anathanw’s Blog

A recent friendly Youtube discussion with ‘bol316′ prompted me to write this blog. Apparently he didn’t feel that Rudd was a competent drummer, and my attempts to change his mind seemed to fly over his head.

Here goes.

Phil Rudd is the drummer for AC/DC. He pretty much plays the exact same thing for every song. If he plays a drum fill, it’s always simple, and never too fast. Honestly, a beginner could learn his parts in about a week.

‘bol316′ took this to mean that Phil Rudd was unskilled at the kit. Here’s why he isn’t:

1. The music itself is simple: verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo, chorus. The guitar riffs are also fairly basic. Complicated, over-the-place drumming would be out of place. Rudd shows almost inhuman restraint by playing just the right amount for the song. I know I couldn’t resist throwing in SOMETHING that says ‘look at me! I’m a drummer!’ in one of the songs.  He can play fast, as he was in a speed metal band as a teenager. However, he chooses not to, in spite of knowing that people like ‘bol316′ are going to assume that he is playing all he knows. That’s dedication to the music.

2. His timekeeping is near perfect. All drummers need to have a decent sense of the time, but Phil goes way beyond that. It never wavers or wobbles in any way. (A much greater accomplishment that someone unfamiliar with such things would think)

3. This last point is both the best feature of Rudd’s playing and the hardest to explain. Rudd’s playing grooves like no one else. Wikipedia says “Steve Van Telejuice explains the “groove” as the point in this sense when he defines it as a point in a song or performance when “even the people who can’t dance wanna feel like dancing…” due to the effect of the music.” That’s about as close a definition as you can get. Rudd makes the music feel very relaxed, smooth, and locked in. Few have reached his level of groove.

For a comparison:This guy.

Phil.

Which one flows better? Suits the music better? Sounds more relaxed? Phil Rudd is someone who can take something simple and do it better than anyone else can. That alone makes him an exceptional drummer. Shame on ‘bol316.’

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Joe Satriani is one of my all-time favorite guitarists. He;s one of the few musicians that can play incredibly fast, but has the sensibility  to actually play for the song instead of for themselves. Anyway, Joe and his music do not get too much popularity, due to the fact that all of them are instrumentals.  Still, anyone who loves sweet guitar solos will love his work.

My favorite song of his is called “Surfing With the Alien,” found at If you listen closely, you’ll find the song structure. Though it contains no lyrics, it tells a story, using recurring musical themes.

The first theme is found at 23 seconds.  Satriani seems to create musical questions and answers during the first section, building off of the basic structure. This occurs many times during the song. Satriani states a theme, builds it, changes it, and ultimately comes back to it. This gives the listener something to latch onto, rather than a bunch of random notes. Like many other great guitarists, Satriani’s solos are similar to poems or stories. If you listen closely, the direction the song takes you is exciting, engaging, and makes a lot of sense.

Parts to listen for!

1:15- the song stops abruptly, making it more exciting when Satriani starts shredding. He could play pretty fast when he wanted to!

2:40- the song comes in on an offbeat, catching the listener by suprise. This is, I have to say, my favorite guitar arpeggio of all time.

As you can hear, Joe is no schmo when it comes to guitar playing. He can really tear it up, but he does so very rarely. This says a lot about his character and dedication to the music.  Joe would not let his ego get in the way of his expression. Also, since Joe shreds so infrequently, the impact of it upon the listener increases. Listening to Eddie Van Halen play “Eruption” is fun, but it gets old.

(Just for fun, here’s an example of the ‘cool, but all fluff’ playing. as James Brown would say, “talkin’ loud and sayin’ nuthin’!” )

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