Subbing on Drums for Musical Theater

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Grabbing a chair as a theater drummer is a great accomplishment. It’s a spot of prestige in which you are contributing to a show that hundreds of people are working on, thousands of people (hopefully) will see, and only one drummer: you!

It’s challenging on all levels: orchestration, tempo, styles, dynamics…. the list goes on.

Subbing for the drummer in a theater show is without a doubt the most exciting/harrowing experience a professional musician is likely to do.


It takes many hours of prep to fit seamlessly into another drummer's shoes—and pedals. You have to hit the show fully formed as if you have been playing it all along. Talk about pressure! I love the challenge.

There’s a lot to consider, when you have to sub for another drummer. Here are some tips.
  1. Get copy of drummer’s "book" (i.e., notation) with all his markings. Be prepared to pay for the copy job.
  2. Audit the show (sitting next to the drummer) while following along in the book. Notate anything you find important.
  3. Record the show audio from the drums perspective (preferably using his AVIOM mix). (NOTE!!! This is an illegal move, but it’s pretty much industry-wide practice. Having said that, you have to be really quiet about this.)
  4. Get copy of the conductor’s rehearsal video, or set up a camera to capture the video feed of the conductor while you record the audio.
  5. Take a picture of the drummers setup including all the extraneous percussion (triangle, wood blocks, etc.). NOTE!!! Duplicating the drummer’s layout is crucial! Generally speaking, the actual drum parts on a show can be fairly easy. However, the choreography of stick changes and instrument changes can be a BITCH!


  1. Set your gear up at home duplicating the scenario as close as you can. Your first performance as a sub is going to be stressful, so the closer you can make your set match the usual drummer’s, the fewer surprises you’ll encounter when you get to the pit. Make sure you have the video of the conductor positioned where the conductor (or monitor) will actually be in relation to the drums. I usually position myself so that the conductor is viewable directly over the music stand. Having to look away from the music to see the conductor can be a real hazard.
  2. Take metronome markings of each cue, and write them in the margin of the chart. You’ll want to practice the charts a couple times away from the video with a metronome. You might see some old metronome markings written... Don’t assume those are current! Tempos typically shift around as a show runs, and you want to make sure you are hitting the current tempos, not necessarily the “factory” original tempos.
  3. Make note of where the group places the downbeat in relationship to the conductor’s downbeat. Every group feels it a bit differently.
  4. Transcribe any fills that are important to the feel of the music.
  5. Learn the part perfectly. My personal rule: If I can play the show in my studio three times perfectly in a row (really “gnats ass”), then I’m ready to play the show in the pit.
  6. Here’s the pitfall #1 that trips up most people: Just because something is simple, doesn't mean it’s easy!
  7. Here’s pitfall #2: Mistakes in reading are always caused by playing how you think something goes, instead of reading how it actually goes.

These tips will get you started. I can’t stress enough how important your preparation will be. You’ll be surprised at the gap between your assumption that you are ready and what actually happens on the downbeat. Make sure that surprise happens at home and not in the pit! If you do a great job, it may help lead you to a more regular gig.

Good luck, and see you on the downbeat!

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Russ Gold is an active drummer and clinician. He is author of Phrasing: Advanced Rudiments for Creative Drumming (Berklee Press, 2014).
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