Buddy Rich Didn’t Read Music
Some drummers have had very successful careers without learning to read music. Buddy Rich, one of the greatest drummers of all time, did not read music. He played with the best musicians of his time and is still admired by drummers of all ages, all without reading a note.
Listen to the way that Buddy plays through all the changes in “The West Side Story Medley” from The Best of Buddy Rich: The Pacific Jazz Years. It’s hard to imagine that he didn’t read music. However, he was an exception and not the rule.
One of the reasons Buddy sounded so good is that he had an incredible memory for music. He could memorize a song and play it perfectly after hearing it a couple times. Very few people have such a memory and that is why you can increase your chances of becoming a successful drummer by learning to read drum music.
A Great Drummer Sounds Ho-Hum
I had a chance to see, first hand, a great drummer sound mediocre because he could not read music. Our high school jazz band was rehearsing one day (yes, I was a band geek) when a former student and his friend, a drummer with exceptional skills, came in to watch. Our band director asked the drummer if he would like to “sit in” and play a song. The drummer cautiously agreed.
A typical jazz band is made up of about 15-20 people: saxophones, trombones, trumpets, a piano player, a bass player, a drummer and usually a guitar player. The drummer’s primary role in a jazz band is to “play good time” by keeping the song tempo steady. They are also expected to play fills between the parts of a song (this should sound familiar) and play accents with the band throughout the song.
Now I had seen this drummer play difficult songs with the nearby college jazz band. He had incredible technique and almost a sixth sense of when to play accents with the band. So it was with great anticipation that I put the “drum chart” (that is, the drum music for the song) on a music stand as the drummer sat down. I had played the song many times and still needed to refer to the printed music.
Normally a drummer (or any other musician) will quickly study the music before the band starts to play, especially if they have never played the song. But this guy didn’t take one look at the music. The band director counted off the song and the drummer started to play with the band.
This drummer had great technique and impeccable “time” (his tempo was right on) but I noticed quickly that he was not playing accents with the band and was not playing fills between the song parts. It was then that I realized that he was not reading the music. He sounded okay but not great. He would have sounded better if he could have read the music and anticipated what the band was going to play.
Better Chance of Success If You Read Music
Some drummers argue that you can play your whole life and have a successful musical career without reading music. However, there are many more successful drummers who can read music than cannot. And your chances of becoming a successful drummer in a band are greatly improved if you can read and write music.
If I don’t have sheet music for a new song, I’ll write out a song sketch that includes drum parts that I want to remember. This is the fastest way I know to learn a song and to remember what I played, especially when I’m learning a number of songs at once.
So start now by sketching out the parts of songs that you are interested in learning. Also, start thinking about how you will learn to read and write drum music. Unless you’re another Buddy Rich, you’ll be a more successful drummer if you know how to read drum music.