{"id":37876,"date":"2022-09-28T14:30:56","date_gmt":"2022-09-28T21:30:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/?p=37876"},"modified":"2023-01-26T10:41:40","modified_gmt":"2023-01-26T18:41:40","slug":"steve-smith-art-of-drum-solo-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/steve-smith-art-of-drum-solo-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"Steve Smith’s Best Tips For Drum Soloing"},"content":{"rendered":"

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[Note: Steve Smith<\/a> compiled these notes to clarify his ideas before filming his new Drumeo course, The Art Of Drum Soloing<\/a>. He was happy to share his tips with you, the reader. To access his video course, get a free 7-day trial to Drumeo here<\/a>!)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There are many ways to play a drum solo and many types of drum solos. For Drumeo, I decided to focus on the five most common ways that I play drum solos:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Open solo as part of a song or a \u201cdrum feature\u201d<\/li>
  2. Unaccompanied (stand-alone) drum set pieces<\/li>
  3. Soloing over a vamp<\/li>
  4. Soloing over the form of a song<\/li>
  5. Impressionistic free-form soloing <\/li><\/ol>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Playing solo drums is making music by yourself<\/em>. Play the drums during a solo as you would play drums when accompanying other musicians. Vary your dynamics; don\u2019t only play loud and fast. Stay relaxed<\/a> and in control of your technique, which usually requires not playing hard (which can tighten up your muscles and result in a loss of control). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"steve<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Leave space, breathe, play with clarity and play phrases. Phrasing is playing an idea and then taking a breath and leaving space<\/strong>. <\/em>Because I\u2019ve played with a lot of horn players, I\u2019ve gotten used to the idea of needing to breathe and leaving natural spaces while playing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Certain instruments require that you blow into them; for example, the saxophone, trumpet, trombone, and of course, the human voice. Some instruments – like drums, bass, piano and guitar – you can keep playing without ever stopping. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Breathing in between ideas is a key to phrasing. Follow one idea with the next logical idea, which is improvising and telling a story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Here are five types of drum solos, with examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n