Is practicing every day a must?

Jonathan Curtis

Silver Member
Those that know me know that I am a budding professional drummer, right at the start of what will hopefully be a long and successful career.

As a person, I am very analytical, and have been criticised in the past for "thinking about it too much". Well, this is certainly true for my drum practice. I practice a lot, generally around 3-4 hours a day, excluding band rehearsals, gigs and teaching (which is actually beneficial to me as well).

My query is, how beneficial/damaging are days off?

For instance, this week, I have done over 9 hours of solid, dedicated practice from Monday to Wednesday. Today, Thursday, I just feel like I want a day off from it. Tomorrow, I have another rehearsal in the morning, and will practice in the afternoon. I have read many articles about practice, and the sophisticated professionals all seem to advise 2-3 hours a day is plenty, and days off are healthy. However, there is a stigma related to these demi-gods of music like, say, Vinnie, D. Weckl etc. etc. that they practiced dozens of hours a day, every day, and you'll never play like them if you don't do the same.

Where does reality lie? Somewhere blurred in between? I make no bones about it, one day I want, and fully intend, to play as well as those heroes of mine, but I'd like to know I'm getting there as efficiently as possible.

For those interested, my practice at the moment is roughly divided evenly between pad work, the 4 G. Chaffee Patterns books, and play-along material/improvisation.

I'd like your thoughts on this.

Cheers
 
I'm exactly the same as you mate, I over analyse everything too.

I practise a minimum of 2 hours everyday, I usually practise for 3 sometimes 4 and sometimes I'll have the odd Friday off as my fingers sometimes swell up after band practise and hurt (I have arthritus).

If I miss a day or even worse 2 I feel like I can feel it when I'm playing with the band. I always question whether it's a mental thing or not.
I do think once in a while having a week off can be good as it refreshes the mind and can actually improve vocabulary but, I still think there's a short period of physical catch up.

The other week I couldn't play my drums because I took then apart and bits were at our studio. I was totally psyched out at band practise and felt everythinf I played was crap. But was it? Or was I just being mental? I don't know.

I think you probably DO have to practise like the great to be that great 'cos these guys play mind blowing stuff and NEVER mess up! their time never falters either.

This is why I think even my 2-4 hours a day isn't enough.

I'd like to hear other peoples replies to this thread 'cos I think about this alot too!
 
Depends what you want. I have a friend who's now a drum teacher and has been a professional musician for over 40 years. He's played with a bunch of people over the years and has toured with some big name bands; he never mentioned practising for 12 hours a day - mostly because he was working from a young age - and I'd put his skill level up with any drummer you'd care to mention.

That's not to say he never practised - I'm sure he did - but I guess he was too busy being the drummer he is to be chasing the dream of being Steve Gadd or whatever. I'm not sure what that even means. If you mean you want to be able to sit down on any stage or in any studio with any set of musicians and just play without hesitation then there's a bunch of people in the world who do that every day. If you mean you want to be respected and revered like Vinnie Colaiuta then that's something all together different.

I never met Vinnie Colaiuta so I don't know if the 12 hour daily practise thing is true or not but it seems an arbitrary number to put on something for an arbitrary goal. I mean, what if 12 hours is the magic number and you can only spare 11 hours in the day? Will that be okay? Will you be forced to settle for almost-but-not-quite-as-good-as-Vinnie?

You see what I mean? There are many reasons why everybody cites Jeff Porcaro as a great drummer and no one's heard of every Dave Doofus of Nowhereshire*. It sounds to me like you're practising plenty - perhaps it's time to get yourself out there a bit as well.

Good luck and have fun.

*That's not a slight on you personally - but hopefully you get my meaning . . .
 
No. It´s not a must in my opinion.

I sure wish I could practice half as much as you guys!

Practicing efficiently is probably the most important thing if you are very results oriented Wich does not necessarily mean putting in very long hours.....I do believe that after a couple of hours you reach a point of diminishing returns....It means having a plan, a structure, a knowledge of how to progress as a player and using the time well. Dave and Vinny did not just noodle around for 12 hours a day....they got to work....seriously.

Also "muscle memory", which has very little to do with muscle and a lot to do with your peripheral nervous system, seems to work better (at least for me) when I get periods of good rest. Also, praciticing more often in short "bursts" seems to work bettar than few prolonged sessions. There is some science to back this up.

(personally when I get a few minutes alone in the garage with my kit I just want to noodle around and enjoy it....I still get better but not nearly as much as I could if I were more disciplined).
 
This is what I imagine is the case ...

The Vinnies and Virgils of this world practice 12 hours a day because they want to. From what I've read and heard there's nothing they'd rather do most of the time, so days off would only happen when life got in the way.

Still, breaks are refreshing.
 
