CLICKTRACK
5 TIPS FOR PLAYING WITH A CLICK TRACK
With the renaissance of live backing tracks and drum loops in worship music, the need for drummers to be rock-solid with a click track has skyrocketed. Many of us didn’ t grow up playing with a click track, and now find ourselves playing catch-up in order to help facilitate this new wave of high-production worship music. If you’ re looking to amp up your skills at drumming with a click track, here are a few tips that can help:
TURN IT DOWN! The number one mistake I see drummers make is turning the volume on the click track up way too loud. When we turn up the click track super-loud, we can actually fool ourselves into thinking that we are playing more accurately with the click than we actually are. When you can’ t hear yourself, you can’ t tell what’ s really going on with your playing. Plus, where’ s the fun in drumming if you can’ t hear the drums?
I always suggest turning the click track up just loud enough to be heard in between the beats of your drumming. While this may not be feasible at first, as you grow more comfortable with the click, you’ ll most likely find yourself wanting to turn that volume down lower and lower. Now, when I’ m playing with a click, I like to set the volume low enough so that the only time I can hear the click is if I get slightly off from it- otherwise I get to enjoy the sound of my drumming( and the other musicians) without being distracted by beeps and clicks!
CONSIDER YOUR SOUNDS When it comes to click tracks, not all sounds are created equal. My favorite click track sounds are ones that have some semblance of musicality, like woodblocks, subtle cowbell sounds, and even some basic tonal beeps as long as they don’ t sustain for too long.
My goal with click track sounds is always to make sure that they are not distracting to any of the musicians, but they are still distinctive enough to avoid being confused for any other sound being created on stage.
I also try to avoid sounds that are not supershort and accurate. A tambourine is a good example of a sound I try to avoid. Tambourines are definitely musical, but don’ t have a short enough and obvious enough point of attack, and make it hard for me to tell where I’ m landing in relation to it. Basically, a tambourine resonates too long and covers too much of the beat in order to be used effectively as a click track sound.
SUBDIVISIONS MAY NOT BE YOUR FRIEND It can be tempting- and very useful sometimes – to subdivide the beat with a click track in order to fill in 8 th notes and even 16 th notes. In fact, when I started on one of my first major tours, we had to subdivide the click in this manner just to help me play more accurately. So if you’ re just starting out with the click, filling in some of those“ in-between” notes can be a great way to become more comfortable. As our comfort level increases, it can be tempting to continually rely on those subdivisions that we’ ve grown accustomed to. But there’ s a downside to these subdivisions …
It can be easy to forget that we as drummers, along with the other musicians on stage, are the only ones in the room who can hear that click track. When we have 16 th notes being filled in along with our drumming, it can cause us to modify our playing in a way that may not be very musical.
For example, if we’ re playing a slower balladtype worship song, we may have 16 th note subdivisions in the click track. Since we, as drummers, hear those 16 th notes, we might only play 8th notes, or even quarter notes on the ride or hi-hat. To the audience, this may come across as too sparse and spaced-out. But since we are hearing 16 th notes, we’ re nonethe-wiser to how empty the rhythmic space really is. In these situations, it would be best to pare the subdivisions down to something a little less“ busy”.
CHANGE UP THE TEMPO! Don’ t worry- I’ m not telling you to practice less. I am saying that we shouldn’ t practice too much at one specific tempo with a click track. Muscle memory is a real thing when it comes to playing with a click, and it is very easy to feel“ solid” at one specific tempo only to find out that we aren’ t so solid at others.
Early in my drumming career, I remember countless times that I practiced a specific song over and over again at a certain tempo, and felt pretty solid with it- only to arrive at church and have the worship leader ask to bump up the tempo by 4 BPM. When I’ d do this, it would feel like I hadn’ t practiced at all, because I only had developed muscle-memory for one specific tempo. So when you practice with a click, make sure to change up the tempo fairly frequently.
ALWAYS PLAY WITH A CLICK This might be the most important tip for every drummer … Play with a click every time you play the drums. No matter if you’ re sitting down at the kit just for fun, you’ re jamming with friends, you’ re rehearsing at church, or anything else … Always, always, always play with a click.
The only way to become more comfortable, and more solid, with a click track is to use it all the time.
DANIEL HADAWAY Professional drummer best known for his work with worship group All Sons & Daughters. Daniel provides resources for drummers, including a daily podcast DanielHadaway. com.
Mar � Apr 2017 WorshipMusician. com
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