{"id":33712,"date":"2022-02-25T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-25T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/?p=33712"},"modified":"2023-10-30T15:10:10","modified_gmt":"2023-10-30T22:10:10","slug":"aaron-spears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/aaron-spears\/","title":{"rendered":"Aaron Spears (1976-2023): Chops, Groove, And Kindness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>One of today&#8217;s tightest drummers, Aaron established a name for himself as <em>the<\/em> first-call drummer in the world of pop. He performed with stars like Ariana Grande, Britney Spears, Chaka Khan, Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga, The Backstreet Boys and Usher, toured with American Idol, and backed James Brown live at the GRAMMYs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He had undeniable pocket, wicked groove, and killer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/beginner-drum-chops\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">chops<\/a>. You even voted him &#8216;Pop Drummer Of The Year&#8217; in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/drumeo-awards-2021-winners\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2021 Drumeo Awards<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With the news of Aaron Spears&#8217; untimely passing at just 47 years old, we want to honor his memory by highlighting some of the pop drummer&#8217;s top moments from his Drumeo visit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-rank-math-toc-block\" id=\"rank-math-toc\"><nav><ul><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#how-to-balance-chops-and-groove\">How to balance chops and groove<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#the-usher-song-that-changed-aaron-spears-life\">The Usher song that changed Aaron Spears&#8217; life<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#5-chops-to-improve-your-fills\">5 chops to improve your fills<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"how-to-balance-chops-and-groove\">How to balance chops and groove<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>&#8220;You gotta chop responsibly and love what you do more than anything else.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aaron Spears was genuinely invested in making music sound good. Even though he was capable of playing at an incredibly technical level, he knew when to support the song. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this hour-long lesson, he shares his best advice for drummers looking to take their playing (and career) to the next level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Balance Between Chops &amp; Groove | Aaron Spears\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0zH2TqPgx7Q?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-usher-song-that-changed-aaron-spears-life\">The Usher song that changed Aaron Spears&#8217; life<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Spears found himself thrust into the spotlight &#8211; a name in his own right &#8211; after he played &#8220;Caught Up&#8221; by Usher at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=lsr-maD2eVo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">2006 Modern Drummer Festival<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep in mind that this isn&#8217;t how he would typically play the song with Usher &#8211; he had more freedom here than he would in front of a general audience, where it&#8217;s more about serving the music than entertaining drummers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After the song ends, Aaron talks about how &#8220;Caught Up&#8221; impacted him and his career, and offers one more piece of advice for drummers (especially those who like to show off and shred).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Song That Changed Aaron Spears&#039; Life (&quot;Caught Up&quot; By Usher)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IayTqGoP5nQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"5-chops-to-improve-your-fills\">5 chops to improve your fills<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>While Aaron was an incredible technician with gospel chops for <em>days<\/em>, he knew when to hold back &#8211; and that&#8217;s one reason he got so many top pop gigs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this lesson, he shares 5 chops to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/5-chops-to-improve-your-drum-fills\/(opens in a new tab)\">improve your drum fills<\/a> &#8211; and if you play them slowly enough, even a beginner can learn them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"5 Chops To Improve Your Drum Fills (Aaron Spears Lesson)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZMofO8DlTRw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In honor of Aaron Spears, take some time to learn his chops and listen to his advice. When you can, share with someone else. The best way to keep a drummer&#8217;s legacy alive is to hold onto their creations and pay it forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><iframe class=\"email-form-include-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/weeklyemail\" frameborder=\"none\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Aaron Spears&#8217; drum cover of &#8220;Caught Up&#8221; by Usher recreates his 2006 Modern Drummer Festival performance &#8211; and then some.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":195,"featured_media":33736,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4021,4016],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-performances-and-playalongs","category-songs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/195"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33712"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48886,"href":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33712\/revisions\/48886"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}