Drums. You either love them or you hate them.
If your drummer is out of control, you can’t wait for him to stop. If he doesn’t have enough energy, you’re longing for the music to actually build somewhere.
The old adage is true – your band is only as good as your drummer.
But we already covered that here on the blog. What I want to explore today are some drumming tips that are unique to worship music.
I want to discuss being a drummer who is more intent on serving the people in the room than rocking their faces off.
A drummer who creates a musical context that is energetic and easy to follow.
A Local Church Drum Story
A few weeks ago a sweet, old man in our congregation came up to me. I like this guy – he’s happy, kind, faithful, and encouraging. But as he approached me, you could tell something heavy was on his mind.
He said, “Why in the world do you have to put microphones on those drums?! I bet if you just turned them all off it would be loud enough!”
I explained to him how necessary the mics were to create separation in the sound and to have a solid mix. But his question got me thinking.
Sure, the nature of drumming is to bang on things, but is there a way we as drummers can be sensitive to the people in our churches?
7 Tips for Worship Drummers
The human ear can only take so much banging. Even if you’re young, it can be overwhelming. Here are a few tips for drummers on how to serve people better with their playing:
1. Realize Why You’re There – I know – there’s a room full of people and you’re on stage behind the drum kit. Your rockstar dreams are coming true! Well, not exactly. The local church isn’t a platform for your rock stardom. The best thing you can do for your drumming is slow down and realize why you’re there. You’re there to serve, to create atmosphere, to lead God’s people in worship. You’re there to stir people’s affection for Jesus. You are there to make the name of Christ famous. This isn’t second class music. Matter of fact, I believe there’s no more exciting music to make.
2. Play Clappable Beats – Have you ever been in a worship service where the drummer was so busy that you wanted to slit your writsts? OK, maybe that was a little dramatic, but you know what I’m talking about. When drummers play for themselves (or to show off how awesome they are), it’s usually overkill. Play simply. Give the non-musicians something to clap to. Another tip: always keep some sort of subdvision on your hi-hat or ride. This constant frame of reference is very helpful to your congregation.
3. Be Mindful of Your Strikes – Come on drummers. We’ve all been told to tone down our playing. “But I can’t get the same feel when I don’t hit the drums HARD!” I doubt it. You just may discover a new facet of drumming by being mindful of your strikes. You don’t have to beat the crap out of the drums every time. Give your sound tech something to work with by controlling how hard you strike.
4. Engage in Worship – When I see a worshiping drummer, I feel inspired and invited to participate. If they’re stone cold and straight faced, I have a tendency to simply watch. Worship musicians who engage help others engage. Simple as that. Don’t just play drums. Sing. Shout. Worship with all you’ve got.
5. Engage in Prayer – As a drummer myself, something I’ve tried to do throughout a worship set is pray for the people in the room. When I’m not playing, I’m praying. When I’m playing, I’m praying. I’m looking around and noticing who’s there. I’m asking God to awaken dead hearts. I’m praying for people to respond to God. Trust me, this will change your drumming. Your beats become a means of intercession rather than just a weekend gig to suit your musical fancy.
6. Be Intentional – Just because it’s in front of you doesn’t mean you have to hit it. Just because you can play fills doesn’t mean you need one every measure. Worship music is not the time to improv. Rather, focus on simplicity and confidence. Make every hit count. Stop making comments about how all worship music is boring and sounds the same. Maybe if you played every lame groove like it’s the best thing you’ve ever done, you’d make the music better.
7. Harness Silence – Sure, you want to be intentional with every strike. But you also want to be intentional with silence. Silence is wonderful for drumming. Every square inch of a song doesn’t need to be filled. The silence causes your grooves and fills to speak that much louder.
OK, now it’s your turn.
If you’re a drummer, I’d love to hear your tips for being more effective in worship.
Or, worship leader, how do you lead your drummers to serve more effectively?
You can leave a comment by clicking here.
[ois skin=”Beyond Sunday 2″]
Great post, David! I shared it with the drummers at Pinelake.
One thing I’ve been thinking about lately regarding drummers is consistency. Getting a great, confident, and consistent tone. What happens often is the sound engineer mixes to the loudest snare drum backbeat, but, if the player is inconsistent in his tone, half of the backbeats get lost in the mix. That’s a bummer for the audience and the drummer’s bandmates.
Great point, Chris. Do you challenge your drummers at Pinelake to do this?
Simple I agree with every thing , I love the tips that are given .
I am not a drummer. However, I am a drummer’s wife. He’s been playing at our church for 20 years. I introduce myself as, “the bald-headed drummer’s wife”, where I inform people that he’s the BEST! He commented on this, after it was sent, from his (our) worship leader. We are EXTREMELY close! I can tell you that, especially, in the hearts of drummers, this has been AMAZING!!!! THANK YOU for your Heart for Worshippers and the ONE that we offer our worship to!
Hey Susanne – it’s awesome that your husband has been drumming at the same place for 20 years. Love that servant’s heart.
