Thread: What makes a good drum solo? Your opinions & clips please!

I'm going to be looking at drum solos in my Intermediate class this term, and I want to talk to them about what makes a good solo - whether it be technique, choreo, presentation. So I'd love to hear your thoughts. What do you like to see? Feel free to post eg video clips. Also, if anyone has ideas on how to practice these things in the classroom, I'd love to hear them.

I'll get started. I like to see:

- Pacing. Not 100-shimmies-per-minute through the whole thing!
- Levity. This is a chance to show off technique, sure, but not at the risk of boring your audience! I think a drum solo provides the perfect 'showpiece' to highlight some humour.

To my mind, Aziza does a great drum solo. Here's one I found that I think really exemplifies the above. She space between movements to actually see and appreciate her excellent technique.

Ooh, found this one. A perfect example of typical drum solo formulas - rule of 4; fast then slow drum roll in the middle; spin to end. And gorgeous dancing.
YouTube - Sexy belly dancer drum solo: BOZENKA

I thinking picking a good drum solo to begin with is key. I like solos that have lots of rhythm changes. I do like to see lots of shimmies myself. I don't like drum solos that look overly choreographed. I prefer to see dancers "really get into it". Some of my all time favorites:

I think musical interpretation is the most important thing--using the drum solo as music, not "four of this pattern and eight of that one." Less is more. Students have a tendency to want to beat their drum solos to death and use them as some sort of stamina test or showcase for a bunch of physical tricks that natives would never dream of doing, when they're just a another type of music. Outside of mastering basic technique like clean shimmies and isolations, if you're spending hours and hours perfecting some move for your drum solo, you're probably overdoing it. Building a drum solo around combinations of simultaneously winking an eye while doing head slides, shoulder rolls, hand floreos, belly rolls, and shimmies is missing the point. Using the same moves you'd use for dancing to other music is actually adequate. Some of these drum solos like "Tablet Bassem" are treated like regular pop songs and played for social dancing over there. When Cousin Amina, Aunt Fatima, and Grandma get up to dance at a wedding, do you think they preface it by hundreds of hours in front of a mirror working on crazy, elaborate strings of isolations? No, mostly they use the same shoulder and hip accents they'd use for any other song with a percussive hook, and it's perfectly fine to use the theatrical refinement of that approach.

As far as humor, I think this is a less-is-more situation, too. Under normal circumstances, a drum solo is not a comedy piece. Adding personality is good, but it doesn't have to be a different approach than any other bright, up-tempo piece. If you wouldn't normally add a sassy touch of humor when you dance to a happy pop song, there isn't any reason why you'd have to add it to a drum solo.

I just finished choreographing and performing my class's first ever drum solo! Here is a clip below of the performance. I find it very helpful to break down difficult combinations before the choreography begins. Throwing it all at them at once can be overwhelming. Enjoy!

Originally Posted by jewelbellydance

I'll get started. I like to see:

- Pacing. Not 100-shimmies-per-minute through the whole thing!
- Levity. This is a chance to show off technique, sure, but not at the risk of boring your audience! I think a drum solo provides the perfect 'showpiece' to highlight some humour.

Interesting how tastes can vary so much... when it comes to drum solos, I'm with Norma. I like to see lots of shimmies (wouldn't bore me at all to see a dancer dance to a drum solo that was ALL shimmies, as long as it went with the music and the shimmies reflected the changes in the music. Some drum solos don't call for as many shimmies as others, but there are some drum solos out there that call for pretty much all shimmies, IMO. I don't see why avoid doing what the music is so clearly telling us to do).
I prefer to watch drum solos where the dancer is getting really into the music and where the sound os the music is showing through her body... you need to be very technical to be able to do that, but it shouldn't look robotic. It should look organic. I don't need to see a million combinations and variations, I just need to see the music. If I see the music on the dancer's body, there is no way I will be bored.
My favorite dancer for drum solos is Soraia Zaied.

zills and interaction....down play of new age pops & locks.

I'm happiest with my drum solos when it seems as though the drums have somehow gotten into my hips. As though I am possessed
That's the the kind I like to see. Not frantic, ditditditditdit hit every beat, relaxed but percussive.
Lots of shimmies too as previously mentioned.
I do like some of the "new" style intense pops & locks if done the same way...as tho the dancer is possessed.

I think there is something of a generational thing in terms of what individuals like in a drum solo. People who remember (or wish they could remember) when a drum solo was a live interaction between a musician and a dancer value a different sort of vibe than people who only know the style where drum solos are aggressively rehearsed to prerecorded music. It's difficult to say one way is right and the other is wrong, because they are two fundamentally different approaches. (Maybe not comparing apples to oranges--more like comparing heirloom juice oranges to a modern seedless tangerine hybrid?)

I love this!!!!

Originally Posted by Tourbeau

I think there is something of a generational thing in terms of what individuals like in a drum solo. People who remember (or wish they could remember) when a drum solo was a live interaction between a musician and a dancer value a different sort of vibe than people who only know the style where drum solos are aggressively rehearsed to prerecorded music. It's difficult to say one way is right and the other is wrong, because they are two fundamentally different approaches. (Maybe not comparing apples to oranges--more like comparing heirloom juice oranges to a modern seedless tangerine hybrid?)

