I'm overwhelmed

oooops,mainly for jazz... John riley's bop books,dejonnete's,Chapin's...
for funk... all Garibaldi and Latham, afro cuban ...jimmy branly's,ignacio berroa 's DVD,maria martinez,chuck silvermann...to name the ones I concentrated on the most.Plus millions of transcriptions from random websites.

Ok, if you are just starting out in jazz, stick to Riley's Art of Bop Drumming and get as proficient with the material as you can. You need to spend at least a year with the bulk of the material in that book. Put away the DeJohnette book for now, that one is quite advanced. The Chapin one can wait too.

I would choose the Garibaldi book over the Latham book for funk studies.

For Latin studies, instead of working out of books, take out your Stick Control book and practice the exercises from page 5 -7 while playing the samba or songo foot ostinato. Once you get really comfortable with this and can play cleanly at a varying tempos (slow, medium, fast), then refer back to your Latin books/DVDs.

Put away the transcriptions away for now. You have quality material already and you should be focusing on those.

Next, allocate a day to each book. For example, Monday: Bop Drumming book, Tuesday: Garibaldi, etc...That way, you can stay focused. I'm sure you work on other things besides just working on musical styles, right? So if you have 3 hours a day to practice, 1st hour could be just technique (hand/foot/combinations), 2nd hour work on reading (Syncopation) and the 3rd hour work out of one of the books according to whatever day it is and what you have assigned for that day. It doesn't have to be in this order either.. you can start working on musical styles first, then technique, then reading. It doesn't matter. And no matter what you do, you should always warm up first.

The gist of it is: One day, One book.
 
This is a very good question, one that I ask myself too.

I went to a drum camp with some of the worlds top drummers and came away thinking it's not all about practice systems as I thought it was. You won't sound like Chris Coleman just because you've practiced his abc method for 15 years for example.

If you're always working on different things, and they're challenging for you, you won't spend as much time on refining them. And while I used to get a ton of ideas from instructional DVDs, nowadays I feel like I've seen it all before and all of these instructional methods are more about income for the artists and producers than they are unlocking the secret to drum wizardry.

I say choose the things you enjoy practicing the most, rotate through them and focus on practical things like actually playing to music and trying to immitate your idols.
 
and you should be focusing on those.
"Ok, if you are just starting out in jazz, stick to Riley's Art of Bop Drumming and get as proficient with the material as you can. You need to spend at least a year with the bulk of the material in that book. Put away the DeJohnette book for now, that one is quite advanced. The Chapin one can wait too."

I've already done all those books,but dont get the feeling they've sunk in after all this time,i end up playing always the same things...
 
I like the analogy of learning language.

We use language every day...and follow rules and display rapidity of expression we could never do by thinking about the rules themselves.

...same thing with music....

Writings about the rules give you ways to train yourself...but the end result is not to be able to memorize rules...but to express within them.(and, maybe, apply some of the theory now and again when wanted or needed).

I could diagram the snot out of a sentence back in 4th Grade English...but don't ask me to do it today...and my thoughts expressed in language are far more profound(so I like to think) than 4th grade me.

Carry the analogy and its applicability/relevance as far as you care to.


Another way we might look at the issue...firmware is to software as music performance is to music theory...?...maybe....
 
I've already done all those books,but dont get the feeling they've sunk in after all this time,i end up playing always the same things...

The hard truth is that practicing by yourself from books and videos -- no matter how much you do it, or how complicated the material -- will not, by itself, make you become a good drummer. The books are essential, but you'll also need to play a lot of music with a lot of people, and learn from those with more experience than you while you're in those situations.

Almost everyone here is telling you to get with a teacher, and with a band -- to actually get out there and play some music. The books and YouTube videos contain the theory, but you need to actually go out and apply it in a band. You want to learn Latin? Go find a Latin jazz group and learn a dozen songs. Want to learn to comp and trade fours? Go find a jazz combo. Want to learn some Bonzo? Go find a classic rock cover band. Want to refine your groove? Play to the metronome WHILE you play with a band. Record the rehearsals, and listen back.

Get out there and hack it up! It's only music, no one's gonna die.
 
I think a lot of this comes down to personality type.

If it were me, I'd toss every book and DVD, and step away from your computer completely. I'd then just sit at my kit and play the first thing that seemed interesting. Nothing so hard that I couldn't do it, but not so easy as to get bored. Find an idea that's fun and immediate and just let myself get carried away with it until the inevitable trainwreck. It has to be fun.

