I AM DEMOTIVED. I can no longer play well and with desire

Hi everyone, I'm a 22 year old Italian boy. I'm writing this post when I'm going through a heavy drumming period :D
In the last period when I go to my drum room I don't know what to do, I play some songs, I record myself, but after 20 minutes I get bored and the desire passes away.
I am trying to carry out a cover project on youtube but it is difficult and without exciting results. I also post some videos on Instagram, they have a lot of appreciation but it's not enough for me. I am a drummer who really likes to play gigs, something that cannot be done in this period, but at the same time I like to improve myself, even if I find I find routine study extremely BORING, even if I see many other drummers doing it, creating a study routine, with maybe some rudiments etc. here, those things I don't like and I find them extremely boring. My idea of "improving" is to play songs many hours a day. I know I'm wrong but I can't find any other way to play.

I've been playing for 11 years and everyone has always told me that I have a talent. This thing has always given me the push to go on but in the last period, that I am no longer playing with anyone due to the pandemic, I find myself locked up in my drum room playing often difficult songs! Yes, because in fact I am a fan of melodic metalcore, like Erra, Periphery, Architects, Veil of Maya etc. etc. technical songs that I always tend to play them by ear because I don't feel like studying them.

I know I'm wrong a lot of things that the "professional drummer" does, but I feel like that. I don't know which way to take, I feel trapped in a passion that I don't understand if it can be my future or a normal passion. When I played with others I felt I had a talent, that I could break everything! When I am alone I cannot have the same badness in playing, I often judge myself when I play (probably for the difficult songs I do) and I keep comparing myself to better drummers than me...
 
Hi, and welcome to Drummerworld!

I think all musicians are feeling the same because they haven't played with other musicians in more than a year, and practicing alone or to tracks isn't the same experience. My advice is don't worry about it too much, things will be getting back to normal soon, slowly at first. Once you start playing with people again, you'll be refreshed and excited about playing again. :)
 
Hi, and welcome to Drummerworld!

I think all musicians are feeling the same because they haven't played with other musicians in more than a year, and practicing alone or to tracks isn't the same experience. My advice is don't worry about it too much, things will be getting back to normal soon, slowly at first. Once you start playing with people again, you'll be refreshed and excited about playing again. :)
Thanks for the answer, I understand that it is a general thing but I wonder if this attitude of mine is okay from the moment I would like to do a job with the drums! I wonder if it's okay for me to get bored! in something that I would and plan to do in the future ... I would not want to blame the pandemic at all ...
 
Our emotions fluctuate, and sometimes our excitement about playing, or almost anything, may change a little. If you genuinely want to pursue music as a career, that excitement is still inside you, and it will come back.
 
Some of the best advice I've heard in order to be happy playing the drums...

Stop comparing yourself to others.

This is easier said than done! Ever since Youtube and Instagram became a thing, it's become far more difficult. Growing up I was the best drummer I knew, in school, college, etc. I knew I wasn't anywhere close to the great drummers, but I was talented.

Now that social media exists, it's kinda hard to feel that way anymore, haha. There are 14-year-olds better than me.

Here, I just made this meme...more for my benefit actually. I need a reaffirmation to look at from time to time.

sVolP9z.png
 
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I wonder if it's okay for me to get bored!
Absolutely. Boredom is normal with any activity. It just means you arent currently mentally stimulated by said activity. No big deal, it happens to all of us.

You can try learning stuff from other genres. Tune your kit differently. Rearrange your kit, or maybe take pieces away. Work on something you have been neglecting. There are plenty of paths available with drums to learn or do something new.

I too am a metal drummer, but for almost 30 years now. Lately, I've been playing lots of disco and 70s-80s slow jams. While completely opposite from what I normally do, it's different, its challenging, and it keeps me behind the kit and enjoying myself.

If you truly enjoy playing drums, you will find something that keeps you coming back.
 
Get a teacher, seriously. Everything will change.
The teacher is something I tried in 2018. I went to class from a great metal drummer from my country but it didn't satisfy me as besides the quite expensive lessons, what he taught me was far from what I wanted to do .. . (to say, we never played on the acoustic kit, only pad.) so I don't know how to find a good teacher!
 
Some of the best advice I've heard in order to be happy playing the drums...

Stop comparing yourself to others.

This is easier said than done! Ever since Youtube and Instagram became a thing, it's become far more difficult. Growing up I was the best drummer I knew, in school, college, etc. I knew I wasn't anywhere close to the great drummers, but I knew I was talented.

Now that social media exists, it's kinda hard to feel that way anymore, haha. There are 14-year-olds better than me.

