Too much information

JT1

Silver Member
Man ok so it's like information overload here. I know there is a million threads on technique and stuff but the thing is there is so much information on this site that i just don't know where to begin. There are so many things to practice and yet my life doesn't seem long enough to practice everything that drummers are suggesting on here.

I guess what i want to ask you all is, how do you do it? How do you break up your time and decide what you are going to practice? Is it a case of something you want to learn? Something you have to learn (being told to)?

I just don't get it, i want to practice more things but i don't know what because there is so much to practice it just feels like there is not enough time in my life to practice everything.

I guess it was kind of a rant too but man this is how i feel right now.
 
For me it all depends on what I want to get accomplished. Lately, I feel that my groove and time is pretty solid, so I've been working on performance issues. Finishing songs with cleaner endings, back to back songs with high energy just like when I play out.

Practicing by myself, I concentrate on working out parts and transitions that I have slopped over because they were either harder to learn or because I'm embellishing from the original parts.

Rehearsing with others, I have been focusing on commanding the tempo. If one of the guitar players falls out of tempo, I force everybody to come back to me and be the rock. You'd be surprised how often guitarists and keyboardists don't play with the drums, and then look at you funny when they fall out as if you weren't playing with them.

Keeping solid and practicing with a "none shall pass" confidence has helped me with this.

There is so much here at DW that you can't absorb it all. Especially when you include all the other info and resources out there.
 
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JT, I know the feeling. I like TT's comment a lot, especially the bit about confident practising. I'm assuming mosty with a metronome?

Usually I'm going back over stuff I already know and trying to make it groove better with a metronome. I've played a long time so that's probably my lifetime work mapped out :)

When in doubt, you might find the beat thread a handy reference: http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?p=625430

Setting goals is helpful. Preferably things you can make noticeable progress with that can be used in a band within a week or two to keep you encouraged. I don't do that myself, but if I had any sense, that's what I'd do ;)
 
JT, I know the feeling. I like TT's comment a lot, especially the bit about confident practising. I'm assuming mosty with a metronome?

Usually I'm going back over stuff I already know and trying to make it groove better with a metronome. I've played a long time so that's probably my lifetime work mapped out :)

When in doubt, you might find the beat thread a handy reference: http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?p=625430

Setting goals is helpful. Preferably things you can make noticeable progress with that can be used in a band within a week or two to keep you encouraged. I don't do that myself, but if I had any sense, that's what I'd do ;)

Thanks Pollyanna, I noticed when i was recording yesterday that i can play things slow and fast but in the middle goes a bit pair shaped, i was recording a track at 170 bpm and i just couldn't keep it fluent. So i think i might work on my timing, luckily i have a metronome so i may start using it a lot more. I think i find live situations a bit more comfortable where we can up the tempo slightly to feel more comfortable but with separate track recordings that can't happen.

Thanks to you too TTNW, there's some great clarifying points in there i think i really just need to work on my weaknesses before i start learning new things, i suppose that could keep me busy for quite some time lol =)
 
Possibly the best thing you could do is to take lessons.

A teacher can both listen to you play and observe your playing, and will devise a regimen that will address your weaknesses. A teacher will also take account of your goals and set you on the right road to attaining them.

You can learn a lot on your own, but a teacher can give you focus and get you working on what you really need to work on--the answer to your question. Your improvement will be much faster, too.
 
Another thing a teacher will help with is sorting the good info from the bad. Even at a place as awesome as Drummerworld, I have read plenty of head-scratching ideas that either don't work for me, or are just flat out incorrect. Anyone can post here, and not all that do are actually giving good advice (though, to be honest, most are).

I think you need to figure out goals for yourself based on how much time you can make available for drumming. If you can practice 8 hours a day, then you will be able to work on a lot more than if you can practice 4 hours a week. Look at your schedule, see how much time you have for drumming, and then you can start to figure out which goals you want to set.

