The Genius Of Roger Taylor

foreign songwriting we actually completely even I've never seen anybody hit things so hard I seem to have a bit of a rock and roll tag [Music] my mentor is here tonight Mr Roger Taylor he's the drummer for the legendary rock band Queen the band that sold more than 300 million records received countless Awards including an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and written Timeless Rock anthems that have stood the test of time Roger Taylor co-wrote some of Queen's biggest hits saying incredible vocal harmonies and is also an accomplished singer-songwriter in his own right maintaining a steady career in the music industry for more than half a century his unique sound and approach to the drums is for many the standard for the iconic Stadium drum sound that defined the 70s and 80s join us as we dive into the genius of Roger Taylor stories [Music] Roger Taylor has always had a recognizable and unique sound on the drums and one of his most signature characteristics is the sound of his back Beats [Music] Roger often barks the hi-hats open when he plays the snare drum and this gives the BackBeat a unique Ambience and it's subtle enough that it can go completely unnoticed if you aren't paying close attention [Music] very fast on the BackBeat you can accentuate the back brake even more so the eye hose and closes very fast with a rim shot on the snare a great example of this is in the verse section of somebody to love [Music] just [Music] Roger's expression on the hi-hats goes far beyond adding aggression to a snare drum he actually uses the hi-hats to add several different sound colors to his grooves [Music] now on the other side of the spectrum Roger is known for exploring unusual sounds with effects and samples check out this heavily gated drum sound at the peak of who wants to live forever foreign [Music] we can hear Sparks of this creativity as far back as the 70s such as the use of hard stereo panning on the 32nd note fill in Fat Bottom Girls bringing a distinct and unique character to the drum part [Music] in the song you're my best friend there's an interesting drum fill that happens several times throughout Roger takes simple eighth note triplets but plays them ascending from his floor tom all the way up to his rack Tom rather than the more typical left to right approach [Music] Roger is an expert at using drum brakes to build energy in the song I was born to love you he treats us to three bars of syncopated drum fills that Propel the band into the outro [Music] pouring the drum break from the song Under Pressure we get six bars of Roger's signature triplet and syncopated 16th note drum licks [Music] away [Music] the heartbeat and Foundation of Queen's music is Roger Taylor's pocket whether he's navigating complex changes or laying down a money beat he always manages to choose the perfect compliment to the music take another one bites the dust for example simple to the point and his hi-hat barks are just what the song called for [Music] and it doesn't get much simpler than the Stomps and claps complimented live by Roger's Tom Groove that drives the iconic Rock Anthem We Will Rock You thank you we see this kind of perfectly chosen Simplicity across many different Queen tracks [Music] Roger uses a similar strategy on one of Queen's hits that he wrote for the Highlander movie soundtrack kind of magic now even though the beat is really simple the choices he made for which symbols he had on his kit really complemented This Groove as I mentioned earlier Roger actually co-wrote some of Queen's biggest hits like Radio Gaga [Music] check out this subtle variation Roger plays in the live version of this song adding a few extra snare drums at the end of every second bar like an echo [Music] [Applause] these small but interesting variations are a big part of Roger's voice on the drums first let's check out the groove and his costume in I Want to Break Free [Music] and what's really cool is that later in the song you continue to hear Roger play that same Groove you heard earlier but he overdubs a ride symbol part as well [Music] [Applause] [Music] hey in the song good old-fashioned Lover Boy the song stays straight and simple almost the entire way through near the end of the song Roger chooses to layer some interesting sounds from hardpanned wood blocks over a tomfil to a choked crash that brings the groove back in [Music] the track innuendo Roger sets up a great triplet March figure in the intro before the song kicks in [Music] even though the March gets abandoned when the band kicks in Roger continually references it in his fills throughout the song [Applause] [Music] and later in the song Roger launches into the guitar solo with a drum break in 3-4 [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] Roger is a master at making crazy Arrangements feel natural and comfortable to The Listener a lot of Queen songs are action-packed with changes oddly phrased accents and abrupt starts and stops you can hear this from very early in their career in one of their oldest singles Killer Queen [Music] [Applause] and again in the bridge of Crazy Little Thing Called Love [Music] when playing this song Live Roger approaches the part slightly differently by playing a kick and hi-hat along with the bass and a cowbell instead of the album's rim clicks [Music] Roger had a masterful way of complimenting Freddie Mercury's vocals the song Death on Two Legs rarely stays on a straight beat for more than a bar or two at a time with fills and changes that almost double Freddie's vocal phrasing [Music] another example of Rogers supporting the vocals are the shots in the bridge of hammer to fall where you can hear some of Roger's cymbal chokes [Music] everybody although Roger could easily navigate complex changes he was just as confident at playing hard in heavy rock groups a great example of this is the snare roll in the outro of it's late where Roger transitions into a double time feel at the end of the song the song Stone Cold crazy which has a mix of a punk feel and some prog rock Shots near the end of the section oh [Music] crazy [Music] we can hear another Punk sounding section in the middle of I Want It All which for the most part is a straight ahead heavy Rock roof [Music] and we can't forget about what's arguably Queen's most iconic song Bohemian Rhapsody where Roger sang some of the legendary High vocal harmonies I was more featured on the high parts because I had that sort of cutting high note so The Quiet Things let him go but the top line which is just Roger because he's got the highest voice he's the one who can make those top notes really um cut let him go let him go Bohemian Rhapsody has one of the most intricate Arrangements in rock music there's about a minute of Chaos in the operatic section that launches into one of the most iconic moments in Rock and Roll history of me for me [Music] and we can't forget about the polyrhythmic bass drum pattern that Roger plays in that section here he's playing every other triplet partial which gives a three over two feel on the bass drum [Music] it's my brother so far we focused on Roger's storied career with Queen but he's also created solo records and collaborated with other artists throughout his entire career [Music] the first single Roger released was in the late 70s called I wanna testify in future management another single from Rogers solo project he lays down a cool Shuffle feel under overlapping vocal lines you love me [Music] as much as Roger's go-to is to play simply and support the music occasionally we do get to hear him play some more complicated drum breaks like this one in let's get crazy [Music] moving forward to the 1990s in this next track you can hear Roger experimenting with the kind of industrial sounding Groove [Music] disgusting customs on the 2021 album Outsider Roger released a track called more kicks this is a clear tip of the hat to one of his Rock drumming Heroes John Bonham as it Bears a striking resemblance to Led Zeppelin's When the Levee Breaks [Music] Roger has also been part of many collaborations throughout his storied career as a musician he's collaborated with Gary Newman on the song you are you are which has a really interesting Tom intro and those signature hi-hat barks with the Backbeats [Music] and he lays down a great Shuffle Groove in the song Angeline by Elton John [Music] now coming back once more to Roger's vocals he actually sang backups on the track Shapes of Things by the late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins come tomorrow [Applause] Roger and Taylor became good friends over the years and Roger performed with the Foo Fighters on multiple occasions when I was 10 years old my older sister took me to go see Queen in concert the first concert I ever saw and I watched the drummer and I said I Wanna Be him I want to do that well my mentor is here tonight Mr and Roger Taylor [Applause] [Music] and he also appeared at the Taylor Hawkins tribute concerts with his son Rufus Taylor of the darkness and I think it Roger that had this idea but since your bright idea this is your idea sure was all right there you have it the genius of Roger Taylor hopefully you enjoyed this deep dive into Rogers drumming and learn something along the way now before you go make sure you leave a comment right below this video and let me know one thing that you've learned from listening to Roger Taylor and if you enjoyed this video go ahead and hit those like And subscribe buttons along with that notification Bell so you're all up to date with everything Happening Here on the drumeo channel and lastly Roger if you're watching this video know that you're always welcome here at drumeo and we would love to see you really show us how these drum parts are played and with that thank you so much for watching and I'll see you all in the next video cheers foreign

Channel: Drumeo

Views: 432,278

Keywords: Queen, Drums, Drumeo, Drum Lessons, Roger Taylor, Freddie Mercury, We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions, Drummer, Drum Cover, Music, Classic Rock

Id: VBiLZ5DLeNo

Length: 17min 5sec (1025 seconds)

Published: Fri May 05 2023