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I love “hidden-in-plain-sight” controversies. A few weeks ago I was contemplating the necessity of teaching rimshots. So I decided to post about it on my Instagram. Little “black tile with white text” thing. Immediately got almost 80 comments and 10x the engagement of, say, me drumming.
“Ok,” I thought. “This is a topic”.
So - if you’re learning to play the drums, do you need to learn rimshots?
They’re prickly things. It’s almost like adding another whole dimension to the things we already worry about. Now it’s not just accents and subdivision and timing and ideas and orchestration, but also nailing this exact angle when you strike the snare, and damn it would nice if you could do it without any tension and with the same sound with both hands at multiple stick heights.
So yea - prickly.
So in this video we look at the use cases. Are 100% of drum beats rimshot beats? Not even close. From classic Ringo tracks of the ‘70s, to Steve Gadd beats of the ‘80s, to songs like John Mayer’s Vultures, to most jazz swing beats…
There’s a lot you can do without rimshots.
And don’t they kind of have a bad brand? We picture Chad Smith or Joey Jordison - the cannon-fire-against-the-temples of the type of music we’d probably scream at our neighbors to “turn it doooown”.
But in this video, I’ll make the case for the humble rimshot. Illustrating, hopefully, that they’re not just for speed metal. (“These aren’t your parents’ rimshots”.)
Drummers from Ziggy to Clyde Stubblefield to Brian Blade have used them tastily. And, with this handy guide, so can you!
At any rate, hope you enjoy this exploration of drums’ most undersold controversy.