insane amounts of practice and potential benefits

I cannot disagree with this comment. Many days were spent with up to 16 hours practice. Much that was gained was lost when I became ill as well. At least I am alive.

EDIT: And now I have nerve damage in my spine and my right hand is virtually numb. I can only use it to play because it comes so naturally now. But I cannot feel the stick in my hand.

That's my other concern to over practicing. You're not doing your body any good drumming excessive lengths of time constantly all year. RSI would be a serious factor when doing that amount of playing.
 
I feel if you want to be at the top level at anything you need to put in the crazy hours. There is no other way - period.

Just look at the richy-rich dude in the big house. If he was not handed down the money then he put in the 60 hour weeks (in most cases) to get there. Plus the schooling.

And don't forget that the Tony Williams ,Bonhams and Minnemanns of the world shedded like crazy to have that skill - not much of a personal life during those formative years.
 
You would have wasted your life if you had spent those 90,000+ hours in front of a TV. Many people do.

Giving your life in pursuit of what you enjoy in an effort to become better at that endeavor is something to be honored.

That's a very good observation, Jim. It's Zen. I mean, what's the difference between a life wasted and a life well-spent? Most of us would agree it's happiness, and whiling away the hours 100% absorbed in something that interests you definitely counts.

But now, Wy, you have reached that wonderful (not) moment in middle age where you think, "Damn, is that all there is?". The things that turned you on in younger years aren't doing it for you any more.

Time to move on and, as I said before, your plan for 2010 is spot on. And also get on with that bio! You've done the spadework and your mind and body is telling you that's it's time to reap the rewards.

Dr Polly prescribes:

- scale back your drumming habit to just an hour per day
- use the time you would have spent practising exercising/stretching to get in shape, and getting organised so you're gig-ready (in all those ways that don't involve technique)
- writing your memoir

Once you get things more sorted out you can do more networking and hustling for gigs. Read this post three times per day until the symptoms of mid life crisis become manageable.

BTW, this is one of the best thread hijacks I've ever seen lol
 
Wy,

I think you should most definitely write that book. How ironic that maybe all of your practice and dedication to the drums, martial arts and model making, then dealing with your illness, might culminate in being a successful author, and help inspire countless people with overcoming obstacles!

It could make you wealthy, and then you would meet someone to share your success with. I doubt that you would then feel that you have not been successful. Of course, I think that you already are. Having the skills that you worked so hard to achieve is in itself success.

But your story resonates with me, because of the parallels with my life (the drumming, martial arts, and age. Thankfully, I have not had the serious health issues), and I, for one, would be very interested in reading it!

Please don't get depressed, and feel that you have wasted your life, because you have not! We all have to deal with the hand we are dealt, even if we ourselves contributed to it by zigging when we should have zagged, etc. As you know, life is all about learning. No matter what the subject. We never stop learning. It's how we grow as humans, and ultimately, it teaches us about life.

Embrace it, and keep moving forward my friend, the best is yet to come!

-Jeff
 
Wow, thanks so much Jeff, Pol and everybody else. I really should write the book. If only to clear my head of the past. My feeling these days about what I want to acheive is simply to offer what I can. Perhaps the book is the way to go as well as drum and percussion education.

Hi Nick.
None of my problems resulted from drumming as such. I've never had any rsi or other injuries like that. Luckily I had exceptional teachers who taught me how to move. I do have arthritic problems but they stem from martial arts practice and hard work. My spinal problem results from my doing very heavy back breaking work as a small child. Most jobs I had from 8 up were all hard, especially while working in the bush or with heavy metal objects or with crates of fish and other things I had to lug around. I was pretty badly exploited as a small kid. Some people I worked for were okay but for the most part I was simply cheap labor.

Again sorry for the thread hijack.
 
Yep, writing things down is cathartic. With luck it could be helpful in other ways. I'm currently editing my Dad's memoirs of being driven out of Europe by the Nazis and adjusting to life in Oz as a refugee. If you want someone to cast an editorial eye over your stuff, give me a hoy.

And I think the important thing is, if you're going to hijack a thread, do it well :)
 
Most of us see rudimental practice or anykind of physical activity as practice. But how many of you count the hours we have listened to music? I mean I hardly ever these days practice a spesific beat or lick or fill. My practice consists of very abstract rudiments and coordination excercises which to most nondrummers would sound like a waste of time. So what do I play when I start to impro with my band? Well all the stuff I have ever listened to, all that stuff that I wake up to at night and hear in my head. Would those sounds be there if I hadn't ever really listened to music? (part of my answer is in the "would you drop a student"-thread =) ) It's funny how I didn't understand the importance of really listening before. Now that I really got into jazz my playing has also improved without changing anything in my practice routines. So my theory is that playing is as much about your life in general, the stuff you have listened to with a good focus and analysis as it is about the physical activity. Ignore either of these and it lacks something.