I definitely don't think there is one right way to approach a drum solo and all other ways are wrong. I actually appreciate the fact that other people have completely different approaches, I like that there is a variety of styles out there. I wouldn't want everyone to dance the same way.
But that approach in particular is the one I really feel, the one I most enjoy and the one I like to use for myself.
I don't think it's just a generational thing. I wasn't around yet during the times of prolific live music, but just my fairly limited exposure to it has definitely helped shape my preferences. There really is nothing like it.

I can't post video clips from work, sadly, but Mona al-Said's gold bikini costume drum solo is perfection to me! It's been posted a few times on YouTube, hopefully shouldn't be too hard to find, or maybe some kind soul who knows what I'm talking about will post it here...

Originally Posted by norma

I love this!!!!

I could watch Soraia's drum solos all day! Here's another one I love

High energy and fun are really important:

I love this one:

Wow, thanks everyone for the plethora of clips and opinions. I'll take some time to go through them all.

It's good to hear people's differing preferences, because I had in mind my own fairly firm idea of what *I* like to see, but wanted help in describing it. To hear people saying quite opposing things really shows that every audience has their own tastes, and it's possible to take very different approaches to creating a 'good' drum solo. That gives me a lot to explore in class.

This has given me one idea for a class exercise- improvising a drum solo with 80% shimmies, then trying again with 80% non-shimmy moves. It'd be interesting to compare the overall effect of each.

Yay! Bozenka and Aida, two more of my favorites <3

Originally Posted by badriya_al_ahmar

I can't post video clips from work, sadly, but Mona al-Said's gold bikini costume drum solo is perfection to me! It's been posted a few times on YouTube, hopefully shouldn't be too hard to find, or maybe some kind soul who knows what I'm talking about will post it here...

Norma has it posted on this thread up a ways, post #3.
I first saw it on a trytel video in the 80's, blew me away and still does!!

[QUOTE=Tourbeau;859583]I think there is something of a generational thing in terms of what individuals like in a drum solo. People who remember (or wish they could remember) when a drum solo was a live interaction between a musician and a dancer value a different sort of vibe than people who only know the style where drum solos are aggressively rehearsed to prerecorded music. It's difficult to say one way is right and the other is wrong, because they are two fundamentally different approaches. (Maybe not comparing apples to oranges--more like comparing heirloom juice oranges to a modern seedless tangerine hybrid?).......................................... ........................drum solos are aggressively rehearsed to prerecorded music.
...ah, i have never done the same pre recorded drum in my life! i can not pre plan emotion..mood etc.

Originally Posted by LiesaB.

Norma has it posted on this thread up a ways, post #3.
I first saw it on a trytel video in the 80's, blew me away and still does!!

Ah, good! My maimed work browser won't even let me *see* the video frame, just a blank space You'd think they want me to do work here or something...

I remember, back in my student days, fellow students would always request my teacher to teach a choreo to a drum solo. She always refused. Many of her advanced students went on to become professional dancers that worked with live bands and she always stressed how you never know how a drummer will play his solo so you need to be able to listen and follow. Of course, music that we practiced too often had drum solos. (in the advanced classes she always taught 1/2 routines, it took a year or more to explore each one.) But she never danced to the drum solo the same way twice. For that matter, she never danced to the music, exactly the same way twice either, especially with the advanced students. She preferred high energy drum solos as well, but nothing too frantic.

For those of you who might me interested, I've collected several hundred drum solo clips on youtube in my favorites section.

YouTube - maxegon01&#39;s Channel

Some are professional; some are amateur. Some beginner; some advanced. Some are to live music; some recorded. Lots of different styles. You can browse through the favorites and you might find something appealing.

I've enjoyed a few of the pre-recorded and rehearsed-a million-times type solos that I've seen, but I really like to see spontaneity and surprises in drum solos. To me, drum solos are a time for you as the dancer to really connect with the audience; it's downstage and percussive and personal. It's a chance to show technique and musicality in a lighthearted way, and it's easy for the audience (they don't have to try to figure out what your song is about or process any really complex music). A choreography can be used to learn the solo, of course, but I'm in the camp that feels drum solo performances are best when at least partially improvised (except of course in group/troupe situations, but that's an entirely different beast). :)

Originally Posted by norma

I love this!!!!

