How To Play Drums To Fit The Song With Omar Hakim

Omar Hakim is one of the most popular and successful session and live drummers out there. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.org

Omar Hakim is one of the more successful session and live drummers in the music industry for the last twenty years or so. He’s played with several top name acts including Dire Straights, Sting, and Weather Report among many others. And when it comes to playing the drums, he has mentioned in interviews that he designs his drum parts, including songs, using the song as inspiration. This idea might be a little tough to comprehend at first, but Omar’s background is heavily rooted in improvisational jazz, so he allows his playing to be inspired by the music going on around him on stage. I’d like to share a few videos featuring Omar on the drums that carry that idea into fruition. Enjoy!

One of Omar Hakim’s most successful groups he was a part of was Weather Report. He had some big shoes to fill with Peter Erskine as the original drummer for the group, but he managed pretty well I’d say. Here’s Omar and some friends playing one of Weather Report’s songs, “Molasses Run,” at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OsdSLjtFCM.

Another one of the more successful groups Omar played for was Sting. Specifically a touring group Sting put together called the Blue Turtles. Here’s a little clip featuring a great drum solo from Omar at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_9OUSrBuTc.

Lastly, here’s a killer drum solo from Omar Hakim with good sound and audio quality. Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5AO0aeuR6Q.

I hope you dug watching Omar Hakim in action behind the kit. He’s one of the best drummers out there and one of the most popular session and live drummers. His name is one of those you should look out for on the album credits. There’s more coming your way at Play Drums By Ear, so stay tuned.

Thanks,

Chris