Jamie Muir Quotes

I look up to a lot of old school drummers from the '70s, '80s, and '90s.

Rudimental snare work is something I've always loved.

Well I had a musical background, but I still didn't know a lot about drums at the time.

If you come in like a typical modern drummer who is used to playing only with tricks and double kick and, like, big, big, big, fast rolls, but you can't play a swinging shuffle, then you can't play in Ghost whatsoever.

Jazz drummers traditionally are not always prepared to just hold down the beat; it's like they're soloing the whole time.

A great way to get your rhythm playing together is to work with a drummer, preferably someone that has a good groove and plays solidly in time.

I'm learning on the guitar all the time.

In the Foo Fighters, my main job is to be the drummer, and that's enough.

If drummers are 'anti-solo,' that's up to them. They're musicians, and they can play whatever they want. But my inspirations early on were people like Buddy Rich, seeing him on 'The Tonight Show', or Gene Krupa.

You can't show someone how to play the drums in six weeks, but you can point them in the right direction.

When I listened to Elvin Jones, man, for the first time I heard a drummer that had all the technique plus emotion, passion, feel, and just - good God!

One that really caught me was Joe Morello. He was the first drummer I ever saw that could do a roll with one hand. He would turn his hand over and use his fingertips to get the stick bouncing. He could sit there with his right hand doing stuff on the cymbals and tom-toms while he was doing a roll with his left on the snare drum.

Jazz can be so serious, no sense of humor.

Jazz is a music of great achievements but speed and chops serve a different function in jazz.

It's interesting. I've known quite a few good athletes that can't begin to play a beat on the drum set. Most team sport is about the smooth fluidity of hand-eye coordination and physical grace, where drumming is much more about splitting all those things up.

Jazz of the sort we play is a happy, extroverted music. You don't have to think about it too much.

To me, Bill's musical heart is in Earthworks, in the jazz they are playing, in the acoustic kit.

I taught myself how to play the guitar, so I basically learned by a system of making mistakes.

A jazz beat is a dynamic changing rhythm.

I listen to Bill Stewart play the drums and when I have finished doing that, I listen to Bill Stewart.

There's not much music I'll listen to if it doesn't have pretty heavy swing. Rhythm is so important. Punk rock would have more power and feeling if it had swing.

There is no blood in jazz drumming, and there are no bullies in jazz drumming.

I saw a drummer play once when I was a kid and I thought, that's really cool. You know, you're moving. You're using your arms and fingers. So I tried it and I loved it.

All musicians practice ear training constantly, whether or not they are cognizant of it. If, when listening to a piece of music, a musician is envisioning how to play it or is trying to play along, that musician is using his or her 'ear' - the understanding and recognition of musical elements - for guidance.

My brother Carl taught me how to play bass. I'm a self-taught keyboard player, though - I figured out our harmonies at the piano.