This wasn't about Wy particularly, I have never heard you play. But it seems there's a bit too big an emphasis on physical acts these days.
 
just wanted to thank everyone for their contributions. i realized going in that it was a rather odd question to ask but figured it was worth it. can't wait for my new kit to come in the mail :)
 
Most of us see rudimental practice or anykind of physical activity as practice. But how many of you count the hours we have listened to music? I mean I hardly ever these days practice a spesific beat or lick or fill. My practice consists of very abstract rudiments and coordination excercises which to most nondrummers would sound like a waste of time. So what do I play when I start to impro with my band? Well all the stuff I have ever listened to, all that stuff that I wake up to at night and hear in my head. Would those sounds be there if I hadn't ever really listened to music? (part of my answer is in the "would you drop a student"-thread =) ) It's funny how I didn't understand the importance of really listening before. Now that I really got into jazz my playing has also improved without changing anything in my practice routines. So my theory is that playing is as much about your life in general, the stuff you have listened to with a good focus and analysis as it is about the physical activity. Ignore either of these and it lacks something.

This wasn't about Wy particularly, I have never heard you play. But it seems there's a bit too big an emphasis on physical acts these days.

This is how I tend to practice. At the moment it's mostly hi-hat time keeping and heel up practice to strengthen my time keeping and on stage performance. A lot of what I do in my spare time tends to be directly related to my drumming in the bands.

And music, Yes! I listen to about 2 hours of music a day when working in the city and I'm tapping to the music all the way; Muse, Incubus, Karnivool, Rush... All the stuff I'm into is the stuff I play when I'm in creative mode.

Someone on another forum had listened to our EP and had caught the influences from those bands' drummers, which for me was cool to hear. Jose Pasillas and Dom Howard are my direct influences and while I don't actually try to make drum parts based off their music, most of the improv and creative process breeds drum parts that are clearly influenced by these drummers.

For me, practice is so much more than simply sitting behind a kit and doing [x] exercise for [y] hours, if you know what I mean.

I think for performing drummers there's a few things which all contribute to growth:

  • Practicing technique and doing exercises
  • Improvising and jamming with or without a band
  • Performing live
  • Working with a band to create music and drum parts
  • Listening and analysing music and songs
 
wy yung.
Ever thought you're spending far too much time talking about yourself on a computer?
 
wy yung.
Ever thought you're spending far too much time talking about yourself on a computer?

IMHO, Although technically this thread was "highjacked", I think that Wy has earned every word he has posted. Also, while I understand your valid point, it comes across in a "shut the f**k up" kind of way, maybe not intentionally, but still...don't pick on him, please. I mean this in a most respectable way. He also took the direction of this thread into the off topic lounge, so as to "un-highjack" this thread. You see how humbly he responded to your post, which tells you a lot about the kind of person he is.

Peace.
 
All I can say is that this thread has been sufficient to kick my butt into a regular multi-hour a day practice schedule as opposed to lounging around and dreaming how it'd be nice if I could play X well.

Kudos to you all
 
IMHO, Although technically this thread was "highjacked", I think that Wy has earned every word he has posted. Also, while I understand your valid point, it comes across in a "shut the f**k up" kind of way, maybe not intentionally, but still...don't pick on him, please. I mean this in a most respectable way. He also took the direction of this thread into the off topic lounge, so as to "un-highjack" this thread. You see how humbly he responded to your post, which tells you a lot about the kind of person he is.
Peace.

I just think it's much better to talk to people face to face than type on a laptop to be read by anyone..
 
I guess my joke was misunderstood by a few.

This thread started out about practice then turned into personal achievements and some (myself included) felt we should be more humble.

There's a fine line for example, between being so stoked about a new-kit-that-costs-more-than-my-car that we want to share our happiness and...bragging. I'm not saying anyone was sounding to self-important but sometimes it's hard to tell...

I, me, my - not important.
 
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I just bumped into this seemingly unrelated article today which may interest you.

Very good read. Thank you very much for posting that. I was aware of the book The Outliers, and had planned on reading it. I know the book has a chapter on The Beatles and their success, so that will be interesting. I'm going to read get ahold of this one soon.
 
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