Here, I just made this meme...more for my benefit actually. I need a reaffirmation to look at from time to time.

sVolP9z.png
but look, I compare myself mostly to the drummers of the songs I play. For example, I play a periphery song and I wonder how the hell Matt Halpern got to where he is now ... I wonder how many drummers but also successful people got to where they are now ... All the greats do see how big they are but no one ever talks about HOW he got there ... and this thing makes me angry ... I also talk about other famous people ... as if at any moment "sbam" guaranteed success.
 
Thanks for the answer, I understand that it is a general thing but I wonder if this attitude of mine is okay from the moment I would like to do a job with the drums! I wonder if it's okay for me to get bored! in something that I would and plan to do in the future ... I would not want to blame the pandemic at all ...
Hi everyone, I'm a 22 year old Italian boy. I'm writing this post when I'm going through a heavy drumming period :D
In the last period when I go to my drum room I don't know what to do, I play some songs, I record myself, but after 20 minutes I get bored and the desire passes away.
I am trying to carry out a cover project on youtube but it is difficult and without exciting results. I also post some videos on Instagram, they have a lot of appreciation but it's not enough for me. I am a drummer who really likes to play gigs, something that cannot be done in this period, but at the same time I like to improve myself, even if I find I find routine study extremely BORING, even if I see many other drummers doing it, creating a study routine, with maybe some rudiments etc. here, those things I don't like and I find them extremely boring. My idea of "improving" is to play songs many hours a day. I know I'm wrong but I can't find any other way to play.

I've been playing for 11 years and everyone has always told me that I have a talent. This thing has always given me the push to go on but in the last period, that I am no longer playing with anyone due to the pandemic, I find myself locked up in my drum room playing often difficult songs! Yes, because in fact I am a fan of melodic metalcore, like Erra, Periphery, Architects, Veil of Maya etc. etc. technical songs that I always tend to play them by ear because I don't feel like studying them.

I know I'm wrong a lot of things that the "professional drummer" does, but I feel like that. I don't know which way to take, I feel trapped in a passion that I don't understand if it can be my future or a normal passion. When I played with others I felt I had a talent, that I could break everything! When I am alone I cannot have the same badness in playing, I often judge myself when I play (probably for the difficult songs I do) and I keep comparing myself to better drummers than me...
Italy right now has a few bands that are getting noticed (Frozen Crown, for example) even them are not able to play with others and have to sometimes rehearse separate, I don't know how good your internet connection is there but I used to watch this two guys in Facebook playing a gig in the drummer's house twice a week, this was when covid just started, it was called "The Gus and Seth Metal Show" it certainly wasn't super professional but they managed to get a lot of people onboard until the drummer Gus got covid, i'm sure he is fine now but I haven't checked back on them.. anyway the point is you could do something similar, these days it is pretty easy to setup a live stream, the only thing is you have to have a decent connection and hopefully your drums are mixed well so that it sounds proper and not just amateurish..
 
..For example, I play a periphery song and I wonder how the hell Matt Halpern got to where he is now..


Probably by practice hours and hours a day and having a deep motivation for that..

For example, if you would also have that deep motivation, most likely you would have spend the time that you are now writing all of this, to practice, which would have made you a little a better player again..

Spending lots of time on the internet or a forum will not make you a better player..

Playing and practice will..

Simple as that..?
 
Some of the best advice I've heard in order to be happy playing the drums...

Stop comparing yourself to others.

This is easier said than done! Ever since Youtube and Instagram became a thing, it's become far more difficult. Growing up I was the best drummer I knew, in school, college, etc. I knew I wasn't anywhere close to the great drummers, but I knew I was talented.

Now that social media exists, it's kinda hard to feel that way anymore, haha. There are 14-year-olds better than me.

Here, I just made this meme...more for my benefit actually. I need a reaffirmation to look at from time to time.

sVolP9z.png
I don't know if it comes with maturity but I never really cared if someone was better or worse than me I just have fun playing and if I don't I just stop. it is ok to take a break sometimes in order to find inspiration.
You need to step back and look at things from a different perspective. You could challenge yourself for example: Some drummers have a very distinctive style, try to create your own style, yes that is NOT easy but it will be challenging, and possibly inspiring. I noticed that my style for a while was some triplets on the hi hats as accents and triplets on the bass drum, I started to overuse those so I had to change that. Now, I am not looking toward playing in any particular style, I am trying to be proficient on multiple styles regardless of difficulty. (that to me keeps things fresh). Lastly we are all ready to play live. can't blame covid for everything so try something different...
 
Absolutely. Boredom is normal with any activity. It just means you arent currently mentally stimulated by said activity. No big deal, it happens to all of us.

You can try learning stuff from other genres. Tune your kit differently. Rearrange your kit, or maybe take pieces away. Work on something you have been neglecting. There are plenty of paths available with drums to learn or do something new.