One other thing to remember is that not all drummers, heck, not even all professional drummers, can do "everything." I was shocked when, at Dale's Drum Shop recently (a Five Star drum shop owned by and staffed by working, talented drummers, all of whom teach and gig regularly), I found out that no one on staff knew the Moeller Technique, and actually only a few had even heard of it. This is something that is brought up on DW every day it seems, often by young drummers who don't really gig, etc. That's not to mock the technique, or those players...merely to point out that just because you read about it on here, doesn't mean it's essential to success behind the drums.
 
I totally agree with mrchattr! There have been so many times I've read posts on here about a certain technique that everyone seems to be doing and I feel as if I'm inadequate because I haven't quite mastered it or don't know it at all. I've realized that it doesn't make me a bad drummer just one that needs to set goals toward certain things.
I think that it's important to keep in mind that we are all students of our craft. When the day comes that I quit "learning" the drums, I'll just lay my sticks down and walk away!
 
The answer is pretty simple, really. There are 3 steps to it.

1. Figure out what you WANT to learn
2. Figure out HOW to learn it
3. PRACTICE it until you learn it.

Most people don't get better because they don't take the time to do one or more of these things. Figuring out a direction of what you want to learn can be daunting, especially in the beginning. Ask yourself, "Why did I want to start drumming in the first place?" What were your influencing factors?--that should help you figure it out.

How to learn stuff? This is easier than ever before, with so many books/DVDs/forums/youtube videos/etc. available nowadays. My advice: find a teacher to help you find those resources, teach you from them, and monitor your progress and give you pointers along the way.

Also, hanging out on a drum forum, watching videos, and even taking lessons won't help you get better at all unless you actually physically play your instrument and spend many, many, MANY hours honing in on your craft. I have had students that get discouraged because they couldn't "get" something in 5 minutes of trying to do it. Well, that's just drumming, and life--get used to it. If you want it, work for it, it's not just going to magically come to you, and chances are you don't have some magic gift that grants you immediate success at everything you try (sorry to burst anyones' bubbles, but it has to be said sometimes...). It takes practice, work, discipline, and patience.

Long story short, find a goal that YOU want, figure out how to get there, and GO. All of this talk about technique, practice regimens, gear, drummers, marionberries, etc...is all just scenery along the way.
 
I understand the feeling.

When I was young, I had all sorts of ambitions of what I was going to learn, and I had this plan to learn every style, and a long list of technical exercises, etc, etc..
I signed up to go to P.I.T. to help me facilitate these plans.

Then the reality set in, that every time I leared something new, I also learned just how much more there was to know. Learning a new style was more than just learning a few beats and fill. There were numerous teachers who had all areas they specialized in, and everyone had enough material to hand out to get you busy for years, and each one had there own laundry list of ideas they would think you should master.. Over a few months, 1/2 my class dropped out from the pressure.

It became pretty obvious even if I (or anyone) practiced 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 100 years, I'd never learn everything there is to learn. Once I made peace with that concept, I could pick and choose where I wanted to focus.

From there, it's what caddywumpus said, you pick out what you want to learn, and then how to learn it. Focus on what you enjoy.

Someone once said, if you want to learn this style, then go buy these albums and really get into it. I thought, well, I don't have $200 to blow on all those albums (this was pre-internet, no 99 cent downloads), and I couldn't imagine not listening to all the other albums I did own in order to make time to listen to this stack of recommendations. That's when I realized, maybe, for me, I don't need to have this style on my list of things to study. Once I made that choice, it freed up room to study other things that were still on my list.

And once I started playing on a regular basis, it became more obvious what I needed to focus on based on the situations I found myself in, and some things I just never had time to get to.

And really, even the best drummers in the word can't do everything, and have their own limitations. Read an interview with some of the best guys, and it's almost humorous to read the gods of drumming talking about what they can't do. Even a guy like Neil Peart takes lessons now and then.

That doesn't mean I still don't wish I could play more of the things on my original list, and I still beat myself up for not having this and that more together.
 
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