High School Practice Time

Hey,
Next year I will be entering high school and I am going to be having a very tight schedule (hard academics, getting home at 6:30ish etc.) and I was wondering how you guys managed to fit drumming into your schedules. I want to be practicing around 5 hours during the week and 4 hours over the weekend if possible. If you guys could give me some tips on fitting drumming into a busy schedule it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Well my advice would be to break your pactice time up in 20 - 30 minute chunks that you can spread over the course of the day/week.
Create a practice schedual that is realistic and that is flexible enough that you can deal with a missing practice session here and fill some extra time there.
If you have a practice pad and a cheap, light, stand you can take that to school.

Do what you have to do first, so you can do what you want to do.

Games, surfing the internet, TV all should take a back seat. Get your homework done first.

Good luck with school.

GJS

A great idea that I heard from Stanton Moore was that he woke up an hour early everyday to be able to practice. He said that being a professional drummer, he would be able to practice whenever he wanted, right? Wrong. Between the gigging, promotions, events and travel if he didn't get up early, he wouldn't have time to practice. I know with high school it isn't the easiest to get up early, but then you have 1 less hour to practice at the end of the day

I've been through school and college over here (the equivalent I think?) and theres only one really logical thing that you can do to maximise both your drumming skills and success in future life. It's as follows...

1) Nail ALL of your homework as soon as it's set, don't let it take a back seat as it will build up.

2) Once you've done all the homework, drum. Drum for as long as you can/want to.

It might seem dull doing all that work at the time, but it will pay off when you get good grades and a better chance at later life.

George.

Well I don't come home from school that late but I usually do my homework in school whenever there is free time. So when I come back I can drum as much as I want...

Is it normal for high school students to be getting home at 6.30? That seems bizarre to me and is certainly not common where I live unless there is some after school sports practice etc....even then, it doesn't occur every day of the week.

As a general rule, high school students have far more time on their hands than they think they do (assuming "normal" school hours, of course). Use it wisely and you'll have plenty of time for study, friends and drums.

Home at 6:30, 5 hours practice makes it 11:30 Bedtime. when do you do homework, chores, deal with friends etc etc etc