Dennis Hamm: Inside the Mind of Thundercat’s Keyboardist

Dennis Hamm is a Los Angeles-based keys player with over 30 years of professional experience. Known for his virtuosic chops and incredible versatility, Dennis has toured and recorded with some of the biggest names in the music industry.

For the past decade, he’s been the keyboardist for Thundercat and the musical director for Alice Smith. He’s also played in over 50 countries with legendary artists like Louis Cole, Chris Cornell, Babyface, Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald, Gino Vannelli, Alan Holdsworth, Larry Carlton, and many more.

Oh—and he was nominated for a Grammy for his performance on Simon Phillips’ Protocol 4.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

🎧 Why it’s so important to think like a producer when playing in a band 👂 What having "big ears" really means 🤚 How to develop rhythmic independence between your hands 🏟️ Why Thundercat doesn’t “tame down” the music for stadium gigs 🔄 Why Dennis thinks music theory should evolve with every new genre

Plus: a deep dive into emotion in music, root perception, and plenty of glorious geekery.