What Makes John Bonham Such a Good Drummer?

Led Zeppelin stormed onto the music scene in 1968 their raucous take on rock and roll redefined the genre and made them the biggest band on earth for the better part of a decade though every member of the band was musically gifted there was one who laid down a rock-solid foundation for the group to grow on ask anyone in the band where their powerful sound came from and they'd all give you the same answer drummer John Bonham let's take a look at what made Bonzo such a force behind a drum kit what you just heard is the intro to good times bad times the opening track to Led Zeppelin's debut album for most of the world this song was their introduction to John Bonham and from the first listen his style was evident listen to the bass drum throughout the song instead of playing the bass clean on every beat Bonham accents the beat with triplets which spices up the rhythm a triplet is a grouping of three notes played within the length usually assigned to one let's give it a listen [Music] see how he adds flair to the drumbeat by breaking up the rhythm with these triplets this kind of groove isn't new mind you Bonham was heavily influenced by jazz musicians like Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich it's just that not many drummers had applied this to a rock context until Bonham came along let's give a listen to satisfaction by the Rolling Stones this track was released in 1964 four years before Zeppelin hit the scene [Music] here how this drum beat is tight and on top of the beat giving the song a kind of steady urgency now let's compare that to a John Bonham beat check out heartbreaker [Music] notice how Bonham plays around with his bass drum throwing in little accents and just changing the flow of the bar it's this kind of laid-back rhythm that really helps the band jell with each other and get into a particular kind of groove Bonham got the idea for these syncopated grooves by listening to a lot of funk music especially James Brown this kind of drumming is impressive enough on its own but to truly appreciate John Bonham's greatness we need to look at the way that he worked with his band Ron Nevison was an engineer who worked on several Zeppelin albums he said that part of what made the band work so well was the way that Bonzo played along with guitarist Jimmy Page the essence to me of the whole Zeppelin thing was John Bonham following the guitar he would take the riff and he would make that his drum part instead of just doing it for four and getting with the bass player he got in with the guitar player getting in with the guitar riff helps tighten up and energize Led Zeppelin sound listen for it here in the immigrant song [Music] and here it is again in the wanton song this time a little more complicated and we'll give you one more example with wind the levee breaks listen to how Bonham stays tight with page even when the song changes its phrasing [Music] did you hear it this kind of chemistry between the band becomes especially important when they move towards more complex pieces of music let's look at Kashmir for example one of the Bands most iconic songs so the drumbeat of this song is in 4/4 time meaning that there are four beats to a bar and a quarter note is worth one beat 4/4 time is a pretty standard time signature used in a lot of music especially rock however on top of Bonhams steady 4/4 time the string and guitar are playing in a three-four feel meaning that there's only three beats to each phrase as a result the drum and string phrases only sync up on the strong beat once every 12 beats let's give it a listen [Music] [Music] by mixing the time signatures Zeppelin add a kind of tension to the song and it really meshes well with the intense feeling of the escalating strings in order to do these kind of time signature tricks the band needs to be rock solid with the rhythm which comes from Bonham this relationship is pushed to its limits in Black Dog the song is an acrobatic exercise in time signatures and phrasing but it keeps a steady rock feel throughout thanks to Bonham one of the most interesting parts of the song is the pre-chorus in this section the guitar and bass riffs actually moved by half a beat with each repetition the band is effectively playing in nine eighth time over bottoms four four drums but you wouldn't know it without a close inspection listen to the way that the guitar hook moves around the drum beat never matching up in the same part of the bar [Music] did you hear the way that the guitar and bass became out of sync with the drums it can almost sound sloppy if you don't realize that every member of the band is working meticulously as a tight unit to create this John Paul Jones called the kind of feeling that it creates a stomp groove and this kind of groove can't exist without Bonham locking down the beat with a less steady drummer this breakdown could have easily fallen into chaos so let's look at one more drum piece fooling the rain is hands-down my favorite Bonham beat and it's absolutely incredible there's a lot going on in this beat so let's see if we can't break it down so first of all the beat is polyrhythmic meaning that there are two different rhythms happening simultaneously one of the rhythms comes from the hi-hat where Bonham lays down steady triplets opening and closing the hats for emphasis on certain notes he complements this with ghost notes on the snare notes that are barely audible and more meant to provide a feel to the song than anything else beneath this comes the second rhythm where Bonzo plays a swung halftime shuffle on his bass and snare as if the beat wasn't enough the piano and guitar lines are playing in twelve eight time over the four-four beat this gives a syncopated triplet feel to the song that's impossible not to get with let's give it a listen [Music] John Bonham was a truly one-of-a-kind drummer and his steady foundation helped Led Zeppelin do incredible things musically even in this video I've only begun to scratch the surface of what made him such a great drummer so next time you're spinning Zeppelin listen a little closer to the drum [Music]

Channel: Polyphonic

Views: 12,950,382

Rating: 4.9052906 out of 5

Keywords: john bonham, led zeppelin, zeppelin, drums, drumming, drummer, bonzo, moby dick, heartbreaker, when the levee breaks, the wanton song, good times bad times, fool in the rain, black dog, music, video essay, polyphonic

Id: UvOm2oZRQIk

Length: 9min 44sec (584 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 13 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/jasonellis]

That was great. As a Zeppelin fan, but completely a non-musician, that was truly interesting to watch. I am always in awe of artists like this. Thanks for sharing.

[u/Jake0Tron]

Great video, but I feel like the narrator was reaching a bit when he compared the 12/8 to the 4/4 in triplets... that's literally what 12/8 is

[u/SebbenandSebben]

"Playing with the guitarist instead of the basist" that reminds me of Brann Dailor who says thats what he does more than anything. I'm sure Bonham was a big influence on him.

Drummer for Mastodon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CGuwr1v08o

[u/xcalibre]

Moby Diiick

[u/DantesEdmond]

What John Bonham plays in "Fool in the Rain" is called a Bernard Purdie Shuffle or a variety of the beat. I don't know if Purdie invented it but he definitely made it popular. You can hear it around the 3:50 mark in the video.

It's a great beat with a lot of depth.

[u/sineofthetimes]

They were voted best super group in a poll in 2005. It's like all the planets lined up when they found each other and decided to play.

[u/-JungleMonkey-]

Man I'm in the heat of my Led Zeppelin phase, and every time I listen to their music I get chills if I focus in on their drumming. It's absolutely masterful but moreso, completely separates them from the genre at the time. It only added to this sort of "funk" & positive vibes, all of these small things put together that go unnoticed to the casual listener. Great video to help back up these ideas with some music 'science.'

My personal favorite is the Lemon Song which shows how much of a groove these guys were in.

[u/[deleted]]

I always thought some of those awkward beats were a mistake. It still throws me off a bit. Interesting how it was planned.

[u/digitalbastard]

The Wonton Song

lol