Ringo Starr has been drumming since he was a child and improvised with household objects until he finally had his own kit. From that point onwards, the art of playing the drums has been his everything, a passion project he was able to turn into a life-long career. Yet surprisingly, despite his love of the instrument, Starr doesn’t practice.
Learning to drum was Starr’s saviour during a dark time when he was hospitalised as a child after contracting peritonitis aged six. Thankfully, he was invited to be part of the hospital band along with fellow children, which changed his life. Starr later told CBC: “This woman would come in … and to keep us busy, she came in with percussive maracas, triangles, little drums and sticks, and she would point to the red dot, and you’d hit the drum, and she pointed the yellow dot, and you’d hit the triangle or the maraca.”
He continued: “That’s when I fell in love with drums, and I only wanted to be a drummer from then on. But of course, I had to work on the railways, I had to work on the boats, and I had to work in a factory for several years before it all came true.”
Despite drumming giving him great joy, Starr has never been one for practising his craft without the company of others. He needs to feed off of the energy of his bandmates in order to get in the mood to drum, and he’s unable to sit in a room by himself with the sole company of his drum kit. However, once he’s on stage, it’s a different story.
During a conversation with Modern Drummer, Starr revealed the secret after being asked for his favourite drum track from his solo recordings. He responded: “‘Drumming Is My Madness’ is one, because it was fun. It was Harry Nilsson, Jim Keltner and I. For the Ringorama CD, we specifically made it sort of drum-prominent, and I sort of played some really good stuff. [laughs] Though I never practice, I do feel I’m getting better. It’s just how it is. The more you do it, the more comfortable you are with it.”
He then explained how he continues to improve as a drummer, despite not practising. Starr revealed: “I’ve been touring with the All-Starrs, I’m touring now with The Roundheads, I’m making records – I’m sort of back in the business. I’m playing more, so I’m more comfortable. But the feel I have – many of you have asked me about my feel – that just comes from God. I truly believe that my heartbeat keeps the tempo, because I naturally have great time, as you all noticed, and that’s not blowing my own horn. I just have great time, and that’s the rhythm of my heart and my soul.”
While he’s never been one to practice, Starr is unequivocally one of the best drummers of all time, as the recording below proves.
