Balance
November 19th, 2007
BALANCE… a very important word in many ways. Your diet. Your life. Your check book. Your relationships and so on. But I want to approach it from a different angle. I would like to talk about balance in your approach to your learning drums.
Learning how to play drums is much more than just taking lessons.Yeah you can learn the mechanics of playing drums, the beats, the fills, your chops. I have seen many players who have mastered all the above, but when they play with other musicians they lack understanding of how to work with other musicians in a musical situation. Believe it or not, it is not all about you and how much you can play in one bar of music. On the contrary. Your chops have very little to do with most kinds of music. Although there are situations where chops are very useful to have. These are the gigs that are fun to play, but it is not the majority of the music you will play in your life time…unless you are a solo artist, you know the star of your own project. Good luck with that. Even the greatest drummers in the world work with other players and have to play simple. Simple’s not bad, it’s actually the back bone of most music we listen to.
When I listen to a song where everyone is playing their part with a great feel and in the pocket, it just pulls me into it. That can be applied to all types of music; rock, jazz, big band, world, fusion, or any type. The important thing to remember is, the musicians are all in the pocket. So balance is in play in all these types of music.
How do we find that balance in our learning process?
We approach it in three ways.
1: We study the mechanics of playing drums. We work on all the skills needed to physically play drums. That includes learning all types of music.This is important for obvious reasons.
2: We listen to ALL kinds of music. Many, many students have tunnel vision when it comes to this aspect of the learning process. They only listen to what is the popular music of their generation. I’m not saying that is a bad thing. I am saying though, it is only a start. We all should listen to everything…even if you don’t like it. I have learned so much from various types of music. There are so many great musicians in all types music. You will be surprised what can be learned from just listening.
3: Play in live situations as much as you can. Get together with your friends who play other instruments. Form bands and work on you musicality. Work on your listening skills. Hone your chops. Get out there don’t be scared…this is a journey and you will learn so much just by playing live music. Even if you make mistakes they are valuable lessons…they show you what not to do. Look at music as fun and enjoy it. It really is a blessing.
As a side bar…drugs will not enhance your playing no matter how much you believe they will…they won’t. They will though ruin your life if you choose to travel that road. You always have a choice. Be careful of the choices you make. They all have consequences…some good, some bad.
Get out there and have fun, enjoy life and live it to the fullest.
_Joe




