Lindsay A. (16 year old girl drummer) -- My video of an improvised Drum Solo.

[lindsayannemusic]

This is a solo I put up about 4 months back now. More vids to be posted soon, mostly Afro-Cuban stuff.

Thanks for taking a listen!

http://www.youtube.com/user/lindsaya...c?feature=mhum

[Anthony Amodeo]

excellent job!!!!!!

seriously

I can feel your passion for the instrument

much respect.....and keep working hard ...the music is in you

your future is bright

[mikeyhanson]

Right on, Lindsay!! Way to go! Looks like you're having a blast, too!

[Micael Öberg]

Nice playing....

Like the vids you have done multitrack on your self...

[Numberless]

You are insanely talented! I would love to hear a longer solo that's more developed.

That was impressive. Keep going -- you're really on to something.

[Kg_lee]

Where are you young kids today getting your chops..lol. It's just amazing it seem the younger generation is more advanced than when I was kid and learning.

Great playing!!

[Bo Eder]

Yeah that's great. But she's no Jenns Hannemann ;)

[keep it simple]

Absolutely a love of music & rhythm shining through. Got a lot of talent bottled up there, just waiting to be channelled.

[Anon La Ply]

Well played, Lindsay, you've got it. Watch this space ...

[lindsayannemusic]

Thank you everyone for the great feedback!! Really means a lot, good luck to you all.

[Masheanhed]

Originally Posted by Bo Eder

Yeah that's great. But she's no Jenns Hannemann ;)

One can only wish to be that good, Bo. One can only wish...

[Muckster]

Great playing, thanks for sharing!

[trepaning]

I look forward to seeing more from you in the years to come.

[HeisW140]

Well done. I was a little nervous about the "16 yr old girl" - maybe its prejudice on my part, but there are way too many using the fact they are female to promote their underpar drumming. So i was pelased to see you have a passion for music, not attention seeking.

Yeah, great work! Lots of variety, in the way you solo, cover and create music. And 16 as well.. awesome work. If you are this good now, wait til youre old like me hahaha!

[trepaning]

Originally Posted by HeisW140

Well done. I was a little nervous about the "16 yr old girl" !

I'm going to start promoting my videos as "44 yr old man" and see how many more views that distinction garners!

[jackie k]

Great job. Your playing style is unique, Keep expanding on it. You articulate your feel exceptionally well.

[brittc89]

Wow, really nice playing for sixteen. Really creative, plus I just love to see people having fun. Im gonna be mostly constructive criticism. Im not saying its bad, but it can always be better, ya know?

I love the percussion intro. I actually wanted it to continue longer, and I was hoping to see you develop the solo at the beginning (over the percussion vamp) a bit more. The soloing in general could use more development, more peaks and valleys.

Right now everything seems to be starting at like an 80% level of intensity and ending at 110%. I would suggest a couple of things. First, try and a just play a solo using a singular musical motif (ie, RLF RFL RLF RFL RLF RFL etc.), then begin to expand on that motif, take it apart, look inside it, do all sorts of things, but just try and develop the simple musical idea as far as possibly without losing the essence of the original motif (this is a great exercise, as well as practical musical technique and tool).

Think of a great essay. Starts with an introduction that reveals the focus of the paper, draws the reader in. Then develops and strengthens the core idea with evidence and examples, before a conclusion that ties everything together. Music is not vacuum like, a lot of the lessons we learn from English class, the car mechanic who fixes your car, the grocery store, just life in general, these are all apart of making music and the techniques and approaches we take in those life experiences can be applied to the music making process.

Now just some technical stuff. Make sure your pounding those rudiments. And I always tell my students, I dont care how fast you can play iy, I care about how clean you can play it. THere are some ambiguous, unintentional quasi buzz roll/double stroke/6 stroke roll stuff going on. I would take a step back, get out my metronome, go through some basic rudiments and find out where my limit is (what bpm you can get to before it starts to feel uncomfortable and sound sloppy). Write down that bpm and then week by week, practice to that BPM and try and raise it at whatever pace you can. But I honestly dont care how fast anyone can play if its not clean. If I cant distinguish whats going on, whats the point, ya know?

