No one plays like Keith. His style is so much more fluid and creative than all the other drummers

Keith is such a nice dude. Met him at a clinic and found out our daughters are the same age, she drew him a picture and he said he'd put it on his wall at home, made her day. Legend ❤

The 8th secret ingredient not discussed here...hardest to define but potentially the most important. His ENERGY! All the greats have it. Pure emersion and conviction. It's not technical - it's spiritual.

THE lick is surprising simple on paper but so damn hard—nearly impossible—to play it with the fluidity and dynamic precision Keith plays it with.

Keith's secret of his style is always being legato and never staccato !  everything is always in motion and flowing smoothly.

Keith Carlock's playing is insane. I saw him at a drum clinic and his playing just made me have a goofy grin on my face from ear to ear. His deep sense of groove is what sets him apart from other players. The way he plays his hi-hats like two spinning plates in perpetual motion whilst he reciprocates with his hands and feet is incredible. His use of traditional grip is instrumental to the way he plays. His timing is impeccable - that is key to his deep sense of groove. You don't just hear his playing, you feel it.

Hell yes.  I wish more people knew just how sick a drummer Keith is.  Absolutely one of my favorites ever.

Watching Keith play is like watching water flow. So much fluidity.

Keith is the truth. I've seen him with Krantz in a jazz club and at an amplitheater with Steely Dan. He can wild out with the best of em, but his grooves are what truly move folks. There's a reason why he's been drumming with Steely Dan for 20 years.
The real secret to his playing is his doubles. I can be a challenge getting them loud enough to be heard (especially from a larger stage), yet still clean and clear. That's where the stick heights come in.

For people that know golf, I've always thought as Keith as the Jim Furyk of drummers. It doesn't matter what it looks like, only what the results are. And his results are freaking fantastic. His feel and groove, never mind all the fancy licks... Undoubtedly someone who carved out his own sound and style long ago...

I don't know if it's your E. Coast eccentricity or what, but having been studying 47 years, I've seen my share of videos, master classes, even a couple of music schools, but your videos just keep me coming back or more. No hype, in fact quite the opposite, you just lay it out for the taking. And do it with a bit of that E.Coast sarcasm we've all grown to love. Keep it coming..

Keith is unique because he can incorporate all musical styles into his playing and very few drummers can do that😢

I have seen Keith numerous time, most recently with Larry Carlton. His work with Wayne Krantz is explosive. Love what he did on Oz Noy's Schizophrenic album too. Just a monster player.

I love Keith’s big open bass drum sound

I took a lesson with Keith back in the early 2000's... He charged me 75.00 😮.. Big take away.. Give notes their "full value".. He used "The Chicken" as an example, how a lot of people rush the hits at the end of the form.. You want good feel, work on your subdivisions.. It's WAY more than just chops for Keith, his pocket has that swampyness that makes Bonham so great

He’s my all time favorite.

was blown away hearing 2 Drink Minimum 25 years ago. Went to see him at a clinic in Pittsburgh and I jammed with him a bit. It was pretty awesome.

Some good information here. Missing some important details about the hands though. Keith has his left hand really far back on the stick, and the right hand really far forward. The right mostly comes from the elbow (at least for the 8th notes, fingers come more into play for 16ths) with a lose fulcrum when Carlock is on the ride, and it produces a distinctive sound. The left meanwhile is set up for these massive, resonant backbeats.

Of course, setting your hands up in that sort of non-standard, very oppositional way is very difficult to recommend generally. And you can probably sound decently Carlock-ish without that part.

One big difference I noticed between Carlock's playing and your impression of his playing, besides the obvious higher stick heights and powerful left hand, is that Carlock generally plays those eighth notes on the ride very consistently (ditto Louis Cole), and that's a big part of the  sound, whereas when you're emulating him you still have a ton of variance on the ride--mostly noticeable when things start to get busy.

I think his fluidity is insane. Hit the cymbals doing 3 or 4 hits with one limb makes it sound more full.

Him with Oz Noy was insane