Keeping a Drum Notebook

Grab yourself a notebook with a hard-cover, then get a throw away mouse pad and glue it to one side of your new notebook. It makes an excellent practice pad in a pinch. If you get a spiral style binding, you can even flip it open and use the "pad" while you read your patterns from your notes.
 
Nothing plants an idea in the head quite like writing it down. It is a habit of winners and achievers. It's very powerful.
 
Here's mine:

What I'm Practicing
http://www.derekroddy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=20250

I started this practice journal, having found the corresponding thread on Derek Roddy's forum. Prior to that I haven't been making notes, except from posting on another forum from time to time. Now I can go back and read what I was doing and when that was. A journal/notes add to a more systematic approach, and revisiting one's journal makes it way easier to e.g check progress (if there is any) or identify stuff that has been neglected and should be focused on.

On the Derek Roddy forum, I also like that practice journal section because people can look into the practice of other members and maybe learn from them. Also, knowing that other people might read one's own journal is encouraging.

I'm a guitarist also (21 yrs of playing), but haven't been keeping a steady practice journal on the guitar (although very technique focused in the first years).
 
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