I put my drumset in my room, reskinned it, and either picked up or dusted off some books I’ve always been meaning to go through on the kit. Why you might ask? Just to play. I think its perhaps the first time (at least in a long time) that I just decided to play for the fun of it. I do gig with a local band occasionally so practicing obviously can’t hurt for that either, but the demands of that group as far as chops haven’t been enough yet to really throw me off just with muscle memory I still have for basic things. I’m also focusing on playing the styles of music I want to play on the drumset, which is also a refreshing feeling as there’s really no pressure to meet some standard or do it in some alloted time.
The books I have are Stick Control by George Stone (if you buy one drum book…), The Art of Bop Drumming and Beyond Bop Drumming by John Riley, Afro-Cuban Rhythms for Drumset by Frank Malabe and Bob Weiner, and West African Rhythms for Drumset by Royal Hartigan. I also plan on studying a few grooves by David Garibaldi such as the King Kong beat and the Oakland Stroke to get at least a bit of funk influence. Not only does this allow me to play a pretty wide range of grooves, but many of these styles when ported over to the drumset have a heavy emphasis on limb independence, which I think is perhaps the thing on drumset I’ve always been a little bad at. And even if I stay bad at it, I’m having a blast playing and that’s definitely the most important part.
Well obviously I’ll keep gigging with the current group. I would like to find a trio of some sorts to play some of the bop and other stuff, and maybe make it a platform for singers. I think the biggest challenge with that is a practice space. I think in that sense I would like to round out my current instrument collection with an acoustic bass and some kind of hand drum (probably a djembe) such that my house becomes a place to play that doesn’t blow out everyone’s eardrums. I really would like to be a part of a rhythm section that plays frequently, gets along well, and plays at a similar skill level in similar interests music-wise. Even if its to play and we never brought in any singers or played anywhere, I’d just like to have a really innately challenging musical situation to find myself in weekly.
Also in the future plans is to get some kind of keyboard. I did buy a piano when the kids were young and while it was cheap, I figured if I just learned to fix it the low cost would end up saving me a ton. The truth is while I haven’t tried I also hardly have the tools needed, probably don’t have the ear needed, and definitely don’t have the time needed. I do have a book and some of the basics, so maybe someday I could make a big project out of restoring it and give it to one of the kids or something, but for now I think a learning style keyboard so that the kids can get back into learning that with me once or more per week would be a nice middle ground.
As for me and my practice the goal right now is to just get through The Art of Bop Drumming. I have no time frame, but I do intend to make it a thorough endeavor in which I focus on skill, style, and being able to do both at a large variety of speeds and in as many musical contexts as I’d like to play. As far as which book I delve into after that we’ll just take it as it comes, but the focus will be on gaining limb independence and technical ability while honing my currently waning musicality. Its been super invigorating so far and I expect that doing something I’ve always wanted to do is not going to be something that fades fast.
“Well Adam that’s great for you, but it doesn’t really help me.” It sure doesn’t, and more importantly it definitely doesn’t help if you’re not interested in the drumset. Notably I also fiddle around with the guitar when the kids want to play a song, and plan to practice the piano myself on my off nights from the drums in order to teach the kids until they surpass me technically, but just knowing that probably doesn’t help either. (Side note-I’m not against getting my kids a teacher, but not until they’ve shown some serious interest in an instrument and desire to practice it). So if something like this sounds good, what do you do? What if you want to play a different instrument but do something similar? What if you already play but its been a while or you just haven’t improved in a while?
I don’t have all the answers, obviously, but I do have a few suggestions based on skill level:
I also have three tidbits of advice that apply to all three categories above. While I’m not in the third I have met plenty who are and these things seem to be commonly known among most of them:
As for my journey into part three I’ll report back on how it goes every so often, but I do plan to enjoy the journey no matter where it leads!