I too am a metal drummer, but for almost 30 years now. Lately, I've been playing lots of disco and 70s-80s slow jams. While completely opposite from what I normally do, it's different, its challenging, and it keeps me behind the kit and enjoying myself.

If you truly enjoy playing drums, you will find something that keeps you coming back.
I did that for the past year, I'm the keys player and decided to get knowledge on drums, adding cymbals, going in drums forum and re-arranging the particle room, plugging the mixer to record drums only etc...Not the same but at least, it keeps me interested and busy.
 
One thing for drummers, we need the other players to make music. So, we prepare our technique, play along with recordings etc. But, in performance is where we learn to put what we know to real use, learn why and when our technique is to be used. The reciprocal energy of the other players and the audience fuel our playing, we learn dynamics not as an exercise, but in real time as a part of an ensemble. Feeling like you do is understandable. When I sit down to practice I sometimes am inspired, sometimes I've got nothing and just run through exercises.
Some drummers will master technique, maybe be able to bring the 'fire' to recording music sans audience energy,
others will do their best live onstage with an audience, many do both. I'm no studio marksman but have always worked because I'm a 'bad man' live, listen and play in the moment with good dynamics.
My advice is simply keep preparing, when an opportunity comes you'll be at your best, and you'll get to do what you love the most. Comparing yourself? Don't bro, there will always be drummers better than you and drummers not as good. In my experience the best players are more interested in what you CAN do than what you can't.
 
"and I keep comparing myself to better drummers than me..."

Comparing ourselves to other drummers is neither healthy nor realistic. It's a mistake to treat drumming as a contest with fixed parameters. In a fifty-yard dash, for instance, we can state with confidence that the person who covers fifty yards in the least amount of time is the best runner in the race, but who's the best drummer of the following three: Ringo Starr, Charlie Watts, or John Bonham? They're very different players. Each has his own style, but all have made legendary musical contributions. Drumming isn't merely a measure of physical capacity. Objective criteria by which we can rank drummers simply doesn't exist.
 
Some of the best advice I've heard in order to be happy playing the drums...

Stop comparing yourself to others.

This is easier said than done! Ever since Youtube and Instagram became a thing, it's become far more difficult. Growing up I was the best drummer I knew, in school, college, etc. I knew I wasn't anywhere close to the great drummers, but I was talented.

Now that social media exists, it's kinda hard to feel that way anymore, haha. There are 14-year-olds better than me.

Here, I just made this meme...more for my benefit actually. I need a reaffirmation to look at from time to time.

sVolP9z.png
This is by far, THE best picture I've ever seen helping us drummers be US and not someone else. :love:
 
I am a drummer who really likes to play gigs, something that cannot be done in this period,

@Lable Drummer you said it yourself, you have loss of motivation because of the covid context. It's causing general depression it can't be blamed on drumming by itself.

If you think routine is boring, don't do it especially if this is not your job.
 
who's the best drummer of the following three: Ringo Starr, Charlie Watts, or John Bonham?
Through a complex set of mathematical equations, intermingled with advanced rudimentary techniques for the modern drummer, and after carefully verifying and reverifying the results; I found the answer to be Stewart Copeland? :unsure: ;) Joking aside, comparing yourself to drummers you perceive to be “better” than you is utter folly and will just make you feel bad about yourself. You are the best you, and that’s all you will ever be!

Perhaps a little break might be in order? Listen to music that you really enjoy, not just music with challenging technical drumming...if drums are your calling you’ll soon be back smashing it with a fresh perspective...from tired lockdown to inspired rockdown!:D(y)
 
Well maybe you're just done with drums-time to find a new hobby. Nothing last forever-once the thrill is gone move on. I did that with a whole bunch of things (saxophone, golf, archery, reloading/ballistics, running, etc)-drumming I haven't tired of yet-I still love landscaping and gardening too. One day I can see just quitting like I did other things. It's just a personal choice and decision we all make. But I wouldn't make a hasty decision after this depressing episode of life. Once you lose the drive for something-time to move on before you ruin all good work you've done. Once you get half-hearted it turns half-ass cause you just don't care. I hate to see people do that with their careers-work heard great reputation but then lose interest but hang which diminishes all the good stuff. That video of David Lee Roth singing comes to mind-damn dude retire. Did you folks see the new Cactus video with Carmine (sorry dudes I’m old /Vinnie) Appive doing a fine job of drumming-which I'm generally not a fan. Now this dude can still sing.
 
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for instance, we can state with confidence that the person who covers fifty yards in the least amount of time is the best runner in the race, but who's the best drummer of the following three: Ringo Starr, Charlie Watts, or John Bonham?
I'm going with Ringo. Unfortunately John cant compete, and I'm pretty sure Charlie cant run 50 yards.
 
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