Hey there, im new on drummerworld ive been playing for about 5 years now and i have a question i need answered.
The thing is i started playing when i was 10 years old started off with a good 2 years of lessons. I found out that when at these lessons i wasn't actually learning anything at all after about 3-5 months of the same basics i stopped taking lessons. I just gave up on myself and didn't touch my kit for a good year then i came back to playing. Ive tried all sorts of things in the past year trying to improve my drumming but all i seem to be able to do is fall into that same stupid plain beat i played back when i was taking lessons. Its like im stuck in a rut of some sort and i need help getting out. So im asking you all this, What can i do to get out of the rut and improve.
Welcome to drummerworld!
You aren't the only drummer stuck in a rut! It happens to us all! What you have to understand about the basics is that they are everything you will build off of. Michael Jordan was/is the King of Basketball because he had such master of the basics, they were always present in his thinking!
I think one of the things is that you have to be honest with yourself and your motivations. What are your goals? How do you get motivated? What inspires you?
My story was, that if I wanted to be a professional drummer, that I was going to have to take my game up a level! So you have both my goals wrapped up in one sentence - I wanted to be a professional drummer, i.e. - I wanted my primary source of income to come from drumming. This meant that I had to do some things that I didn't really want to do - like learning to play to a click track or learning the Purdie shuffle or leaning to be a better reader or many different musical notations. When I started doing these things, I noticed that, not only did I have a better understanding of what I desired to do, I found that I liked more music than I ever thought I would and a whole new universe exploded right before my eyes! The universe is something of a journey which I will never complete; it is just too broad and filled with too many interesting nooks and cranies to explore!
One thing is for you to start gravitating both to and from what you like and know! Download a Tito Puente song! You are of the tech-savy generation; being technically proficient is really hard for some of us!!
I have a few students like yourself who maybe haven't had the motivation or the vision to see past just what you are learning. After a few months, they are ready to learn as much as they can! Keeping your goals and objectives in mind as you practice will help you go beyond what you currently know. Also, I have several resources on my website to help you get going in the right direction, if you are game!
Here again, I usually try to keep my replies short and to the point but your question seemed so broad, I hope I haven't gone into overkill!
Mike
http://www.mikemccraw.com
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