If you’re into drumming then an amazing drum solo is a big part of this passion. We know it. You know it. We all love it.

Whether it’s John Bonham’s thunderous Moby Dick or your favourite jazz drummer in action, at their best they’re exhilarating.

And this feature is a tour of the history of drum solos. As they’ve not been around that long in human history, but many a drummer now leans on them as a rite of passage.

How Amazing Drums Solos Came to Beat *Ba Dum Tish*

The first drums date back to pre-history, but the drum sets as we know them now emerged circa 1918. The US percussion specialist Ludwig Drum Company landed the Jazz-Er-Up on the world.

This featured a single bass drum, snare, and two cymbals.

As basic as it was, it really laid down the foundations there for drummers to go off and do their thing. It wasn’t long before big band jazz specialists started crafting new chops and grooves and experimenting with solos.

The great jazz drummers paved the way for classic rock drum solos, with various other global influences (such as African beats) leading us to where we are today.

But to do a great drum solo is a tricky thing!

What’s ahead includes a big group of the best drummers ever to take you through the groove of drum solos over the last 100 years. As that lot know how to make an instrumental solo thrilling.

The Big Band Era Begins Drum Solo History

It begins! During the 1920s drum solos emerged alongside the Ludwig Drum Company’s pioneering efforts with the instrument.

Warren “Baby” Dodds (1898-1959) became something of a specialist famous for playing with a shimmy beat. That’s alongside other famous ’20s drummers such as Kaiser Marshall (1902-1948).

A shame, as Chick Webb (1905-1939) took drum solos forward with his powerful playing style. From around 1931, with the likes of Liza being a popular staple for him to whirl out.

As you can see there, Webb had a type of drum kit set up that you could happily run with nowadays.

Unfortunately, there’s not much (if any) video footage of this era of drumming. Just a few poor quality audio recordings, although that’s better than nothing.

Jazz Takes Drum Solos to New Heights

Swing and jazz drummers really kick-started drum solos in the olden days. The influence of ’30s and ’40s drummers were picked up by the likes of uber cool Joe Morello.

Although he was deeply rooted in solid time-keeping, Morello began adding showmanship flourishes into his solos (such as only playing with one arm). That set the foundations for more grandiose performances in the decades ahead, which the likes of Gene Krupa furthered in his flamboyant way.

The jazz era was essential for the formation of drum solos and what they could become—absolute showstoppers.

In fact, there are so many amazing drum solos from that era it’s unreal. Think of the magical abilities of Jo Jones, whose impish inventiveness can still drop jaws.

Of course, you can’t skip all of this era without mentioning Buddy Rich.

We found one clip of him from 1945 that’s quite something. The standard and incredible exuberance of his playing aside, it’s very unusual to see a drummer from this era giving it so much welly.

There are so many incredible Buddy Rich drum solos you could just do a whole article featuring them. We kind of did that when we reviewed his career a while back, but we do want to draw attention to one thing here.

Rich’s desire to be seen as the best drummer in the world, which meant taking on another luminary from his era.

Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa Battle It out (with Sammy Davis jr.)

The idea of teaming two drummers up to show off their skills is great fun. We don’t really see it that much these days, but in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s it was a big deal.

And watching Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa drum battle it out… well, that’s one for the ages, isn’t it? Thank goodness video cameras had been invented by then!

Rich is an interesting one for drum solos, though, as for all of his career he championed the use of traditional grip.

He was very forthright with his opinions, saying the less skilled drummers took to rock music. And that matched grip led to less creativity.

We argue he was saying such things to protect his interests. He didn’t want to lose his mantle of the world’s best drummer to all that new-fangled stuff.

In some respects he has a point, but by the ’70s most drummers were using matched grip. Certainly as rock music exploded onto the scene.

Ginger Baker Makes Drum Solos ROCK!!

In the late mid-to-late 1960s various drummers emerged—several from England—to change the world of drumming forever.

This was thanks to the influences of rock music and R&B. The likes of Cream’s genius Ginger Baker took those influences, merged in African rhythms, and the result was Toad.

