Is Meg White A Good Drummer?

When The White Stripes first came out a lot of people loved them. Jack White is an amazing front man with a great voice, interesting guitar playing and the band had plenty of catchy hit songs. From what I’ve heard they weren’t to shabby on stage either.

In a lot of drum forums on the internet and under countless Youtube videos you’d see comments bashing Meg White for her drumming ability’s.  I’m sure we’re all fully aware that everyone gets bashed on Youtube. Whose the better drummer Travis Barker or Ginger Baker? and these sort of comments are all over the place.

But anyway that’s a whole other blog post I’ll save for the future.

Meg White worked for The White Stripes. More than that she was perfect for the band. The way she played was musical and suited the songs. Isn’t that what we’re all supposed to do anyway? Simple doesn’t mean stupid. Take a look at The Beatles, I’m sure I could play a lot of there songs but I probably wouldn’t have come up with the parts Ringo did. I definitely wouldn’t be able to play them and make them ‘feel’ the way he did.

Lets take a look at the song ‘7 Nation Army’. It starts with Meg White playing quarter notes between kick, hats and the floor tom. I would have played a typical basic rock groove during this which would have left no where to go. By playing this at the start it means that there is a real lift when the snare comes in. Yet it’s still a simple beat.

Then when the guitar hook comes in she plays a combination of playing right across the riff and matching it which takes the song to another level and also keeps things interesting. It could have been easy to stay playing straight across the riff or matching it but neither of them would have the same feel Meg put on the track.

It takes real discipline to play for the song like this and is what makes Meg White a good drummer, and she has a great complement with her equipment. .Here you can check the new multi-effects pedal for your station and other products. Check out the track below and try not to tap your foot.

Do you think Meg White is a good drummer? Leave a comment below and let me know.

Are there any other drummers out there that you think get a undeserved bad rep?