Any tips for a drum solo?

Question

anything? Just as the question says.
Please and thank you in advance.
~Shorty~

Answer 1

The previous poster, Trip, gives you good advice! Most audience don't have a very long attention span for drum solos, so keep it short unless you are REALLY GOOD. Alphonse Mouzon and Sandy Nelson are about the only two I can think of who can really hold attention for a long solo. Even Buddy Rich lost non-musician's attention after a short while. Mouzon and Nelson approach the drum set as a MELODY instrument and they are masters of their instrument, technically. So is Billy Cobbham. The drummer with McDonald and Giles (?Michael Giles?) out of England is also very good on solos--and he keeps most of his very short!

Technically, as a beginner you need to know what to play! It is usually easiest to do a repetitive pattern around the set. Choose either a rudiment (or combination of them) for a pattern, e.g. WIPEOUT. Better still, choose a rhythmic, or a melodic motif (e.g. the sequence used by the aliens in Close Encounters of the Third Kind) from the song you are soloing on. The better soloists take such a motif and base an entire solo on it. It holds the audience attention because it is a continuation of the song. And remember, until you get good at it, keep it short.

Answer 2

If you're not really, really good- don't solo. If you must, I like what Tommy Lee did a while back... it wasn't a "solo"... it was him wanking to his favorite songs. The only one I can remember is a Zepplin song.

Take a few sections from songs that feature your favorite drummer and combine them into a medly.

Don't go on forever. Unless you're amazing, and even then, audiences don't have a long attention span for any solo.