Baker (who insisted he was a jazz drummer) prompted others, most notably Bonham with Led Zeppelin, to indulge in the practice.

Ever since, drummers the world over consider it something of a rite of passage to reel off an endless drum solo.

This has advantages and disadvantages, as some drummers have simply used the drum solo as an opportunity to show off.

In fact, the further from the origins of the rock drum solo we get, the more self-indulgent drum solos seem to have become, highlighting whether we need them anymore (more on this later).

The heyday, in our opinion, is the ’60s and ’70s with Baker and Bonham mixing it up alongside traditional jazz drummers.

The God of Groove that was Bonzo was so absurd with his abilities he made many drummers from his era look crap. We do think he went out there, especially post-Cream with Baker, to show he was the best. A step over his contemporaries.

Baker was always defensive about that, which is possibly why he took a step back into jazz. But then he was tall and scrawny, so he was just lacking the sheer power that Bonham could muster from his loose limbs.

From the world of jazz, though, it was Baker who got all the plaudits. Art Blakey even had a famous drum off with him.

Just on another tangent here, at Woodstock in 1969 19-year-old Michael Shrieve performed one of the most celebrated solos of the decade.

Now, he merged traditional grip drumming style with one heck of a groovy romp along. Considering his age at the time, this was mighty impressive stuff.

Compared to his contemporaries, he kept it super short, which helps this one stand out against Bonham’s epics.

Now, we’ve deliberately left one bloke off this feature so far—The Who’s drummer who was causing waves in the world of rock music for various reasons.

Keith Moon Doesn’t Do Drum Solos

Interestingly, The Who’s madcap Keith Moon flat out refused to perform drum solos, and as far as we’re aware there’s only one 5-minute recording of him doing a solo.

Indeed, if The Who’s members ever stopped playing to encourage him to solo he’d immediately stop and announce solos to be “boring”. But some would argue his playing style was one long drum solo anyway, but there you go.

The above solo occurred in 1974 and is typically bizarre.

With strange markings all over his face (erm… lipstick?), and goldfish in his tom-toms, he takes to the stage for a dramatic demonstration of his legendary skills.

At the end of the solo, when asked about the goldfish by an audience member, he quipped, “Even the best drummers get hungry.”

Very Moon and a rare glimpse into his solo creative skills, as we’re pretty sure he’d have been tanked up on drink and drugs for that performance.

Jaki Liebezeit and Experimental Drumming

On other occasions, drum solos are an interesting necessity. Experimental Krautrock band Can suffered a power cut at one gig in the 1970s. The others called upon their remarkable drummer to keep the crowd happy.

The man behind the kit? Jazz and rock drumming genius Jaki Liebezeit. He was an absolute master of his craft. However, he didn’t normally do drum solos.

His playing during the band’s songs, at once minimalistic, complex, and pulsating, was a monumental enough statement in itself. You can hear his style on tracks like Oh Yeah from Tago Mago (1971). He’ll be sadly missed, having passed away in January 2017.

Quite a similar drummer was Neil Peart of Rush.

In the 1980s and 1990s drum solos became more indulgent, especially with the arrival of big hair ’80s metal.

Around that you had the likes of Neil Peart, whose drum solos are worshipped by the fans of Rush. He made it a big staple of his career and always put a lot of thought into his arrangements.

In an era of bombastic OTT drum solos, Peart managed to stay relatively grounded with his efforts. You can look back at them now and appreciate their kind of subtle craft.

We don’t think he had the extravagant type of natural gifts the likes of Bonham had, but he could rely on his creativity to deliver some outstanding results.

Bringing Drum Solos Into the 1990s

Into the 1990s and there’s The Stone Roses’ genius drummer Reni—one of the most naturally gifted drummers we’ve come across.

And so we feel it’s important to flag up his drumming style.

Reni used a three-piece kit during the band’s peak run and merged various genres together. But the band didn’t bother with drum solos, despite having easily the best drummer of that generation powering the group along. This is actually a real shame, as Reni used to do soundchecks in the mid-to-late-’80s and have people with their mouths hanging open.

