent in, I suppose. Just don't zill mindlessly through the whole thing. Some drummers get a little ticked at dancers zilling during the drum solo, but if it was something you worked out with a drummer ahead of time, it could be killer.

Yes exactly!!! The only drummers who didn't mind a zill banter with their drumming was the Turkish drummers we worked with back in the olden' days, that was part of the set, but Arabic drummers will freak if you play zills during their set, I don't even do it when dancing to a CD. I saw one drummer just stop playing and sit there because the dancer was clacking away on her zills.

Don't forget height changes also. Either slowly dropping down/raising up tic tic tic tic tic or a fast deep knee bend and up thing. (I've found the faster down up easier recently than the slow descent/ascent, sort of a hop thing).

What a wonderful topic! I'm practicing a drum solo to perform at the RenFaire here in November. Wonderful ideas, especially the hint "Don't try to cram too much in".

Edna

Drum solos often have a call-and-response section. For example, they might have the deep "doom" sound do something, followed by the higher-pitched tek doing something in response. Look for ways to reflect this in your dance. For example, pose on the call and move/dance on the response, or vice versa.

I am going to say something which sounds really, really weird, but if you are top heavy and wear your bras stacked, packed, and strapped, chest pops look like they are going to put an eye out! You may want to rethink doing them or doing too many of them.

it's a body type issue. If you know about it ahead of time, then you can make a conscience choice whether or not to do them.

{{{{HUGS}}}

Don't be afraid to do something that doesn't scream DRUM SOLO! A local dancer once did a drum solo with only hand and arm movements. She varied her pose, and it was fun to watch because it was so different. It really made me realize how expressive hands can be.

All fabulous advice. I tend to vary the speed with mine. Never hammer away at it relentlessly. Even the fastest drum solo can be danced at a much slower rate and brought almost to a physical standstill. The frenetic drum solo is boring.

Originally Posted by Andrea2

Don't be afraid to do something that doesn't scream DRUM SOLO! A local dancer once did a drum solo with only hand and arm movements. She varied her pose, and it was fun to watch because it was so different. It really made me realize how expressive hands can be.

is there a youtube? that is very creative - i would love to see that.

Originally Posted by kharis_UK

Even the fastest drum solo can be danced at a much slower rate and brought almost to a physical standstill.

do you have a youtube example?

Originally Posted by tahiradancer

I am going to say something which sounds really, really weird, but if you are top heavy and wear your bras stacked, packed, and strapped, chest pops look like they are going to put an eye out! You may want to rethink doing them or doing too many of them.

it's a body type issue. If you know about it ahead of time, then you can make a conscience choice whether or not to do them.

{{{{HUGS}}}

I agree! I used to have HUGE boobies (until I got a reduction) and chest lifts and pops looked so over the top on me.

I would sometimes replace a chest lift with a chest drop--lifting my chest a tiny bit (almost like an inhale) and then releasing into a small but sharp drop. I think this looked okay on me and still worked with the music without overemphasizing my rack.

I also agree with the idea of "taking a break" and changing the pace during a drum solo. A perfect example of this would be a solo I saw performed by Ava Fleming. She has amazing muscle control and some of her moves are so subtle that I found myself carefully scanning her body and thinking "where should I look next?" At one point she posed and remained very still but I was still looking her up and down to see what was being isolated! Her precision and frugal use of movement absolutely commanded my full attention for the entire drum solo.

Originally Posted by Vasha_Hatal

Dont be afraid to take pauses or finish a phrase with something unexpected. Things like this keep the audience interested in what you are doing. Make sure the speed of your movements vary, if everything is on the same speed and energy level it can get boring or tiring for the audience.

this is such great advice. And so surprisingly HARD to do!! It's so easy to feel "boring" just standing there or slowing things down, so it's really hard to incorporate that.

Originally Posted by Andrea2

Don't be afraid to do something that doesn't scream DRUM SOLO! A local dancer once did a drum solo with only hand and arm movements. She varied her pose, and it was fun to watch because it was so different. It really made me realize how expressive hands can be.

How cool is that!

If you're a great zill player you could accompany yourself during the silence. Otherwise, zill playing during the drum solo is usually a no-no. But you could put the occasional accent in, I suppose. Just don't zill mindlessly through the whole thing. Some drummers get a little ticked at dancers zilling during the drum solo, but if it was something you worked out with a drummer ahead of time, it could be killer
***** huh ?******i chose jenaeni rathor as my last coach, due to her skill w/zills during drum solo.i have kept it alive, especially with q & a
i do not know how to post a youtube, but my drum solo is full of zills.
things are so diff from place to place !

Originally Posted by dunyah

If you're a great zill player you could accompany yourself during the silence. Otherwise, zill playing during the drum solo is usually a no-no. But you could put the occasional accent in, I suppose. Just don't zill mindlessly through the whole thing. Some drummers get a little ticked at dancers zilling during the drum solo, but if it was something you worked out with a drummer ahead of time, it could be killer.

I think a lot depends on the dancer's skill level with zills. If a dancer has enough musical background to know how to play an effective counter-rhythm or call / response, I don't think it's a no-no.

But just playing the exact same thing as the drummer, or worse yet playing monotonous threes would be an unfortunate thing to do.

work AGAINST the music sometimes. I love a nice contrast between frantic drum rolls and an ironic movement such as a single, slow, shoulder roll. Makes you look like you are in control and not a slave to the music like in the movie "The Red Shoes". Its a movie about a woman who gets a pair of red satin pointe shoes with a mind of their own that don't let her stop dancing.

I always subtley compare a drum solo to my adult students as a "romantic interlude". Too fast and too repetitive is not really that effective. It can be a bit desensitizing. Most of us require variety in tempo, location and force if you know what I mean.

As Dunyah, Cory Zamora and Shira said, if you are very skilled with zills and have good musical sense, it can be a real knockout to play zills during a drum solo. However - you MUST check it out ahead of time with a live drummer to make sure that it's ok with him/her. See my YouTube AWS 2007 performance for an example. It was not rehearsed, but I discussed the music and the framework of the performance, including the drum solo, with Khamis ahead of the performance. I can't get to YouTube to get the URL because they're currently down for maintenance, but go to http://www.YouTube.com and search on "Leyla Lanty". The drum solo is the last 2+ minutes of the video.

Originally Posted by dunyah

Some very famous dancers actually put several seconds of silence into their drum solo and they continue to express the rhythm with their bodies during the silence. Sometimes it gets the audience clapping along. Definitely gets their attention. Of course, this would work better for a staged show than a restaurant gig.

If you're a great zill player you could accompany yourself during the silence. Otherwise, zill playing during the drum solo is usually a no-no. But you could put the occasional accent in, I suppose. Just don't zill mindlessly through the whole thing. Some drummers get a little ticked at dancers zilling during the drum solo, but if it was something you worked out with a drummer ahead of time, it could be killer.

Sorry, couldn't find the clip. I'm not even sure I have it on video. ,f::