A Brilliant Mind (for drummers)

Isaac Lee

Member
Hello Drummerworld forum members,

I would like to provoke a discussion that will help enlighten and inspire this community to an exciting parallel I discovered today. It comes from a book I just picked up entitled, A Brilliant Mind, by Frank Minirth. Essentially it deals with the following;

-Increase your IQ
-Memorize more information (songs, fills, grooves, ect.)
-Improve test scores (improve performances)
-Communicate more effectively (musically)
-Excel in the business world (musically)
-Prevent cognitive decline (yea...exactly)

As I began to read the book I couldn't help but translate every concept to the art of drumming. In a nut shell, a person can increase their vocabulary by memorizing words which in fact increases your intelligence and has many other beneficial effects.

I have often heard that the rudiments are the "words" of the drumming language. And it would make sense that when we form these words into musical sentences we can begin to express much more to our listeners.

I want to take this deeper. I want to brainstorm some theories, concepts, and whatever you’re inspired to say regarding this. Thanks if you’re still reading this. And thanks for having me here on the forums. It’s my honor. I will add to this post with my thoughts as they come.
 
Let me be the first to welcome you here.
I have no idea how to respond to your post though.
 
Hello Isaac and welcome to the forums.

There was a great thread going here recently about strong memories and how beneficial it is to drumming.

Personally, I can see real-world connections between any discipline and drumming, at least on a higher level. I'm a programmer by trade and I've drawn several parallels to it and drumming - especially with vocabulary, as you mentioned.

When I was learning my first programming language, my "vocabulary" was very limited. I could only successfully write small programs that weren't very useful...and my coding style wasn't very elegant. Over the years I was able to expand not only my vocabulary...but my usage of it...my style became more elegant and as a result, my code was more efficient, problem-free, and well...beautiful! Well, beautiful to me anyhow...as a geek.

It gives me hope that my drumming will someday follow the same course. ;)
 
Hello Isaac and welcome to the forums.

There was a great thread going here recently about strong memories and how beneficial it is to drumming.

Personally, I can see real-world connections between any discipline and drumming, at least on a higher level. I'm a programmer by trade and I've drawn several parallels to it and drumming - especially with vocabulary, as you mentioned.

When I was learning my first programming language, my "vocabulary" was very limited. I could only successfully write small programs that weren't very useful...and my coding style wasn't very elegant. Over the years I was able to expand not only my vocabulary...but my usage of it...my style became more elegant and as a result, my code was more efficient, problem-free, and well...beautiful! Well, beautiful to me anyhow...as a geek.

It gives me hope that my drumming will someday follow the same course. ;)

Thats awsome. I'll do a search for that other thread and have a look. Thanks! I really didn't express my post the way I wanted to in hind sight. Its pretty confusing. Maybe I'll make more sense of it later and edit it.
 
if you know all of the rudiments, you can then experiment with them, mixing themn up....
you have hundreds of home made hybrid rudiments there!>....you always hear of drumers using just on rudiment for a whole solo, just mixing it up

i believe that you must have a firm grasp of rudiments.....example, a parididdle....there are so many variiations!.....you can also turn them onto a cymbal and create a funky groove
and doubles can give the effect (if done correctly) of playing crazy fast singles around the kit!
 
It's funny you should mention vocabulary. Don't ask me why but last night a friend and I were picking apart the alphabet breaking letters down to the actual motions you make with your mouth.

So I'm thinking that if rudiments are words, a letter would be a stroke. Just as you shape all kinds of sounds with your mouth, there are all kinds of different ways to play one stroke.

Here are some of my interpretations:

Your cymbals are your S's, C's and so forth.
Just as you'd click the top of you're mouth with your tounge to make a T sound, you click your stick to your rim to make, ironically enough, a rim click.
Accents are all in CAPITALS.
Say you're playing a 7 piece kit with 5 toms. For story's sake lets say 3 up, 2 down. Roll down them from top to bottom and thats your 'LMNOP' right there.
Neat printing is all drum machine. Drumming with great feel would be written in cursive. Furthermore everybody writes differently - from bubbly to my own chicken scratch, everyone has thier own style.
I could probobly go on but I'll leave some for the rest of you.

We also talked about how letters can be associated with colours. There's a ton that to be said about that too....
 
It's funny you should mention vocabulary. Don't ask me why but last night a friend and I were picking apart the alphabet breaking letters down to the actual motions you make with your mouth.

So I'm thinking that if rudiments are words, a letter would be a stroke. Just as you shape all kinds of sounds with your mouth, there are all kinds of different ways to play one stroke.

Here are some of my interpretations:

Your cymbals are your S's, C's and so forth.
Just as you'd click the top of you're mouth with your tounge to make a T sound, you click your stick to your rim to make, ironically enough, a rim click.
Accents are all in CAPITALS.
Say you're playing a 7 piece kit with 5 toms. For story's sake lets say 3 up, 2 down. Roll down them from top to bottom and thats your 'LMNOP' right there.
Neat printing is all drum machine. Drumming with great feel would be written in cursive. Furthermore everybody writes differently - from bubbly to my own chicken scratch, everyone has thier own style.
I could probobly go on but I'll leave some for the rest of you.

We also talked about how letters can be associated with colours. There's a ton that to be said about that too....

You guys weren't eating the little things pictured in your avatar, were ya? Heh.

Seriously though - interesting thought. Nice!
 
Hello Drummerworld forum members,
-Increase your IQ
-Memorize more information (songs, fills, grooves, ect.)
-Improve test scores (improve performances)
-Communicate more effectively (musically)
-Excel in the business world (musically)
-Prevent cognitive decline (yea...exactly)


I think that....errr.
It's a .....
eerrmmm........

I can't rimimberrr wottt i wis abut tu rite.
 
Hello Isaac and welcome to the forums.

There was a great thread going here recently about strong memories and how beneficial it is to drumming.

Personally, I can see real-world connections between any discipline and drumming, at least on a higher level. I'm a programmer by trade and I've drawn several parallels to it and drumming - especially with vocabulary, as you mentioned.

When I was learning my first programming language, my "vocabulary" was very limited. I could only successfully write small programs that weren't very useful...and my coding style wasn't very elegant. Over the years I was able to expand not only my vocabulary...but my usage of it...my style became more elegant and as a result, my code was more efficient, problem-free, and well...beautiful! Well, beautiful to me anyhow...as a geek.

It gives me hope that my drumming will someday follow the same course. ;)

+1. ive read something similar to the above quote in a book called Beautiful Code. There's a part that says something like the completeness of code is not when you cannot add anything more to it but when you cannot subtract anymore from it. And I think that it applies to music as well. Its not about how many notes/triplets/whatever you can put in a bar of music. Its about how you can deliver the message in the a simple and complete way.

Vinnie Colaiuta's work on "Seven Days" is the perfect example (at least for me) to this concept. Its as simple as possible. But its not simpler. (I quoted Einstein on that one.) And its beautiful.
 
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