Blood (Symbol)
Blood recurs throughout the film as an image. In addition to being an aesthetically evocative sight, it serves as a symbol for the sacrifices Andrew is willing to make and the pain he is willing to endure in order to become "one of the greats." We watch as Andrew practices so long and hard that his hands begin to bleed all over his drums. The instrument that he loves and plays for fun is transformed into a machine that he is hurting himself to serve. Chazelle pushes this image very far, as when we see Andrew practicing so hard that he has to submerge his bloody hand in a pitcher of ice water. Later, he gets in a horrible car crash, but still climbs out of the car, bleeding, and runs to the jazz competition. Here, the blood all over him is not from playing the drums too hard, but from being so singleminded in his desire to play in the Studio Band that he ends up in a horrible crash. Thus, blood is a visceral symbol of Andrew's maniacal ambition and his disregard for his own basic safety and well-being in the pursuit of becoming a better drummer.
"Not Quite My Tempo" (Motif)
One way that Fletcher wields his power over the drummers in his Studio Band is by making them play over and over again with the criticism that they are not keeping up the tempo that he is setting as the conductor. This happens several times throughout the film. First, on Andrew's first day in Studio Band, Fletcher becomes more and more angry when Andrew doesn't keep the tempo that has been set out in playing the song. His rage and abuse begin subtly, when he tells Andrew that his playing is "not quite my tempo," but quickly escalates to the point that he throws a chair at Andrew. Then later, when rehearsing, he cycles through his three drummers—Ryan, Andrew, and Tanner—none of whom can keep the tempo that he's set out for the song. Fletcher's tight hold of proper tempo becomes a terrifying motif in the film, and in the moments after the drummer starts playing, the viewer holds their breath, wondering if the tempo will be up to snuff.
Drums (Motif)
In a film about a young musician pursuing the drums at a conservatory, it is no surprise that drumming—the act of drumming and the mythos around drumming as a practice—feature prominently in the film as a sort of motif. At the start of the film, the first thing one hears is wild drumming, and we suddenly see Andrew at the end of a dimly lit hallway, playing in an empty practice room. The drums are the most important thing in Andrew's life—more important than friendship, romance, family, or anything else—and his unwavering commitment to his craft is one of the central elements of the plot. The film ends as it began, with Andrew playing the drums, only now he is much more assured and accomplished, and he plays with a feverish passion that suggests that his relationship to the drums has been forever transformed. They are no longer a preoccupation, a hobby, or an area of study, but a passionate extension of himself, an unbridled reflection of his inner life.
The Clock (Symbol)
One night, Fletcher has the drummers in Studio Band compete to be the core drummer. As Fletcher cycles through his three drummers, Chazelle subdivides the scene with flashes of the clock on the wall. In a montage, the hands on the clock keep moving, and it gets later and later. These images of the clock on the wall show just how long Fletcher makes the three drummers compete to play in the concert and represents just how far he is willing to go to hold his students to the highest standard. In this way, the clock represents both Fletcher's high standards and his unreasonable and abusive methods.
Charlie Parker (Allegory)
When Fletcher first introduces Andrew into the Studio Band, he tells him a story about a concert in which Jo Jones threw a cymbal at the great jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker's head. Instead of accepting this defeat from Jones, Parker went home and practiced, and went on to become one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time. This story is an allegory for the teaching methodology and philosophy that Fletcher has adopted himself. He believes that in abusing, berating, and humiliating his students, he is teaching them to work harder, to become more ambitious, and transform themselves into "one of the greats." Towards the end, at the jazz club, Andrew asks Fletcher if what he is doing is abuse, if there is a line that people shouldn't cross, and Fletcher replies, "No, man, no. Because the next Charlie Parker would never be discouraged."
