Ian Paice and Roger Glover on what makes a great rhythm section
Deep Purple men share the secret of success
When it comes to rhythm sections, few are tighter than Ian Paice and Roger Glover of Deep Purple.
The duo have powered the Brit rock heroes for 45 years, so who better to get a tip or two from on what makes the perfect rhythm section? We put the question to both of them and asked for the number one element that is required to form a rock solid rhythm section. Here's what they had to say.
Roger: "A great drummer. When I first played with Paicey my first impression was that he was just fluid and effortless. Most drummers back then were metronomic, they were there to just keep time, where as Paciey wasn't like that.
"Not only did he keep time but the way he played was as much of the music as bass, guitar and keyboards. Very early on, it might have even been the first time that we played together, he had a word in my ear. He said, "By the way, I don't follow, I lead.' I said, 'Ah, got it.' I learnt very quickly to just tuck in with him. His feel is like no other drummer I've ever known."
Ian: "An understanding, understanding each other's feel and there being a dominant and non-dominant partner. With Roger and I, Roger is happy to give me extra space, he might give me 20% so he has 30% and I have 70%. When I played with Glenn Hughes, he took his 50% and then some more because that's the way he plays and there's nothing wrong with that."
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Rich is a teacher, one time Rhythm staff writer and experienced freelance journalist who has interviewed countless revered musicians, engineers, producers and stars for the our world-leading music making portfolio, including such titles as Rhythm, Total Guitar, Guitarist, Guitar World, and MusicRadar. His victims include such luminaries as Ice T, Mark Guilani and Jamie Oliver (the drumming one).
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