do you get stressed other drummers are better than you?

[Al Strange]

My drum hero is Stewart Copeland but I play nothing like him. Stewart is Stewart and the best Stewart there is. IMO there isn’t a drummer on the planet who can play The Police songs better than Stewart did. Maybe different but not better. The real challenge is being the best musician you can be, not worrying about the technical prowess of others. Technique is awesome and gives you the tools to express yourself but the real magic is in knowing when and how to apply it and being true to yourself as a musician. Keep smashing it!

 

[Supraman5x14]

"Wow!!! Y'all are actually really good!"


Thanks, I think?

 

[C. Dave Run]

My drum hero is Stewart Copeland but I play nothing like him.

Steve Smith for me. And yeah, I'm not him at all.

Gonna need a ladder to reach that level.

 

[GetAgrippa]

I have no illusions of playing like most I like playing along with-but they influence my playing, I think. But I also want to develop my own good taste in playing. Something I've always struggled with-I can get beat happy and fill every space. I think trying to emulate others is helping in that regard to develop my own voice. All the great drummers I've loved over years always talk about the drummers who influenced them. It starts making sense where they got their voice. Vinnie Colaiuta, Dennis Chambers, Nate Smith, Tony Williams, Carter Beauford, Bernard Purdie, Will Kennedy, etc, etc, etc. How can you be threatened by these guys-they are all inspiring.

 

[yammyfan]

A paradox I'm beginning to experience...

The better I get, the more opportunities open up for me but the greater responsibility I feel. I prepare for each gig much more thoroughly and fuss over the details much more than I did before.

Drumming definitely feels more job-like than it did just a few years ago. It's still fun but it's not as much fun. Didn't see that coming.

So no, I don't care whether someone is better than me or not. I'm not convinced that it is all that desirable or useful, to be honest.

 

[bud7h4]

I don't look at it like they are better than me.
I just see that they are doing something I have not learned yet.

That's called a euphemism.

 

[Xstr8edgtnrdrmrX]

From my POV, I notice people put more weight on "being good" than really enjoying the activity.

TBH, I'd rather be with a someone who is fun, than someone who has to do everything right. Especially with sex. Give me fun, I don't care how "good" I am. I am what I am and that's plenty for me.

I don't postpone my enjoyment of playing, and it's way more important to me than whatever level I may or may not be.

When a person puts "being good" before everything else...when they finally do "get good" they probably won't enjoy it as much because they aren't used to thinking in those terms.

So happiness never really arrives. It's always just out of reach. We're never good enough are the thoughts we harbor deep down. I will take a pass there.

Why worry about what level I'm on and what level you're on? It's hamstringing at it's finest. Smile and make the good people move their bodies, and enjoy the fleeting moment as much as possible. Why not? When I have a great night, I'm not happy about how well I played. The memory of people letting down their hair in fine style...that's my currency.

what if getting/being good is part of the definition of happiness? I definitely put being good before a lot of stuff, and have reached many personal goals - which made me very happy - and regret none of that time spent. I think the thing is to realize that there is no "end good". There is always something else to strive for. Maybe the people who don't realize this are the ones who get good but don't enjoy it...

and i am not at all arguing your point, but just pointing out that is is possible to strive to be good, AND to get booties shaking...in fact, you are not good if the booties aren't shaking IMHO

I also agree that if you obsess over the wrong thing, then it is a bad thing. As I always say, there has to be a balance.

but to forsake one for the other is not good in the end. at least to me.

 

[Xstr8edgtnrdrmrX]

My drum hero is Stewart Copeland but I play nothing like him. Stewart is Stewart and the best Stewart there is. IMO there isn’t a drummer on the planet who can play The Police songs better than Stewart did. Maybe different but not better. The real challenge is being the best musician you can be, not worrying about the technical prowess of others. Technique is awesome and gives you the tools to express yourself but the real magic is in knowing when and how to apply it and being true to yourself as a musician. Keep smashing it!

Joe Morello, Gene Krupa, and Neil Peart for me, so yeah, my goal is not to be them, but to learn from them...and be inspired by them.

 

[Xstr8edgtnrdrmrX]

A paradox I'm beginning to experience...

The better I get, the more opportunities open up for me but the greater responsibility I feel. I prepare for each gig much more thoroughly and fuss over the details much more than I did before.

Drumming definitely feels more job-like than it did just a few years ago. It's still fun but it's not as much fun. Didn't see that coming.

So no, I don't care whether someone is better than me or not. I'm not convinced that it is all that desirable or useful, to be frank.

drumming has been my job for 30 or so years...and it has never felt like a job....it is weird how different life experience and perspective affect perception...

the only time it feels job-like is when dealing with drunks at a club, or psycho parents at school...or the government bull crap at teacher meetings

 

[Lefty Phillips]

Nah. Inspired by great playing.

I'm not trying to be Neil Peart or Stewart Copeland, but I've gained a much keener sense of appreciation for what they're doing since picking up the instrument.

I'm starting to develop a sense of my own sound now, which is rooted the things that Mick Fleetwood and Don Henley did back in the 1970s. Pretty simple stuff compared to many other drummers. I guess that's the songwriter in me, developing a sense of how I can contribute to the song. Not interested in being the greatest drummer of all time or anything like. Just real fuckin' good. Getting there, day by day, 4 hours at a time.