I was complaining to my drum teacher, Larry London, that I found myself too often playing the same fill or groove in the same places. I thought he would show me some dazzling fills or whatever, but no. He said sometimes we keep doing the “same boring thing” because it WORKS. It’s easy to play something unusual, or even challenging–something for the drummers out there. But often the best thing for the song isn’t going to dazzle anyone. Larry even has stories of putting the music first & just playing what the songs need, playing what’s best for the band, etc, and getting glowing comments even though he wasn’t trying for any.
“Often the best thing for a song isn’t going to dazzle anyone.” – I couldn’t have said it better. Thank you, Joe.
Thank you for the drumming tips. I am happy to say that I agree with all of them, and have been playing that way for the last 23 years (since I was saved) that I have been involved with worship teams. All together I have been playing 45 years. As my first worship leader would say,”we’re not here to put on a show.” He, and you, couldn’t be more right. It’s not a show, it’s worship to God, so we all should play that way. I am in a very small church, and am not miked or in a Plexiglas cage, so I have control over my own dynamics. This also gives me a feeling of accomplishment; that I CAN play pianissimo when it’s called for. As one of our pianists would say, “The drums are the glue that holds us all together.”
Kendall, way to go man – drumming for 45 years! I actually think drummers should be placed in situations like yours, with no shield. It would be a great way to learn dynamics and the art of serving the room.
Great stuff here on worship drumming. I started playing with my church about 5 years ago. I am not a trained drummer and have never taken a lesson, so I am humbled every time I sit back there as one that God can use. I WORSHIP first and foremost. I put on those headphones and get lost in a time of worship, one of those “so close” moments with God. I look out and see hands raised and worship happening amongst the people and I am grateful and privileged to be a part of it. It’s all for God, not for me. Oh yeah, and over a few years, I have learned some dynamics 🙂
Keep learning and growing, Jonathan! God is using you 🙂
I am a drummer from Romania, I follow your blog, because I also led worship for about 4 years and I find it very helpful and it has always been a blessing for me to read your articles.
About this one, I already passed it over to my fellow drummers in Romania and I know we can always learn thing.
I agree with what has been said, I even had talk in our national meetings about how to be a worshiper drummer because I have seen in lots of churches the situation where the band was considered just an instrumental support like a CD, even by the leader and no “spiritual requests” were asked of the band. But I think the band has “to be there” spiritually and specially as a drummer, if you are not flowing with the leader, you can really mess up the service by being too loud, or being to soft, by playing where you should be quiet or not playing where you should do some spiritual warfare on drums and so on.
I like prog music, but I always encourage drummers to be a real support for the band and play as simple as possible for the band but also for the church.
So, thank you again for this article or for lots of others, you are a blessing.
Adrian – THANK YOU for spreading the word in Romania! That’s so awesome 🙂 Following the leader is massive. Can you expound upon your “spiritual warfare” idea? What does that look like for you?
Hi David–
Thanks for sharing. I am going to forward to the drummers on rotation at my church in Houston, TX.
BE DYNAMIC
I believe you touched on this in your suggestion to embrace silence and to be mindful of your strikes, but being able in particular to match the slow build of a ballad worship song during perhaps a prayer time is essential for audience connection. All too often drummers are all-or-nothing, allowing no subtle build of volume and accents. It creates a gap in how folks emotionally move through a song, going from zero to 100% volume.
Great post, my friend.
Adam – thanks so much for sharing! You are 100% correct. Dynamics are so huge. I’m teaching some drummers how to have quiet energy. I love the full-on jam, but it’s important to have different levels of energy.
Hey, very engaging and informative, David!
I am based in Bath, England and teach drums part time to beginners/ intermediates: that way I don’t teach anyone who’s better than me!! well that was the plan anyway!
I come from an originals band background playing Pop / alt rock styles from The Cult/ U2/ The Alarm through to heavily backing tracked songs with samples/ big hooks and harmonies etc etc.
I have always struggled keeping my ego and abilities in check so that I don’t show off- as if I’m advanced enough to do that!
Playing in church is something I will return to again once my kids stop playing up- I have stopped for the past 12 months but will resume when the time is right even as a 44 year old I still have a lot to give.
My style is simple and solid but the things that have helped me are tangible obvious approaches: where I lack technique or ability, I make up for in sounds, and in my set up, say using hot rods for quieter pieces, building up with a real stick handy for X-stick, a clip on and a handheld tambourine for example. I try not to be predictable in my playing but if it fits to do so I will play it safe and do the obvious beat. I use the cymbal bells often, favouring oversize cymbals, including China’s. These can build up atmospheric flurries which sound like the swells of the sea, building crescendos. In that respect I listen to the lyrics as often it will tell me the style I need to adopt, or a certain word might hint at a buzz roll or military style snare beat. I use a cowbell or 3 pitched differently of course as well as unusual things like a Larry Mullen style timbale mid 80’s era to the right of my floor Tom so I get the contrast of hi/ low pitch.