Fun! I think I was just totally mesmerised by her bounching butt! (From a technical point of view, that short skirt gives an excellent view of how she's driving her various shimmies)

Originally Posted by Tourbeau

I think musical interpretation is the most important thing--using the drum solo as music, not "four of this pattern and eight of that one." Less is more. Students have a tendency to want to beat their drum solos to death and use them as some sort of stamina test or showcase for a bunch of physical tricks that natives would never dream of doing, when they're just a another type of music. Outside of mastering basic technique like clean shimmies and isolations, if you're spending hours and hours perfecting some move for your drum solo, you're probably overdoing it. Building a drum solo around combinations of simultaneously winking an eye while doing head slides, shoulder rolls, hand floreos, belly rolls, and shimmies is missing the point. Using the same moves you'd use for dancing to other music is actually adequate. Some of these drum solos like "Tablet Bassem" are treated like regular pop songs and played for social dancing over there. When Cousin Amina, Aunt Fatima, and Grandma get up to dance at a wedding, do you think they preface it by hundreds of hours in front of a mirror working on crazy, elaborate strings of isolations? No, mostly they use the same shoulder and hip accents they'd use for any other song with a percussive hook, and it's perfectly fine to use the theatrical refinement of that approach.

As far as humor, I think this is a less-is-more situation, too. Under normal circumstances, a drum solo is not a comedy piece. Adding personality is good, but it doesn't have to be a different approach than any other bright, up-tempo piece. If you wouldn't normally add a sassy touch of humor when you dance to a happy pop song, there isn't any reason why you'd have to add it to a drum solo.

very interesting !..we were taught and i still teach, separate steps for each rythem...holding off on the shimmy list till drum solo. that makes it interesting. we also only freestyle zills with drum.
thank you for your prospective.

Originally Posted by zamora

very interesting !..we were taught and i still teach, separate steps for each rythem...holding off on the shimmy list till drum solo. that makes it interesting.

Cory, don't misunderstand me. I would say the clip you posted is a good example of approaching the drum solo as music. You are participating in the song in ways that are consistent (both physically, and via your cymbal playing) with what the drummer is doing. You acknowledge the music in a way that makes sense. Presumably if you were dancing to a live band and the qanun player went off on some crazy, string-zinging tantrum of a taqsim, you'd adjust your dancing to be more percussive (i.e., more drum-solo-ish), too. The point isn't that this style of dancing is in opposition to how you'd interpret a slow, sentimental violin taqsim, but rather, that it's different from the modern style of drum solo that looks like, "And now, for your entertainment, I shall do 32 sequences of elaborate isolations in sets of four." That latter style can be enjoyable, but it reminds me of magicians and circus performers. It's just one trick after another, not really anything directly related to the mood or theme of the music, unless it's done by a performer with a very high level of talent and showmanship.

we also only freestyle zills with drum.

On the other hand, there isn't much live music where I live, and it doesn't come up, but I've been taught that a dancer should be wary of using cymbals during a drum solo, unless she knows the drummer doesn't mind. I've heard horror stories of diva drummers who resented the intrusion into their "moment to shine."

For me, what I want to see in a drum solo depends largely on whether the music is live or recorded.

Bear in mind that I'm coming from a background where drum solos to live music are few and far between in my neck of the woods...and also bear in mind that the following statements are just MY PREFERENCE and I am in NO WAY suggesting that this is the only way.

That having been said...

If I'm looking at a dancer on stage with a drummer and the music is somewhat improvised, then then I expect to see clear interaction between the dancer and the drummer(s). I like to see them "speaking" to one another through the music, with an obvious give and take, during which the dancer seems to anticipate and then illustrate the sounds from the drum with movements of her body. I really LOVE seeing the dancer cue the drummer(s) to slow down, speed up, et cetera because it makes everything seem that much more on-the-fly and in the moment.

When I'm watching a drum solo to live music, I'm not just watching a solitary dancer on a stage. I'm watching a group and there's a lot more action on the stage, so for drum solos with live music I don't mind if the dancer's movements are more subdued, more relaxed into the music more carefree and wanton, because my attention is split between her and the drummer(s). She can get away with doing 16 step bumps one after another back and forth across the stage because my attention is divided.

When I'm watching a drum solo danced to recorded music, however, I'm probably looking at one dancer on a stage by herself. She has no one to interact with but the audience, and sometimes that can mean she has a lot of space to fill on that stage. For those reasons, when I see a drum solo danced to recorded music, I prefer to see a wider range of technique/movement vocabulary. She has to do something a bit more dynamic, because she's it; there's no one else up there. I'm not going to be distracted by the band. I'm going to be looking straight at her The Whole Time. This means that if she does the same 16 step bumps back and forth across the stage, chances are I'm going to get bored.

Of course, this isn't hard and fast for me. If, say, dancer number two is performing to recorded music in a restaurant where she moves around the audience, then perhaps she can get away with a smaller movement vocab because chances are she's going to be throwing in audience interaction and I'm going to be seeing her from a variety of angles.

So....I guess the short answer is "It depends," and the long answer has something to do with creative interpretation of the music and variety of movement.

Originally Posted by jewelbellydance

This has given me one idea for a class exercise- improvising a drum solo with 80% shimmies, then trying again with 80% non-shimmy moves. It'd be interesting to compare the overall effect of each.

I like this idea :)

Of course musicality, but for me above all I like to see PLAYFULNESS. Aziza demonstrates that very well along with her 1000 watt smile.

Also integration of some fluid moves instead of all drill team like precision. I'm sure this has all been said above. but, yes, playfulness is the number one must have IMO