And finally, as always, let that metronome beat your brains in. TICK TICK TICK TICK. Its only gonna make you a stronger player. Your time is not too bad now, but youve got a ways to go before things start to feel really consistently solid.

All that being said, again, really nice. Thanks for posting!

Originally Posted by trepaning

I'm going to start promoting my videos as "44 yr old man" and see how many more views that distinction garners!

ONE MORE THING, why put the 16 y/o girl part? I dont dig that at all. I can understand putting your age, that can be relative to the material discussed. But gender doesnt play a part in it. And you dont wanna just be that chick drummer, do you? (I know some of those, never got all that great because they never had to, theyre just the chick drummer!) I just see so many videos that include gender in the title/ description and it is just something that has begun to annoy me at this point.

[mikeyhanson]

Originally Posted by trepaning

I'm going to start promoting my videos as "44 yr old man" and see how many more views that distinction garners!

I'm going to guess not many. I believe the ratio of 44year old men to 16 year old girls that play drums is probably a bit large.

Lindsay, do your own thing. Be yourself. Nothing at all wrong with letting people know you're a 16 year old girl.
One experience that you may encounter that many here won't is the treatment you get because you're female. Overcoming adversity could likely be one of the biggest things you deal with as a drummer.
Fly your flag. I see no problem you telling people who you are. You're on a path that is a bit less-traveled than what people are used to seeing, so they often don't understand it.

[brittc89]

Originally Posted by mikeyhanson

I'm going to guess not many. I believe the ratio of 44year old men to 16 year old girls that play drums is probably a bit large.

Lindsay, do your own thing. Be yourself. Nothing at all wrong with letting people know you're a 16 year old girl.
One experience that you may encounter that many here won't is the treatment you get because you're female. Overcoming adversity could likely be one of the biggest things you deal with as a drummer.
Fly your flag. I see no problem you telling people who you are. You're on a path that is a bit less-traveled than what people are used to seeing, so they often don't understand it.

But is that the draw??? What are you saying here? That I see in the title of the thread 16 y/o girl drummer and thats why I watch the video in which I can clearly see a 16 year old girl playing the drums? That doesnt make any sense. I can just watch the video and see that a girl is playing the drum-set. Shes not disguised or anything like that. So what is the reasoning behind putting 'girl' in the title? That just smacks of gimmick to me. Whether thats what you were going for or not, thats what I pick up on EVERY time I see "girl drummer"

[Thaard]

Originally Posted by brittc89

But is that the draw??? What are you saying here? That I see in the title of the thread 16 y/o girl drummer and thats why I watch the video in which I can clearly see a 16 year old girl playing the drums? That doesnt make any sense. I can just watch the video and see that a girl is playing the drum-set. Shes not disguised or anything like that. So what is the reasoning behind putting 'girl' in the title? That just smacks of gimmick to me. Whether thats what you were going for or not, thats what I pick up on EVERY time I see "girl drummer"

It's like every hobby or work-type thing that's male dominated. Many girls seek attention by putting "girl-drummer" or "girl-gamer" in everything they do, so they get more views/comments/compliments.
It works too, but it kinda detracts it for me personally. I don't care if you're a girl, a guy, an alien from outer space, just as long as you play good drums.

[mikeyhanson]

Originally Posted by brittc89

What are you saying here?

Let her call herself and promote herself like she wants.

Originally Posted by brittc89

So what is the reasoning behind putting 'girl' in the title?

How about because she is one? Not enough? How about because SHE called herself that? Two good reasons.

I have to ask you, what are you saying here? I don't remember being handed a plain brown wrapper and being told not to refer to myself as anything but "drummer", so I don't know why that would apply to her or anybody else.
It sounds gimmicky to you? Which part?...that she promotes herself as a girl drummer or that she IS a girl drummer?

I hope she continues to do it. I hope that other girls who are aspiring drummers and do a google search for "girl drummer" find her and are inspired because they see others doing what they want to do.

[brittc89]

Originally Posted by mikeyhanson

Let her call herself and promote herself like she wants.



How about because she is one? Not enough? How about because SHE called herself that? Two good reasons.

