Reasons Why Ringo was a Brilliant Drummer #6,083

The needless debate on whether or not Ringo was/is a good drummer continues to this day. Someone brings it up once or twice a year these days. If someone has to question it, it only shows that they have a limited knowledge of music, and specifically what makes a great song so great.

 Long story short, the Beatles' music would've sounded NOTHING like it did had they had ANY other drummer but Ringo. Whenever someone asks me if Ringo was a good drummer or not, I chuckle and say that he's the best drummer in the world, and in many ways he really is. 

 They'll cock their heads and say "Really?" I'll try to explain the difference between drumming for drumming's sake (wankage) and drumming for the song, how his parts were so cool and quirky and unique, how simple is beautiful, how you couldn't take away his parts any more than you could the piano or vocals and all, if they can dig it. 

 The beautiful song Fixing a Hole is just one example of why Ringo is amazing (example #6,083, lol). It starts with an Harpsicord intro in straight eighth-notes and then there's a pause. Ringo then sets the tempo and counts the band in with a four-bar Shuffle pattern on the hi-hats. After those four beats the band comes in and the first verse starts. He keeps the same pattern going on the hats, which is normal, but when the rest of the band and the vocals come in, 999,999 out of a million drummers would start playing the snare drum on beats 2 and 4, at least with a rim-click.

 It's what drummers do almost automatically, like hitting the bass drum with cymbal crashes. It's how we learn to play drums. Drummers are obviously excitable people when it comes to music. Must of us mere mortal drummers would be thinking something like: "Okay, I laid the groove these four beats, and now the rest of the boys are gonna come in...ready, GO!" We can't help it. Our buddies are joining us and we get excited. 

 Not Ringo. He had the calmness, the wisdom, the courage, the vision, the brilliance and the general "Ringoness" to lay off the snare until the chorus. Most drummers would have to tie their snare-hand to their leg to keep from doing it automatically, but Ringo was able to contain himself, and keeps playing just the hats through the verse. It's amazing. He does accent some beats, like having the snare going would do, but it's all on the hats. It's beautiful. This is reason #6,083. Don't engage in silly debates. Rock on. 

Fixing a Hole: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPBd8eHQqIw