Dave_Major
Silver Member
Hey, thought I'd post my first big question to spark a discussion.
This has been grating with me for a couple of days after reading and posting in this thread.http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54612
Drumming has trends and to me it seems the current in thing is to search for perfect technique.
When Thomas Langs first dvd came out it seemed (to me) to spark a trend of polyrhythymic study. I know Thomas didn't invent the idea he just publicly and awesomely displayed it. So it became the in thing to study. But as with anything some people took it out of the realms of music and of into the distance.
I think the same thing is happening with hand techinque.
Jojo's Dvd is excellent and has saved my drumming career to be honest. It has also sparked the trend, i think, of people sitting at the practice pad learning the moeller and free stroke till the cows have stopped coming home because they want to you play a song and not on your pad.
Now i'm not dissing these techniques I think they are hugely helpful and any other technique for that matter but they are a means to an end. Jojo says it himself on the DVD (don't quote me on this) that the techniques are born out of neccessity to execute his ideas on the set.
To me the 2 techinques are natural by-products of playing the drums. I teach a 10 year old who does the free stroke effortlessly. And I havent taught him it it just happens.
Once something becomes more of a techincal exercise in how clever/clean/precise you or your hands are then the point (at least in my eyes) surely is lost. We are musicians and shouldn't we play music?
The original poster in the thread at the top said he sold his drums 5 years ago to get perfect technique and then when he is worthy he will get a set again.
The search for perfection is a rocky road full of dissapointment and self doubt.
So my original question.
Do you guys think that the search for technique is getting out of hand and the music is being lost?
Can't wait to hear your answers
Dave
*sorry for the long post. I guess this is more of a rant that anything else*
This has been grating with me for a couple of days after reading and posting in this thread.http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54612
Drumming has trends and to me it seems the current in thing is to search for perfect technique.
When Thomas Langs first dvd came out it seemed (to me) to spark a trend of polyrhythymic study. I know Thomas didn't invent the idea he just publicly and awesomely displayed it. So it became the in thing to study. But as with anything some people took it out of the realms of music and of into the distance.
I think the same thing is happening with hand techinque.
Jojo's Dvd is excellent and has saved my drumming career to be honest. It has also sparked the trend, i think, of people sitting at the practice pad learning the moeller and free stroke till the cows have stopped coming home because they want to you play a song and not on your pad.
Now i'm not dissing these techniques I think they are hugely helpful and any other technique for that matter but they are a means to an end. Jojo says it himself on the DVD (don't quote me on this) that the techniques are born out of neccessity to execute his ideas on the set.
To me the 2 techinques are natural by-products of playing the drums. I teach a 10 year old who does the free stroke effortlessly. And I havent taught him it it just happens.
Once something becomes more of a techincal exercise in how clever/clean/precise you or your hands are then the point (at least in my eyes) surely is lost. We are musicians and shouldn't we play music?
The original poster in the thread at the top said he sold his drums 5 years ago to get perfect technique and then when he is worthy he will get a set again.
The search for perfection is a rocky road full of dissapointment and self doubt.
So my original question.
Do you guys think that the search for technique is getting out of hand and the music is being lost?
Can't wait to hear your answers
Dave
*sorry for the long post. I guess this is more of a rant that anything else*