Instead, he kept his solos to rehearsal studios.

Thankfully, some of those sessions were recorded for posterity. Although we do wish more material was released.

Not that the world of jazz was left behind during this time.

Brilliant drummers, such as Swiss legend Carly Antolini, can land the equally legendary Caravan with more than enough verve.

Into the 2000s and beyond and a curious drumming quandary came about. There are now drumming machines and the like (plus, AI from 2023 onward poses some interesting possibilities for drummers and the music industry).

But there’s nothing quite like watching a genius such as Antolini doing his thing.

2000 and Beyond: Drum Solos Get Futuristic

The likes of modern jazz greats such as Keith Carlock (who’s arguably the most versatile drummer of our age) are now pushing the drumming world forward.

YouTube is helping to spread the word, too, with channels such as Drumeo putting the spotlight on the world’s best drummers. It’s also making drumming more accessible than ever before for people.

Not least with the arrival of electronic drum kits.

These sets don’t have to be that extensive, you can get a pretty cheap number of  “drums” and just let rip in your living room. Drum solos are now more silent than ever (other than that clacking noise the electric sets make).

Whether you’re a genius talent or not is irrelevant as drumming is a wonderful activity. It’s therapeutic (proven to improve your mental health), great exercise, and will provide you with a much welcome adrenaline rush.

But… a few tips from the experts here and there can never go amiss.

TOP TIPS ALERT! How to Play a Brilliant Drum Solo (with Keith Carlock)

Need a few drum soloing tips there, drummer person!? Well, we’re not here to lecture you. We’re going to let modern legend Keith Carlock do that (thanks to the ever-awesome Drumeo).

Alongside just practicing more, you can develop out rudimentary chops with the help of experts like him.

Practice, practice, practice.

Ultimately, that’s the goal right there. That and studying drumming, by which we mean watching new drummers play. Variation is the key to growing your repertoire, so have a tour through more drumming styles to see what you can learn.

How to Avoid a Pretentious Drum Solo

A drummer doesn’t need a drum solo to show off his skills. And it can be pretty boring to sit through a solo if someone is merely plodding along.

However, in the right hands a drum solo can be positively exhilarating, whether that was Ginger Baker pounding away or a jazz aficionado strutting their stuff.

A thunderous drum solo kept under five minutes is perfectly acceptable—it can be a great complement to any set.

But, be warned, just keep it around five minutes! Consider the following our official Drum Solo Time Scale. Study this and remember it whenever you take to the stage:

• 5 minutes or under: Great!
• 10 minutes: Okay, that’s pushing it a bit…
• 15 minutes: Erm, is this ever going to end?
• 20 minutes: Oh dear Christ, we’ve got one of those.
• 30 minutes: Does this drummer have a narcissistic personality disorder?
• 40 minutes: This drummer has a narcissistic personality disorder.
• 50 minutes: Oh… god! I can’t stand it anymore!
• 51 minutes: Right we’ve set the fire alarm off, everyone run for your lives!

We jest, of course, but it’s worth noting drummers shouldn’t do a drum solo for the sake of it. Bit of a cliché now—drummer so must do drum solo.

Express yourself as you see fit. But we do encourage drummers to try new things, rather than replicate the past.

A Percussive Conclusion: What Next for Drum Solos?

One of the big changes in drumming in recent years? More women have taken up the hobby, which has been fantastic to see.

And from Japan, believe it or not, there have emerged many brilliant young talents. One of the best is brilliant fusion drummer Senri Kawaguchi. She really packs a mighty punch, despite her diminutive stature.

We also must note we’re seeing the length of drum solos drop.

That means we’re less likely to see the likes of a 30-minute Bonham style drum solo from the 1970s. Even with Bonham involved, that was pushing it a bit.

Instead, with modern drumming we’re seeing concise five-minute blasts and the like. We think that’s sound, as in that space of time you’ve got plenty of time to show off your skills.

Anything is else is a bit self-indulgent, eh?

Not that we want to put people off from longer drum solos. If you’ve got something funky to play, you thrash it out.