Larnell Lewis Hears A Song Once And Plays It Perfectly

Want to see Larnell Lewis hear a drumless song once and nail it, form and feature, on his first run through? Hit that play button!

How can Larnell learn songs so quickly? How did he learn almost the entire We Like It Here album by Snarky Puppy on a 7.5 hour flight to record in Europe?

Watch him work through his process of listening to the song’s details, understanding sections and forms, and looking for shots and nuances.

As Larnell says, it’s important to practice listening and imagining yourself playing the drums – mental practice was huge for him in this exercise but is also crucial when he’s away from the drums. He also listens to what the other musicians are playing and understands that when those things happen, “you have certain options you can draw from on the kit.”

Think you can nail it on the first go like Larnell? The song is called ‘Chick’s Pain’ by Mathieu Fiset and is available in the Drumeo Members’ area!

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[Dunkaroos]

Oh, so that’s what a professional musician looks like.

[FabioSilva-optn]

I was expecting him to hear a song WITH drums, this dude doesn't joke around

[jamessullenriot]

Drumeo should be contacting me soon for my instalment in this series. Its called ... "James listens to a song 1, 000 times and gets it kind of close but not really"

[BennyboyTruth]

he's such a humble and likable guy. no ego, no bravado, just true musicianship.

[LevityRhodes]

I don't like people passing this off as having a gift or being a genius alone, this is years of practice, muscle memory, and a SHIT TON of creativity. That does not come naturally. Larnell worked his ass off to get this far and it shows.

[salimn.]

My expectations were absurdly high yet he still managed to exceed them.

[seannaddeo]

For anyone wondering, the "quote" he's referring to at @4:04; it's part of the main phrase of Chick Corea's song "Spain" (Thus the title, "Chick's Pain")
If you hear that song, around the 2 min mark you'll get that phrase being played on the keys and some vocals layered after.

[MathieuFiset]

4 YEARS AGO ?!? Damn...this video changed my life ! Thank you Drumeo and Larnell !! :D

[calebwinegardner]

Next Up: Larnell Lewis Plays a song perfectly before hearing it

[christiantasidaily]

“The shortest pencil is longer than the longest memory” that’s sick haha

[thomaspatrickparker]

It's been three years and I still think about this video all of the time. His musicianship is insane, just so high above anything even most pros could do.

[grezende]

This is insane. I've been a musician for almost 30 years of my life, and I've never seen anything like this. Man, I'd pay a lot to be able to just sit down with this man for 3 hours in a studio and chat, play some stuff, and learn.

[tc]

Sessions are time and time is money. You pay this guy his price and he shows up and delivers. No waste, no fuss; a true professional.

[tawfiqmorshed]

I can imagine Larnell just sitting in a quiet plane and you hear: "uh.. yeah... uh uh.... oh alright"

[clame]

This is the video that, like, REALLY got me into music. I got a drum set because of this video, and since then i haven't looked back. it's been so much fun, even if i'm never going to be as talented as this man

[brbdoo]

There's a lot of things to appreciate about Larnell's playing, but I think his understanding of when a song wants to open up and when it wants to stay tight is truly admirable. When he's in that groove, he *IN THERE*

[tillenleskolesnikpikl]

"I hope you learnt a lot from it"

I learnt that I absolutely suck, thanks

[myand]

The first time I listened to Snarky's "we like it here" recording, I thought it must have taken Larnell weeks to learn the songs. When I found out he learned them on the way to the session it just blew me away..what a drummer!

[Dimencia]

Even after seeing the more recent ones with other (very good) drummers, it's always impressive how easy Larnell makes it look. Everyone else looks like they're concentrating and trying hard to hit all the right notes, but even in the most complex parts, he's calm and collected and barely seems to notice that his hands are just over there doing their thing. Sometimes it even looks like he's surprised when he looks over at a hit and his hands are already doing it

I also really enjoy his rare ability to actually play quietly when needed

[bodybuzz]

He BREATHES along with the music while listening. Amazing to watch his process. And then the way he accentuates the soloists without getting in the way. Genius is too light