Creativity Problems

[SiCkBPM1]

Hey everyone please help,

I am 17 and an intermediate drummer whose been playing for about 4 - 5 yrs now and I’m having "creative blocks" if that’s what you want to call it. My problem is that when I’m jamming with my friends or creating songs I feel very frustrated with my playing. Each time I play a song I feel that the drum parts could be better or flow better and that it’s not good enough. I’m a perfectionist and I hate it because everything I do, I seem to find something negative or I find flaws in my playing. One day I will be happy with it and then the next day I hate it and I will be trying something else.

I mostly play hard rock, sometimes progressive/metal. For me it seems like its never going to be good enough and when creating drum parts that my playing is real choppy. I’m thinking about starting up drum lessons again to see if that would help.

If anyone has any solutions on what I can do I would highly appreciate it,

Thanks

[pata_33]

maybe if you listened more songs, or watching other drummers.
maybe you could like start playing other styles of music, i mean not to stop playing rock , but, for example, there really very cool things that you can play with drums in jazz for example.
Also remember not to overpush you too much, you 'll start playing great things in the future i'm sure.

[finnhiggins]

I've got some stuff to say about this, which also connects up with some stuff in the Thomas Lang / Matrix thread. So I'm going to start a new thread and post links in both, give me quarter of an hour or so and hopefully I should have something that might give you a few ideas to chew on.

EDIT: Ouch, that's long...

http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25346

[ledzepjb]

I agree with pata33, listen to different types of music to increase your creativity level. You might then discover new things that will influence your drumming to take it to a new level.

[Wavelength]

1) Don't worry! Five years is but a small step on the road to great drumming. I've played for four years and I know that there's a gazillion things I should learn and improve -- but I also know that I can't get it all together in just a few moments. Good musicianship is a product of a long process, and rushing it or being anxious about it won't help one bit. It will come at its own pace, so long as you help the process by your own practicing and listening.

2) Start listening actively to ALL genres of music. Learn a bunch of "foreign" rhythmic ideas and try to incorporate them into your playing. You'll learn to "hear" these new rhythms and their orchestrations in your head while playing a familiar song, and when that happens, try them out to see how they fit. Sometimes a musical detour will make the journey shorter!

3) Start taking lessons. A good teacher will have you practice material that's new to you. A good teacher will also give you some hints on what kind of music, or which particular albums/songs you should listen to. They'll give you insight on how to develop your own musical ideas. I've taken lessons from day one, and I have to say that my teachers have influenced my playing more than anything else.

[LayinDown]

I often feel the same about my drumming - I have been playing (obsessing) for a about 3 years now. I feel like I'm always playing the same beats/patterns/fills. However, it does help when I watch other drummers - it always inspires me!

I, too, am thinking about taking up lessons once again - it can do nothing but help!

[Deathmetalconga]

maybe if you listened more songs, or watching other drummers.
maybe you could like start playing other styles of music, i mean not to stop playing rock , but, for example, there really very cool things that you can play with drums in jazz for example.
Also remember not to overpush you too much, you 'll start playing great things in the future i'm sure.

That is good advice, also getting lessons.

Also, control your perfectionism. The only way you will ever get good at anything is if you enjoy it and it sounds like your perfectionism is leading you to associate playing with unhappiness because you're not "good enough." Perfectionism leads only to perfection and it is not a path to happiness.

Perfectionism has an important role later in the process, like when you have a song completed and/or are going into the studio. But that's a relatively small amount of time. The rest of the time you should be focused on things that are beyond the concept of perfection: enjoyment, personal growth and teamwork.

[skaman]

Man! Just listen to as much music styles as you can. Find the best performers for each style and learn from them. At first you will hate music you are not used to, but when you will be able to hear only drums in all styles, you will be fascinated how many options you have. In the end You will get frustrated, couse your creativity will explode and your technique and other aspects of your drumming wont be able to fallow.

I just came from Band of the gypsys Reloaded concert (Cindy Blackman). I must say this was best concert ever, for me. i learnt so much abouth the music today.
Dynamics!!!!!!!!

[crumbdrums]

I agree with everything so far; I'll summarize, and add my own thoughts.

1. Listen to EVERYTHING.

2. Don't be so hard on yourself.

3. Take lessons.

4. Try downsizing your kit to the bare essentials: hat, crash, ride, snare, kick, mounted tom, floor tom...or if you want to get really radical, ditch one of the toms. Practice like that a lot.

5. Work on your rudiments, as they are the basis for all fills/grooves.

6. That whole bit that Finn wrote.

Hope this helps.

[Drummin_Dan]

I found the best method to creativity is to go into the rehearsal with no preconceived ideas or notions. It's about complementing the other parts being played. You shouldn't "try" to be creative so much as let you ideas flow off of what everyone else is doing. Let the music do the creative work, just feel the pattern inside of it and highlight what you hear. I find the less I try to be creative, the more I listen and feel the music. Of course, depending on the music style, you don't want to be too busy, or in some prog, when you accent time fluctuations in the writing, you want to set it up and stuff.

[druid]

I think creativity comes after gaining confidence also. I think the ability to create is somethnig we all have ...but don't "let loose" sometimes. Especailly when you are in a learning mode of things. I know I can practice a mulititude of stickings , beats, styles etc....even work up my chops to fast speeds but what does it all mean? I think that is where creativity comes in to all at least for me. letting myself go while listening to everything and having the guts to try something and risk falling down once in awhile. That is the way to getting there...once you have some success you want to "try again"....I think it boils down to confidence alot of the time. Things that lead to confidence are an ability to play solid time and a variety of stlyes and knowing where "one" is....then try some things over top of all that....you will get there;-)

[JCM]

Going back to basics, try playing grooves only on the snare, hi-hat and the bass drum. As you go along, introduce slight variations into your groove until you are completely playing a different beat. It is hard at first but then again nothing worth doing is easy!

[Drummer Karl]

First point are lessons. It will definitly help you to take lessons with an experienced drum teacher. We had the discussion pretty often about taking lessons: Useful or not...?
A drum teacher is a respected person. He opens doors and helps you to go through them. He shows you how to learn (has its relation to "learn learning"), he shows methods how to develope excercices, your sound, style, technique, creativity.
Also, a drum teacher is a friend, you should be able to talk with him in a very relaxed way, this will make learning at least a bit easier.

Then there is music: LISTEN. LISTEN LISTEN LISTEN. Listen to many styles, as a hard rock guy also to Jazz, even to musical and rhythmic roots. I noticed that the general creativity grows to a high level when listening to music. You will understand things suddenly, but also you will be able to play things from instinct which were actually impossible.
Watching is that other thing...I can`t recommend it TOO much, sometimes you are too focused on the images, on the kit, on the enviroment in the video. But okay, depends on the style, situation...

As somebody said, go back to the basics, try to expand a simple thing to a more innovative thing. For example see what you can do with a paradiddle...

And btw, what is "creativity"?
There is a c.i.: Creative Intelligence. It is an energy which is defined as inexhaustible. It is exists in every person, space, body (in visible bodies and invisible bodies). BUT this creativity can be influenced negatively by anger, fear, when being unmotivated.
While being creative, our brain expels endorphine. We learn more, our synapses work hardly. Then again, when being successful our brain expels dopamine, a natural drug. For the next time (this is depends on the personality) our synapses can handle even more information traffic.

So, don`t let those basic feelings like fear, anger etc. oppress your creative intelligence.

You see, creativity depends on intelligence BUT just to a particular point. It is a source which can be perfectly used with happiness (endorphine) and motivation (dopamine).

hope that helps a bit, that is what I learned...

Karl