Ah yes, the big question. It’s a good one and frankly there’s no one true, easy and right answer. However, I’d like to share a couple of ideas to get you going and if they happen to work for you then that’s awesome.

The question usually comes up for a number of reasons and it all depends on the gig and situation – a little four bar break, and intro to a song, a trading section or a completely free open drum solo where the guys leave the stage and don’t come back! Either way, you gotta do something. Now this column isn’t about the actual fancy licks you should play – that’s another lesson. Today is more about how to structure your solo and how to shape the solo.

For me, when I solo, regardless of the situation, I try not to give everything away at once. The audience is already listening when a drum solo starts and they know that there’ll be some flashy stuff coming. So I keep them interested and shape the solo to that I build to a real peak at some point. Sometimes, it’s right at the end and the solo ends up being a gradual climb up.Or sometimes I peak in the middle and bring the whole vibe back down again. Either way involves not just blasting your favourite fill over and over.

So what do I actually play to ensure this doesn’t happen? I like to think of it like this. I have three main foundations to pull material from.

1. FILLS | LICKS – this is the flashy, fancy stuff. Rudiments, stickings, double bass etc. Your bag of tricks.

2. MELODIES | RHYTHMS – here you are literally making up melodies on the spot as you go. Pretending the drums are notes. It’s not that flash but sets up a great foundation for going into a lick and then having something to come back to. This way of soloing is completely random and can involve any sound source on the kit. It take a little time to get comfortable with at first but the more you do it, the better you’ll get. Think simple and sparse or textural and repetitive. Endless options. Check out guys like Steve Gadd and Dave Weckl for this stuff – they’re masters.

3. GROOVES – sometimes the solo just wants to go a step further and you can use a fat groove to really cap it off or even base the whole solo on. Guys like Keith Carlock are really good at this. He can solo within the groove – intense and awesome.

So, I tend to start my solo from either bag two or three and when the moment is right throw in a lick, gradually getting more intense and exciting until the end of the solo where you can go ballistic. Other ideas can include a question/answer thing where you state a theme and a response, then repeat the same them and a different response. Then there’s my favourite – silence. No one expects it. Let it go for a couple of bars and people won’t know what’s going on!

Hope this helps a bit. Check out heaps of guys and keep at it!