 

[yammyfan]

drumming has been my job for 30 or so years...and it has never felt like a job....it is weird how different life experience and perspective affect perception...

the only time it feels job-like is when dealing with drunks at a club, or psycho parents at school...or the government bull crap at teacher meetings

A big part of it for me may be due to the fact that I am self-taught and lack the foundation that most pros have. I'm called upon to recreate their parts as faithfully as possible but without the advantage of their training.

It's definitely work. Fun - but work nonetheless.

 

[ColdFusion]

Vinnie Colaiuta, Dennis Chambers, Nate Smith, Tony Williams, Carter Beauford, Bernard Purdie, Will Kennedy, etc, etc, etc. How can you be threatened by these guys-they are all inspiring.

"We do not feel that the masters are playing for better men than ourselves. But rather, in their grandest stroke, we feel most at home."
-Emerson

I get the warm fuzzies listening to Weckl too.

I grew up surrounded by "competition" in music...always worrying about losing their chair in the different groups they played in. They were always practicing, and taught me that perfection was the ultimate goal of a player...so whether it is Wagon Wheel or James Barnes' 3rd Symphony, I have to be the best <---that is a big motivator to me..

These are great points. This is where "music is not a competition" crashes into "musicianship probably is a competition". I like the framing here, in a competitive band scenario. This perspective works, even if you aren't in an ensemble. You must carry with you always a "first-chair attitude".

...it is inward competition. The people never know they are part of the game unless they want to be. When I was younger, I had to be sure that I was the best participant in the room at stuff that mattered to me. If I wasn't, then I would study whoever was better than me and try to glean ideas to improve myself. If someone had a better sounding drum set than mine, I would scope out their equipment, and spark up conversation about how they were doing things

but yeah, I am probably in the minority who actually craves competition in music, and that I would not be where I am at today without it. I used the idea of competition to build my school program, so that my students would have the best experience they could have. If my program does not allow them to be competitive at the next level, whether it is in music, or at their job, then I am failing.

This sounds familiar. Drummer passion. I can get behind a drummer who still plays the game like when they were young and hungry.
Rather than cats who got butt hurt and lazy along the way, and eventually turned into 'wise gatekeepers'.

There's nothing wrong with trying to be "the one", and keeping that hunger your whole life. Especially with something as badass as the drumset. Remember the GC Drum Off competitions? Shoot, I think it was the Ramon Sampson solo back in '09 that finally got me fired up about playing drums again. How about when Berklee was putting up those dope drum school YT videos? I mean, sure the gospel chops era was kind of goofy, but at the time it was like the perfect drumming trend for getting a bunch of us inspired to learn how to shred for real.

And anyways we can totally take turns being the best. Remember, just because another drummer drums real good, doesn't mean he "wore out" drumming for anybody else!

what if getting/being good is part of the definition of happiness?

Nailed it!

*Emerson quote slightly condensed and modified for drummers, lol. In his day he was referring to the great poets and writers.

 

[Xstr8edgtnrdrmrX]

A big part of it for me may be due to the fact that I am self-taught and lack the foundation that most pros have. I'm called upon to recreate their parts as faithfully as possible but without the advantage of their training.

It's definitely work. Fun - but work nonetheless.

yep...and it is good that you are not letting the "work" side of it completely deter you. I think that is where a lot of people get caught up in the wrong way, and then quit, and miss out on some great fun after jumping a couple of hurdles

"We do not feel that the masters are playing for better men than ourselves. But rather, in their grandest stroke, we feel most at home."
-Emerson

I get the warm fuzzies listening to Weckl too.


These are great points. This is where "music is not a competition" crashes into "musicianship probably is a competition". I like the framing here, in a competitive band scenario. This perspective works, even if you aren't in an ensemble. You must carry with you always a "first-chair attitude".

I just can't imagine doing anything half ass...while I hate mowing the lawn, when I am done, it better be the best looking lawn on the block...or at least, the lawn with all of the "I's dotted and T's crossed"

This sounds familiar. Drummer passion. I can get behind a drummer who still plays the game like when they were young and hungry.
Rather than cats who got butt hurt and lazy along the way, and eventually turned into 'wise gatekeepers'.

There's nothing wrong with trying to be "the one", and keeping that hunger your whole life. Especially with something as badass as the drumset. Remember the GC Drum Off competitions? Shoot, I think it was the Ramon Sampson solo back in '09 that finally got me fired up about playing drums again. How about when Berklee was putting up those dope drum school YT videos? I mean, sure the gospel chops era was kind of goofy, but at the time it was like the perfect drumming trend for getting a bunch of us inspired to learn how to shred for real.

And anyways we can totally take turns being the best. Remember, just because another drummer drums real good, doesn't mean he "wore out" drumming for anybody else!

well, I always get told "wow, you don't act 52....." I think 95% of the time, that is in my favor, and 5% of the time it isn't. But yeah, I still have many goals I have not met yet in my playing and teaching career, and I could not imagine losing that young and hungry fire that drives me towards those goals. The day that fire burns out is the day I am done...and I fear that day big time. I think that is why I am always seeking out guys who are better than I am, and then trying to get better than them

In a few of my bands, a few of the members are definitely happily entrenched in the "lets do the easy gig and get it over with" mentality. Play early, leave early. Use as little equipment as possible...it is hard to see them without the passion anymore. I can't, and don't identify with their apathy, and they think I am weird because of my passion.