Neil Peart

I started to talk about Rush a while back but put it on the back burner to simmer for a while. I've known for a while that, like Led Zepplin and The Who, that Rush was an influential band for drummers...but like those other two, it wasn't a band that I ever paid attention to. Yesterday I bought a Rush playalong book to get the education started.

Neil Peart is referred to in drumming circles as "The Professor." He is known for his technical proficiency and stamina as well as for the fact that he completely revamped his playing style in the mid-1990s. From Wiki, "Peart is often regarded as one of the finest practitioners of the in-concert drum solo. He is known for extensive, intricate drum solos containing odd time signatures,complex arrangements (sometimes total separation between upper and lower limb patterns: e.g. an ostinato dubbed "The Waltz"), and exotic percussion instruments."

I listened to the Rush playalong cd front to back and followed along with the music. I didn't even sit at the kit. I assumed it was all going to be stuff way beyond my skills, but that wasn't entirely true. Several of the songs were things I could probably pick up fairly easily with the exception of a few passages. Some were more complicated, of course. But I was able to follow along, which is set one. The more that I do that the more that I learn how figures that look a certain way sound...which makes it easier to sight read drum music. It also makes me more familiar with the common figures...which makes me more likely to start using them in my own parts. In addition, there are plenty of short passages in the Rush book that would make for great exercises...just 4 measures taken as an exercise type thing. His style on these tracks was simpler and more basic rock oriented than I'd expected.

Listening to the cd made me think about my brother Roger. I don't think about him much. He was a fan of Rush. He lived a mostly troubled life until he died a few years ago in his 40s. While I was listening to the cd I wondered why he liked the band. What grabbed him about them? Did he appreciate the musical prowess? Was it an escape? Did he just like the sound of it?

YYZ solo:


From his dvd Anatomy of a Drum Solo, about Tom Sawyer:


More from Anatomy of a Drum Solo, including his thoughts on solos:


From Buddy Rich Memorial Concert (a major influence on his style change):


This is pretty funny...I'm sure Neil Peart would agree with it too...