I sometimes sing b/vox but I like to wear hearing protection too and worry about being off key! Having said that its just practice and confidence… I sometimes get lost in the music/ performance/ praise- I’ll be honest, coming from a performance background and flamboyant live gigs using smoke machines/ strobes and pro lighting fx, it is difficult to disengage from hey look at me, but I will allow God to be worshipped with the gifts he has clearly given me and if it helps people get into His presence/ the zone and lose themselves then I am happy to be a vehicle for this. I hope truly that I don’t get misinterpreted through this honesty. I struggle with my faith and who I really am at the best of times, and the day I become comfortable with it will be the day I give up! I say this pointing to Jesus as my source- I love making music but it ain’t the be all and end all. Don’t be forced into a neat lil pigeon hole where the world thinks they have you sussed out. Be confident in your abilities, humble too! Thanks for letting me share, best, Simon
Awesome! Thanks Simon!
I’m a Christian drummer from Sri Lanka. I’m really inspired and blessed by this post. Glory be to God! 🙂
Thanks for stopping by, Richie!
Hi, am James, a drummer from Nigeria. I must say, your words are true and I strongly believe that in leading worship, a drummer must be very sensitive, to the move of the spirit and also the audience. Many drummers are not, they just wanna show off their newly learnt fills. But when a drummer is sensitive to every part of the music, the part to be silent and pray in his heart or aloud, or play soft or just the cymbals, the glory of the Lord fills the atmosphere and everyone is blessed, lives are changed. Drummers should realise the music isn’t about them, everyone is involved, we are just the heart’beat’ of the music. Hallelujah!
I have a semi-related question. On the subject of clappable beats: In your experience, what is the minimum tempo for a congregation to comfortably engage in clapping?
Hi Jared,
Probably 120 BPM plus for people to start spontaneous clapping ( with the instigation of a worship leader -ahem!)…
I’ve found that clapping usually happens when a song is faster, eg Sing, Sing, Sing ( live version), but of course it doesn’t mean to say people don’t clap at slower tempos. And clappable could mean four to the floor dance music stylee, or slower Delirious tracks like Solid Rock.
That’s not Jared F, by any chance?! Nice work if so!!
Best to all of you,
Simon
The drummer at my church has an extensive repertoire of fills, skills and frills which he exhausts every four bars. He is ‘overkill’ defined. Sometimes drummers are given a few bars to solo and showcase their talent. His solo lasts the entire song. It is pretty distressing to me as a musician and worshiper- not to mention distracting. I would not be likely to play in any context with him. A wise musician once told me that personality traits are exhibited in one’s playing. Seems like the more he does this the more kudos he gets from people. Thanks for your article- maybe I’ll print it and mail it to him.
I’m a musician (rock/punk from the 70’s) and now a senior pastor of a church with a rock based worship band. My senses regarding drums during worship/praise is that the role of the band is play the song in such a way as the congregation will feel “invited into the music” so that they will sing with song (assuming it’s a congregational song). In my opinion, the drummer, regardless how talented, needs to keep the song “in the pocket” because most people in the congregation will lose the beat and stop singing because they lose the sense of the song through over drumming.
Obviously this could happen with any instrument – guitar players over playing – but it seems most prevalent with the drums. Drummers tend to play as if it was a performance or a concert – but it isn’t – it is, for lack of a better term, a sing-a-long (believe me I realize how awful that sounds!). Sometimes when I listen to the drummer I will think “If the guitar player was playing that hard or with that many fills, we would never put up with it.”
It’s one thing if your church is college-based – then the music will be harder and louder – but if you’re a standard type church – our attendance is between 1400 to 1700 – all ages – you need to keep the congregation engaged in the song.
The thinking is supposed to be that the band is the director, the congregation is the performer and God is the audience. The audience of One it’s called.
When the drummer overplays – it distances the people from the song. I realize it’s frustrating for the drummer – but they are there to serve not solo.
My 2 cents.
I will add this one more point – or perhaps illuminate- worship during a regular weekend service – in my opinion – and I am a rock/punk musician – worship is primarily a singing ministry – the music is there to support the vocalists – not overshadow (there are exceptions of course). The vocalists guide the congregation and the congregation worships. 2 more cents.
I’m a sax player I think if drummers play exactly as the CD sounds loud drumming will be less of a problem. Drummers tend to play solos on all songs killing everybody that knows what dinamics are all about. The standard of playing for drummers in church should be playing the CD on point. If all drummers do this the standard of drumming will be higher loudness will be less of a problem. If you have 3 drummers and they play the same on one type of song loudness of drums will not be pick up easeally
The “show-off” drummer I complained about in my last post moved on to another church. I never addressed it but am certain that many musicians and non-musicians had the same complaint. As a previous poster said, lack of self-control is not a desirable trait in any musician. Much less a christian musician in a church setting where Christ is to receive all honor and glory.