Again this is just me and my personality type, but if I couldn't consistently get myself into that place of joyous abandon, I'd find another hobby.

Books, DVDs, and lessons are great but they're no substitute for intrinsic interest and passion. If that fire's in there somewhere, let it do what it does and don't snuff it out by overthinking and 2nd guessing it. Better to play for fun and let the skills take care of themselves, than to work your ass off thinking the fun will happen later. If iplaying isn't fun, you're a lot less likely to play.
 
I often run into this same problem. I struggled with it for a long time. Now, when I notice that I'm spreading myself thin and trying to practice too many techniques at once, I take a deep breath and go back to the basics. "The basics" being exercises from Stick Control, 4-Way Coordination, or A Funky Primer for the Rock Drummer. I find that repeatedly going back to the fundamentals helps me keep my core skills solid, and reminds me what I enjoy doing, thereby helping me to decide which advanced techniques to dedicate my time to.

Don't try to learn each and every skill and technique described as "fundamental" by the denizens of Youtube. You'll stretch yourself thin and drive yourself nuts. Timing, sticking patterns, limb independence, and dynamics. Those are all the "fundamentals" a drummer needs.
 
I already done all those books,but dont get the feeling they've sunk in after all this time,i end up playing always the same things...

Hmmm... if you have worked through Riley's books and still don't know what to play, then I'm sorry... I think you approached it the wrong way and you merely just played through the exercises without having a concept.

If you don't play in a band, did you at least follow the instructions in the book to play along to music? I know that certain songs are recommended in the book and that you're supposed to work on the exercises with them. I know a lot of people who have gained a lot from the Riley books so in this case, it's not the books.... it's you. If you don't change the way you practice, then no book from heaven is going to help you. Or maybe as some members here have suggested, you're not really a book person.

If I were you, I would put every single book/DVD I owned away, put on some music and just learn by LISTENING.

I started out learning by ear and then I went to music school and learned the theory behind everything I was doing, and learned about notation and all of that stuff. Thankfully now, I have the best of both worlds. These days, I learn from books but also and most importantly, through listening and watching live performances/YouTube.

What I'm trying to say is that practicing from books is not enough, not by far. All the great drummers of the past learnt mostly by listening, they didn't have the thousands of books and DVDs that we have today. I would strongly suggest perhaps practicing along to music. And just listening to the type of music you're trying to get better at.
 
here is some worthless advice from someone who has made a living as a drummer for many years

pay less attention to youtube .... listen to music and play music .... many styles

the things you need will rear their head and present themselves through executing the music

this way you weed out the extraneous useless bullshit and get straight to brass tax

.... take that as you will
 
here is some worthless advice from someone who has made a living as a drummer for many years

pay less attention to youtube .... listen to music and play music .... many styles

the things you need will rear their head and present themselves through executing the music

this way you weed out the extraneous useless bullshit and get straight to brass tax

.... take that as you will

I like how you can say the same thing I tried to say in about 1/16th of the verbiage. Obviously, I totally agree with this. The more you listen, the more you notice what's really important in the music and the more you absorb. It's kind of like how just jumping into a trade can often give you a much better handle on how the job really works when compared to someone who just studied from books and course-work at a university.
 
the things you need will rear their head and present themselves through executing the music
It's kind of like how just jumping into a trade can often give you a much better handle on how the job really works when compared to someone who just studied from books and course-work at a university.
Right on. This is exactly what I was trying to get at.

Players learn by playing. You can supplement with books, vids, and lessons, but there's just no substitute for just flat-out playing.

When you stop to come up for air, sure, check out a vid just to see how someone else is doing it, or go back to a section of a book for something specific that was giving you trouble.

But you really can't lose sight of the fact that you really need to simply play. That's the whole point and it's where the rubber meets the road. Also, it has this magical way of showing you where to focus your practicing efforts.

I can honestly say that I've never been overwhelmed into any state of paralysis, but I've never been particularly studious about any kind of practice regiment either. To me it's just playing (with AND without musical accompanyment) and I get a ton of mileage out of that.

Maybe I'm just lazy, but I don't go out of my way looking for things to fix; I let them come to me (they always do!). When I come against something beyond my capabilities, I just keep chipping away at it until it comes. If I can hear it my head and want it bad enough, I will eventually get it. This goes for fundamentals as well as fancier things. Just dive in and take charge of your instrument and your own learning. Doesn't work for everyone, but it works for me.
 
