Today, I had a breakthrough !!

Liquid_Drummer · #1 01-29-2008, 12:50 AM

Sorry to write a book but I am very excited right now !

Just practicing on the pad a few moments ago (which I sit on top of a spare snare drum to get a bit of that snare sound) and something very cool happened !

I was doing a moeller exercise from the Jojo DVD (the moeller triplet based roll) that I have done many times and I realized I was playing WAY WAY WAY faster than I had ever played before doing fast hard single strokes. When I realized this I closed my eyes and examined how my muscles felt in my shoulders, arms, forearms fingers etc and noticed that nothing was even near "burning out". I stopped and analyzed what had just happened and I realized it was that I had zoned out so far while practicing that I had reached almost a zen like state of relaxation in my mind and most importantly in my muscles !

The point here is that today I suddenly realized that muscle tension in my shoulders and arms were limiting my technique and speed. All of the sudden I have control over that which seems kinda crazy to me that it was so sudden. Its like all of the sudden you know what it feels like to do a certain technique correctly and because you know what it feels like you can do it consistently. You know what I mean ?

I have never felt such a tremendous jump in my playing like this in my life and I have been playing for 25 years !

When you are practicing hand technique close you eyes and focus on your muscles and how they feel. As your speed increases if you feel muscles start to burn slow down a little and concentrate on that muscle. With practice you can tell that muscle to STFU and then the door opens. I have to say that the Jojo DVD is a must own period. I think it is that DVD that has added more tools to my toolbox than anything else I have ever tried.

Now that this has happened I think I increase my practice routine. Now that I have opened a door I feel like tearing down a wall !!

Liquid_Drummer · #2 01-29-2008, 12:56 AM

Oh here is what I was working on....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3O1A...eature=related

wad · #3 01-29-2008, 01:03 AM

yup thats jojo hes insane such a good trickster with his tricks with sticks!

JCM · #4 01-29-2008, 01:13 AM

I know what you mean, the day I noticed a slight increase in my hand speed I was all smiles! I think that closing your eyes while practicing is very helpful because when you lose your sight your body becomes more aware of what the rest of your body is doing. Plus what you're experiencing is hours of practice paying off.

Liquid_Drummer · #5 01-29-2008, 01:24 AM

Weird thing is that it is incorporated well on the snare but not around the kit as I just found out. When I start moving about the kit I tense up a bit but able to feel my way out of that as well. I guess the practicing is finally paying off. Geesh, seems like I was stuck at a certain level forever !!!

Feels so good to move forward a bit..

AllTheCoolNamesAreTaken · #6 01-29-2008, 01:58 AM

Yeah, every single minor change you could make will cause you a reset until you learn how to smooth over the changes. Moving from one drum to another, mixing doubles and singles, etc. For everything you learn you not only have to learn how to do that thing, but then how to mix that in with the countless other things you have to learn how to do. So it's a good thing to celebrate every time you take a step ... there's a million steps to be taken :-P