In this autoethnographic essay, the author – a drummer – describes how he derives meaning from playing the drum kit. He presents accounts of playing drums both alone and in the context of an original rock band. Drawing from existing scholarship on aesthetic experience and meaning in music making, the author argues that while he plays drums often in a state of flow, it may be unhelpful to construe this – as others have done – as music making for its own sake. Rather than positioning his drumming as autotelic or intrinsically worthwhile, the author explains how he plays for the fulfilment derived therefrom, as part of a life lived in search of eudaimonia – flourishing both individually and as part of a community. Drumming in these contexts is, the author argues, a locus of spirituality, understood through the lenses of embodiment, authenticity, and personal agency as a form of success. Playing drums – for this drummer – provides a connection to, and a window into, his soul.

Music leadership is a foggy notion with many meanings. Leaders may be chosen, unchosen, appointed, unappointed, or self-appointed. As a powerful dimension of collaborative performance, leadership is framed here first as a linear-hierarchical model– a ‘one-way street’; second, as a visionary-transformational model – a ‘two-way street’; and third, as a plural-distributed model – a ‘shared street’. All three are examined in the light of Leader-Member Exchange theory of leadership (LMX). The extent to which the leader and subordinate exchange resources and support beyond what is expected based on the formal employment contract evidences a high LMX. A low LMX relationship is one in which the employee performs within the bounds of the employment contract but contributes nothing extra. Nine musicians, selected for their many years of experience in giving, receiving, and sharing leadership functions, provided interview data. Analysis generated a number of different elements that were identified as having a reported impact on music decision making. This chapter uses those elements to contribute to a growing body of knowledge of use to the drummer in her development of a suite of 'off-instrument' skills now seen as every bit important as her suite of 'on-instrument' ones.