Quotable Bob Moses

A few stand-alone quotes from Drum Wisdom by Bob Moses:

[T]ake one idea and expand it., instead of playing a lot of ideas. The greatest musicians are those who can take one idea and make the most of it.

[O]ur goal is to groove. As far as I’m concerned, that’s the only goal. Creativity is not a goal; creativity is. Everybody is creative, but not everybody grooves.

There should be a musical idea behind everything you practice, just as there should be a musical idea behind everything you play. […] Music includes melody, harmony, and rhythm. Having just the drumistic things without having the rest of music is certainly incomplete.

What types of things do I hear internally in my mind? What I think about- the internal hearing- is always the simplest possible idea.

[W]hen it gets to the second chorus and one of the lead instruments starts playing an improvised solo, I am still internally hearing the original melody and almost ignoring what the soloist is playing. Many times a drummer will try to duplicate the ideas, abstractions or extensions of the soloist, but that is not your job. Your job is to be aligned with the structure and provide a cushion for the soloist to work off.

Trying to play with the soloist is like two people trying to get into the same end of a canoe- it’s going to tip over.

Re: “independence”: Instead of playing two rhythms- one on the ride and the other on the snare drum- think and play only one rhythm. When I play, even though I have one hand on the cymbal, I’m still playing only one rhythm- not two against each other.

I believe that you should be able to sing everything you play on the drums.