First, you’re playing it open with the left hand on the high hat, which is uncommon from the get go. But then there’s the interplay between the left foot, left hand, and the snare and right foot on the bass drum that makes it quite a challenge to learn and it all needs to be precisely in time. But once you do it just flows like Gadd. Absolute genius IMHO. Hard to learn but insane to have ever even been created. Gadd is, and will always be, a drummer’s drummer.
50 ways to leave your lover
So, decades ago a bunch of drummer friends and me — well before the interweb — struggled to figure out this classic drum riff and none of us got close. Years later I saw a local band play it and I knew right away the drummer had no idea what he was doing and was just mailing it in and it pissed me off because it’s such an integral part of the song. Right after the “performance” I went home determined to learn how to do it right. After consulting the Google machine I learned how to do it — it’s not all that hard but it ain’t easy, and the amazing thing is that Gadd even came up with this and how it ultimately ended up defining the song. The drummers out there will especially appreciate this I think, and I challenge you to learn it because it’s pretty rewarding to be able to play.
https://youtu.be/Ou70vvjE8k4?si=2yfPiHB4Oems22-C
Showing 10 responses by soix
This is how I eventually learned how to play the beat. I felt like a total idiot because he made it sound so simple. It’s not. He’s just an effing genius and I had to eventually shovel it through my thick head. |
@krelldog Thank you so much for sharing that video! It’s awesome and I’d never seen it. The thing that really hit me is how old and frail Steve looks now, but thankfully he can still play. |
@ibmjunkman They’re amazing and thank you for sharing! She nailed it! Just wanna say — GIRL POWER!!! Might be the ugliest drum set I’ve ever seen though. Just sayin’. |
@ibmjunkman My guess is it’s Fool in the Rain… https://youtu.be/gTsZtNVINYY?si=bmXlQXs5M1kJA75A That’s another drum part I really enjoyed learning and different from the famous Perdie shuffle from Steely Dan. |
@clydeactor Maybe, but this is played by one drummer coordinating 16th notes between his left foot and left hand while playing other stuff with his right foot and hand. If you don’t understand the genius of that, you just don’t get it at all. I’d suggest you try to play it yourself and then just dismiss it as an “Army funeral drum pattern, only played at a faster tempo.” You’re sorely mistaken, sir. Again, forget the fact that you would’ve never, EVER been able to come up with this iconic riff, you can’t even play it. Leave your uneducated armchair quarterbacking at home please, because it adds nothing here. |
@clydeactor I know, and that’s fine for him to say it but not you. The way you said it here belittled the riff’s significance and innovativeness, and that needed to be called out because you are just an armchair quarterback in the scheme of things. |
@ellajeanelle Big +1!!! |
@stager Totally agree dude! When jazz drummers started to migrate into rock in the late 60’s, early 70’s — think Blood Sweat n Tears, Jefferson Airplane, Cream — their jazz influence was all over it. I honestly could never play straight jazz. I’m not good enough and honestly the difficult time signatures I mostly couldn’t wrap my head around. If I had a better brain and more talent I would’ve loved to play jazz cause it’s just a totally beautiful art form. I saw Chick Corea play with his Electrik Band at the Blue Note in Manhattan with Dave Weckl on drums, Victor Wooten on electric bass, John Pattiuch, Gale on lead guitar. I can’t even relate to you that experience. |
@chayro Sorry, but no. Just…no. There’s no comparison whatsoever between car wash blues and 50 Ways other than they’re loosely based on a marching theme. Any halfway competent drummer can listen to car wash blues and figure it out fairly quickly — can’t do that with 50 ways cause the sticking, playing open, and the interplay of 16th notes between the stick and closing the hat make it near impossible to figure out by listening and much harder to play. It’s also what makes this iconic. Makes me think you don’t have an understanding of how the underlying groove is actually played. In case you missed my prior link, here’s how it’s played…
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