Every single time someone comes up asking if a well-known pro is a “bad” musician, I can’t help but cringe.
OK, there are some incredible exceptions - such as Lars Ulrich or Keith Richards, who are just objectively plain bad. Exceptions are there to prove the rule… ;)
And the rule is… amateurs are easily fooled into judging art by the complexity of it on paper. Simple doesn’t mean easy - at all.
A martial art master won’t pull a B movie choreography to get an opponent down… right? The same is true of most master musicians. They don’t need to impress people with virtuosity.
That’s not what they’re paying to listen to anyway.
Meg White is a good pro drummer. She gets the job done. It’s incredible to me, especially concerning drumming, that some still equal simplicity as not being “good”.
What do you ask a drummer?
To bet tight, always. To have a good groove, a good dynamic, and to be extremely consistent. Speed is irrelevant in 90% of what you will ever play.
In fact, playing a slow beat is harder, because you have more space in between each strokes. And playing simple takes a lot of restraint. The more silent space you have between each strokes, the harder it is to keep time.
Now, do this relentlessly, night after night, while traveling the globe, to a high standard, in front of ten of thousands of people.
Constantly.
Now you know why some of the most talented virtuosos will never get a job in this industry. We’re fed up of talented people who think they’re better than pros because they can go faster and play more complex stuff…
That is NOT what the JOB is all about.
Sorry.
And a lot of pros can outdo an amateur at speed too, in fact, it’s just an easy gimmick after a while and it doesn’t impress anyone but the crowd for about a minute, after which it gets on people's nerves.
If you don’t play with a click without hearing it on 2 and 4 (yes, it is possible), consistently, you’re not tight enough yet.
Forget about that double-tripe-paradadidlelidlely-twist in 11/16 if you can’t be right on, night after night after night… after night… ;)
And THIS is MUCH more difficult than shedding Zappa’s songs in your backyard.
Some people need to hear this.