In 2010 "Modern Drummer" magazine referred to his ride cymbal work as some of the most distinctive in classic rock, and noted "Working without a regular bass-playing foil... Densmore favored a lean, crisp, clear style in feel-good rhythmic explorations that, like the band's songs, gathered together ideas from blues, pop, jazz, classical, and Latin, Eastern, and African music. There are many reasons to love this slyly inventive, often underrated drummer." Together with Krieger, Densmore studied under Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar at the latter's Kinnara School of Music in Los Angeles.