Uncharted: Creativity and the Expert Drummer

by Bill Bruford

What do expert drummers do? Why do they do it? Is there anything creative about it? If so, how might that creativity inform their practice and that of others in related artistic spheres? Applying ideas from cultural psychology to findings from research into the creative behaviors of a specific subset of popular music instrumentalists, Bill Bruford demonstrates the ways in which expert drummers experience creativity in performance and offers fresh insights into in-the-moment interactional processes in music. An expert practitioner himself, Dr. Bruford draws on a cohort of internationally renowned, peak-career professionals and his own experience to guide the reader through the many dimensions of creativity in drummer performance.

Genres: Music

282 pages, Hardcover

Published January 17, 2018

Reviews

[Shawn Persinger · Rating 2 out of 5]

“An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way.” - Charles Bukowski

Bill Bruford the artist – his work in Yes and King Crimson – is a treasure. Bill Bruford the intellectual/academic – this book, "Uncharted" – is unreadable.

Stick with Bruford's autobiography, "Bill Bruford: Autobiography", it is wonderful.

[Randall Coyne · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’re a serious drummer, this important piece of scholarship is well worth the time and effort reading this requires.

[Roy DeRousse]

This book by Bill Bruford is very hard to review. As a scholarly study, it deserves 5 stars. Most likely, it would also be useful for musicians in a band context. I am a big fan of music and Bill Bruford. I understand many things that the typical reader might not. However, the book was hard to get through and didn't really hold my interest. I read the Introduction and Appendix completely but only skimmed the rest of the book.

So... well done, but not for me. For most people, I would (highly) recommend "Bill Bruford The Autobiography" instead.