Drummer

A drummer is a musician who plays the drums, particularly the drum kit, marching percussion, or hand drums. The term percussionist usually refers to a person who plays classical or Latin percussion.

Musical significance

While drummers are the butt of many drummer jokes (not unlike alto viola players) suggesting they wouldn't be real musicians, in reality good drummers are expert musicians with an acute ear for rhythm and musical form, who act as the rhythmic driving force for an entire ensemble. The drummer is the rhythmic shader and punctuator for musical ensembles; the very choice of the word beat (evoking his action) for the rhythmic motor of a performance (especially in dance) reflects percussion's traditional role as such. Their main contributions are timing changes and, often overlooked by amateur drummers, dynamic range. This makes their playing analagous to the situation in which a good timpanist provides rhythmic and melodic drama in an orchestral setting.

Related Topics:
Drummer jokes - Alto viola - Rhythm - Musical form - Dynamic - Timpani - Orchestra

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Percussion (along with song) is perhaps the most ancient form of music. In fact, some cultures have drum music, music that is performed by drums alone. The non-vocal sounds and rhythms of life, the most obvious being walking, are a kind of pre-music which elaborate and organize themselves through human intelligence and play into music.

Related Topics:
Song - Drum music

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