Who played the Drums. – Knowing who played the drums lets you see kung may pattern or kung ano yung signature sound nung drummer na to. If you go down the rabbit hole of listening to what this drummer played before. Chances are, makokopya mo yung style nya.

Song Version – Puhleaaasee, ilang beses ko na naranasan to. Well, di naman talaga ako, kasi nag Zo zoom out nga ako. Pero yung sa mismong practice day, or sa Gig, ibang version pala yung siniphra ng kasama ko. Kaya make sure alam mo yung version.

You see, uso yan, renditions, iba’t ibang version. At minsan kahit same artist pa, ginagawan din nila ng iba’t ibang version pa. 

Who is the Artist – Well, eto pa lang, you pretty much know what to expect. Busy ba tumugtog yung banda ng artist na to? How much preparation ang need (Kasi, may ibang complicated mag areglo, may ibang simple). And you need to be prepared before playing the song.

Ano yung “Feel” ng song – Straight or Shuffle. Now, I’ll try to simplify this. Di naman lahat ng nagbabasa nito eh nasa intermediate or advanced na. Shuffle feel, usually yung mga triplet based na songs. Gaya ng mga Blues na songs, Fool in the rain – Led Zeppelin, Rosanna – Toto, Everybody wants to rule the world – Tears for fears, Mapa – SB19 + Ben and Ben etc. All other songs naman. Like majority of them, is straight feel lang. Almost pag Pop song or Rock song, or Hiphop. Generally, leaning towards straight groove.

How many BPM – Simple lang to. Gano kabilis or kabagal yung song. Importanteng ma establish to umpisa pa lang. 

Song Energy – Ano yung vibe ng kanta.. Happy, Energetic, Sad, Etc. If you dial in to the vibe of the song before playing, mas mararamdaman nung listeners yun.

(Optional) Genre – Eto naman ginawa kong optional kasi unless you’re a session artist, malamang naman, you stick to one or just a few genres. 

Time Signature – Di ko to sinama sa Zoom-out pero pwede. Basically time signature is yung counting nung kanta. For majority of the songs, 4/4 lang yan. Kung di mo pa to naintindihan, okay lang naman. Di ko rin alam to for how many years pero I can play naman dati. More of pinapakiramdaman ko. Pero I highly urge you to understand this. 

Main Groove – here, it depends din sa arrangement ng song. You have to be sensitive kasi madalas, iba groove ng Intro, sa verse, at iba rin sa chorus, at iba pa sa bridge. Minsan naman, iisa lang lahat, nagbabago lang sa Dynamics. Isa to sa pinaka importante. Ito nga ata ang pinaka importante, na tama ang Groove mo.

Dynamics – Eto na nga, dapat very sensitive tayo dito, kasi tayo nag da drive ng dynamics ng song. Dynamics, in my personal definition, is yung pag bago bago ng energy ng song. Actually volume levels to. And important na alam natin to kasi we can set the direction by doing this. May dynamics din ang bawat hataw sa drums. Bawat limbs. Mahaba masyado i explain. Hehe.. 

Bagsakan – Eto emportante rin. Kasi chances are, ito yung susubukan din kunin ng mga kasama mo. Depends on how strict you are as a band. Sobrang halata pag yung drummer ang di nakakaalam ng Bagsakan. Talagang lilingunin/tatawanan ka pag nagkamali ka dito. Tapos magdidilim ang paligid, bubuka ang lupa. Make sure na kabisado mo ang bagsakan. 

Fills/Transitions – Eto rin depende on how strict you are as a band. Kung gusto ba kuhang kuha. Di naman kailangan, pero pwede rin.. Important. Most of our bandmates, gets cues from us. So pag may importante na fill or transition kang hindi nagawa, baka di nila makuha ang cue. Try to study this as much as possible.

Significant Section Changes – Cut Time, Half Time, Double time, Tempo Changes, Time Signature changes, importante maramdaman at malaman mo to sa pag Disect pa lang ng song. As drummers, hindi pwedeng, “hala may ganun?”. Dapat ikaw magsabi sa mga kasama mo na “Uy, may ganto”. Hihi.. Dapat lahat kayo nag aaral, pero as I’ve said, pag ang drummer ang clueless, ang hirap para sa band nun.

Song Form – Ano ang flow ng sections. Ilang beses umulit ang Chorus, ang Verse, Asan ang bridge kung meron man? Ilang bars per section. Eto ginagawa ko talaga to kada siphra ko, I map the song form. Minsan kasi, akala mo simple lang sya sa pakinig. Pero pag tugtog mo, parang may kulang/sobra. Yun pala, 7 bars lang pala yung section instead of the usual 8. Eto depende to rin kung you follow songs by the book or you just improvise.

Details – Kailangan ba kuha bawat detalye? Well, di naman, pero mas maganda kung oo. Etong pagkuha ng details ng song is natutunan ko rin sa isang Drum mentor ko na si sir Michael Alba, example natin yung song na Rosanna-Toto. Pwedeng kunin mo lang yung shuffle ng right hand, backbeat ng snare and yung groove ng bass.. Pero it won’t “feel” right without yung mga ghost notes na linalagay in between the shuffle ni Jeff Porcaro (Drummer of Toto).