I have to ask you, what are you saying here? I don't remember being handed a plain brown wrapper and being told not to refer to myself as anything but "drummer", so I don't know why that would apply to her or anybody else.
It sounds gimmicky to you? Which part?...that she promotes herself as a girl drummer or that she IS a girl drummer?

I hope she continues to do it. I hope that other girls who are aspiring drummers and do a google search for "girl drummer" find her and are inspired because they see others doing what they want to do.

Someone feeling a little paternal?

I was just offering my opinion and my suggestions, as were you, I did not force anyone to change anything. But by the way, I googled girl drummers and I this was the first thing that came up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHkaXF6hbgk. I wish THIS was the first thing that came up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KldT9...eature=related. But alas, the internet is crowded with so many god-awful videos labeled "girl drummer", that I get things like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aU0ZYBH-vfA. Its honestly sad. I would tell my daughter to check out Susie Ibara, Sheila E, Terry Lynne Carrington, Cindy Blackman, etc if she wanted to figure out if girls can play the drums. I would try my best to steer her away from the girl in the Hooters uniform in the above video (in my mind, the ultimate personification of the objectification of women as a self-promotion tool). And youre probably gonna say Hooters girl can play in whatever clothes she wants, rabble rabble rabble. But this is the top comment "what kind of kitchen is that?" People seem to be really taking her craft seriously... So how about we stop perpetuating this BS on both sides? I would like to see this not be an issue period in the musical community (gender stereotypes and biases), but it is. And I feel including these gender indicators is part of the problem. Its not the problem. Just an element of it. From the second someone reads your title, youve potentially fueled flames. "Youre not a drummer. Youre a girl drummer. And now you shall be viewed as such, in a different light."

This is just my opinion though. To the OP, take whatever you want of what Ive said. I dont care what you label yourself as, it in no way effects my life.

[HeisW140]

I was saying much the same thing - the 16 year old girl drummer did initially concern me, due to the often "nice body/no talent" ratio. I always notice the drum skills first. A hot woman with amazing drum skills will get the credit she deserves from me, whether or not I think shes using her looks to get more views - nothing wrong with someone using their attributes... everyone does that.

But a hot woman playing terribly just annoys me, especially when they are getting millions of views. Yeah, its selfish I know, but it does bug me. The title should read "Hot girl passes the time doing something shes crap at". She may as well be doing jumping jacks and giggling.

But I watched the clip with an open mind and I saw a talented drummer with a passion for her craft. Its easy to see the motivation for people videos - some are for music, some are for ego. And the former deserves respect.

How she chooses to word her title is up to her - but words are everything in this text based world. If she wrote "Young drummer" then natuarally it wouldnt be an issue. But yeah, she can do as she pleases. And everyone else will respond as they please I guess. :-)

I wish you all the best for the future.

[Sirwill]

Great job on rhythm and passion that with carry you through life... Welcome to "The life Of Rhythm"...

[LinearDrummer]

Originally Posted by brittc89

I googled girl drummers and I this was the first thing that came up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHkaXF6hbgk. I wish THIS was the first thing that came up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KldT9...eature=related. But alas, the internet is crowded with so many god-awful videos labeled "girl drummer", that I get things like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aU0ZYBH-vfA. Its honestly sad. I would tell my daughter to check out Susie Ibara, Sheila E, Terry Lynne Carrington, Cindy Blackman, etc if she wanted to figure out if girls can play the drums. I would try my best to steer her away from the girl in the Hooters uniform in the above video (in my mind, the ultimate personification of the objectification of women as a self-promotion tool). And youre probably gonna say Hooters girl can play in whatever clothes she wants, rabble rabble rabble. But this is the top comment "what kind of kitchen is that?" People seem to be really taking her craft seriously... So how about we stop perpetuating this BS on both sides? I would like to see this not be an issue period in the musical community (gender stereotypes and biases), but it is. And I feel including these gender indicators is part of the problem. Its not the problem. Just an element of it. From the second someone reads your title, youve potentially fueled flames. "Youre not a drummer. Youre a girl drummer. And now you shall be viewed as such, in a different light."

This is such a good post....not being disrepectful but pretty much not sugar-coating..

IMO you are a good player...there is no need to play the "16 old girl drummer card"..let your playing speak for itself!