Bottom line is... play,thanks,because I never do(ever).I just practice intricate patterns and fills for the sake of solving the puzzle. I Always suspected( rather I always KNEW) that was the cause of my embarrassing performance when it comes to what matters,which will always be playing.
 
I keep finding tons of new material online,youtube in particular,and constantly practicing different things that I almost always forget(is it just me being thick?). How can I organise everything?do people really assimilate all that amount of material and move on?most of it seems,or is presented as fundamental for your drumming,how can I discern useful from useless?

You can't. Fear plays a big part here, people are scared to focus on things and feel the need to practice everything. What people don't realise is that there is an awfull lot of synergy in drumming. I have no idea it is all the stuff you are looking at but if its usuall you tube stuff its one drum lick after another. All of which are made up of the same things. If you haven't already focus on the basics, get a good teacher or a good method book and follow and don't be scared to put your trust in it or them.
 
Bottom line is... play,thanks,because I never do(ever).I just practice intricate patterns and fills for the sake of solving the puzzle. I Always suspected( rather I always KNEW) that was the cause of my embarrassing performance when it comes to what matters,which will always be playing.

Don't be embarrassed. We all start from where we are, and we never stop learning!

It is true that there is a lot of content out there and it can make you feel like you will never be that good. That used to bother me, but now I think "so what?". I enjoy playing, and I'm developing. But any lasting progress is always slow, and as the key to improving (at least for me) is to continue making tiny step by tiny step towards better playing.

As many have said, the key is playing, and if possible playing in context (i.e. playing with other people in a band, or with music). And as WhoIs Tony said, when you play you will notice things that you need to focus on (timing? phrasing? dynamics? vocabulary?). It doesn't matter what it is, but choosing something to work on, and giving it time, will pay out over time.

Here's an example of how I practice, if I hear or see someone play a phrase/beat/fill I like, and I decide I want to learn to play it.
If you're lucky you can see how it's played (for example if you saw it on a video), and maybe you can figure it out enough to maybe even write it down. Then you sit down and begin to play it. Of course you will make lots of mistakes. Do it again, and again, and by paying attention and continuing, you gradually get further through it, until you can play it all the way through - so you have the basic coordination down.
Next you keep going until you are playing it more smoothly.
Then you keep going more until it feels natural.

At this point I usually do something to begin integrating it into my playing, for example I play a few bars of a beat then the phrase, then back and forth between them, so that I'm finding a context and a way to fit it into my playing.

At some point I stop, and next time I practice, I pick up from where I left off. So practicing a new phrase until it really is 'good enough' takes days and sometimes weeks for me. Of course I might spend time on a few different things in any practice session. The point is that you have to spend time until you can pretty much play the 'new thing' perfectly without thinking - you need to reach the point where you have absorbed it as 'part of your style' and you can use it whenever you want.

As you develop your playing 'vocabulary' like this, and when playing songs (with a band or with recorded music) you choose phrases from your vocabulary that fit the music you're playing.

Another key is to choose things to learn that are 'within your reach' or 'near your reach' - i.e. something you can't do now, but that expands your ability just a little bit and is achievable.

Just my two cents. Hope it helps. There are many other threads on DW about 'how to practise' too.

Now go and play, and have fun!
 
At this point I usually do something to begin integrating it into my playing, for example I play a few bars of a beat then the phrase, then back and forth between them, so that I'm finding a context and a way to fit it into my playing.

Great advice. When you're by yourself, you can stop, drag, rush, repeat, add or subtract notes, whenever you feel like it. In a band, however, you'll play continuously and maintain the song's structure, no matter what. Practicing continuously like Bonzo_CR mentions is a step in the right direction, but it requires lots of self-discipline. Getting a teacher and a getting into a band might not change the things that you practice (although it could), but it will definitely change the process of practicing.

Bottom line is... play,thanks,because I never do(ever).I just practice intricate patterns and fills for the sake of solving the puzzle. I Always suspected( rather I always KNEW) that was the cause of my embarrassing performance when it comes to what matters,which will always be playing.

So, what's holding you back from getting into a band? Getting lessons? If it's just nerves, remember that everyone had to start somewhere, and you'll probably enjoy making progress.
 
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