I think it's very important to give yourself time off from practicing to let the dust settle and for it to sink in. Although I hate to use athletics analogies in drumming, sometimes we just need to have a rest day for recovery. In this case, it's mental recovery as much as anything else and I find that it can take a little while for some of the ideas that you've been practicing to mentally sink in.

With that said, if you're really serious about being a professional, you have to treat practice like a job. You should be treating it as seriously as that, with targets set up and schedules. You have to be quite self-disciplined and this is where I really fall down.

I've seen a lot of people with ambitions of being professional musicians only to be let down by not taking practice seriously enough. I think the stumbling block was always that they were 90% of the way there but not being serious enough to realise that to get that extra 10% required more graft than most of the previous 90%.
 
8-12 hours a day seems unbelievable to me yet it's a number(s) I see time and time again in interviews and stuff.
is it just exagerated?
I love music and I love drums. I still have that childish, enthusiastic excitement whenever I see them yet I could not play for that long.
Like Orko said, after a certain amount of time I actually start getting worse so I have to get my serious stuff done first otherwise I'll miss my window of oppertunity to learn.
After 2 hours I'd say I decline.

Can these guys actually still be learning and getting 'good' practise 10 hours in?
 
It all depends on where you are and how ambitious you are to get to where you're going. I love drums and I love playing them, so practice is a means to a profitable end.

Dennis
 
As a part time drummer..on dayscI don't have students or a gig I practice .5 to 1 hour a day. In additionalto this I spend additional time transcriping and listen to songs. I have also found spending time networking and fringing work is equally important!
If I was full time I would most likely spend to 2 to hours 3 hours a day play sperate of business relate items and travel.
This would vary with work load. I have had many periods of 6 to 8 hours a day. Denis
 
I've only discovered the concept of truly practicing and experiencing the benefits from it in the last 4 years. I'm not sending children thru college with my drumming like Joe Morris mentioned. However, I've totally reached the idea of twelve hours. And it could only be a labor of love with someone like myself, not a must-do thing. I'm not highly self-disciplined at all, which is the good news in this case: I feel you need 3 or 4 hours a day minimum to even think about the word 'pro'...Many days I can't practice more than an hour and a half- but on one day of available time spent working on a pad, my woman said, "How can you practice for 8 hours straight?. I was like, "Easy, because I can't practice 20". This isn't for bragging-this is to say you may reach a place where practice is like reading a book that you can't sit down simply because you can't wait to see what's gonna happen next. So it's become much bigger than whether or not I end up getting to do it solely for a living(even tho it's still my dream-100%). It's about mastering a craft, which is something a man(or woman) has an innate desire to achieve.

Because I'm not actually in the shark eat shark(or drum eat drum, as we like to say at DW) marketplace of education and pro competition, my personal long answer to your question is no, missing a day doesn't hurt in any way whatsoever. I would say enjoy it and get your money's worth and come back with a whole new level of enthusiasm.
 
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Practice should be like sex. You should really want to do it, not feel you have to do it. If I don't feel like practicing that day, I don't. I have to want to practice. Beginners need the most practice. Also like sex, marathon practice sessions are "too much of a good thing" type deal...for me anyway. I get plenty of benefit from 2 hour sessions.

For me 2 .5 hours is my limit for practice. After that I need to change it up.
 
I think the 10-12hr a day thing is exaggerated. The mind would have a very hard time concentrating for that period of time, every day. Plus, I believe there is such a thing as "burnout". It happens to professional athletes all of the time. I know drumming or playing a musical instrument might not be as physically demanding, but I still believe these principals apply. I think working on something every day for shorter periods of time is better. Personally that's what always worked better for me. No, I am not a professional or anywhere near that level, but you have to enjoy what you are doing and not make it into a menial "task" that has to be completed everyday. Have fun!!!
 
the extreme practice thing is something people who have done it have done for a certain short period and pretty much sacrificing having a life ouside of drumming. I have done it too. My last year at university was seriously 14 hours of concentrated practice for about 6 months, but that's not really doable if you have other things to do, have gigs, have a girlfriend, need to make money and so on.

For real serious practice I'd say anything from 4-8 hours of well planned practice is more than enough. A litle is better than nothing and I think a day or two off sometimes, even a real vacation can be very good for you on so many levels.
 
Practice should be like sex. You should really want to do it, not feel you have to do it. If I don't feel like practicing that day, I don't. I have to want to practice. Beginners need the most practice. Also like sex, marathon practice sessions are "too much of a good thing" type deal...for me anyway. I get plenty of benefit from 2 hour sessions.

For me 2 .5 hours is my limit for practice. After that I need to change it up.

I dunno. I spent a couple years practicing/playing 4-5 hours per day. No regular job and plenty of savings helped. Thing is, I wasn't physically tired, but I was mentally drained, because I was thinking and concentrating so intensely.

So I think it's natural that the "big dogs" spent periods of their life where they practiced like hell. Many former students at Berklee or UNT talk about "living in the practice rooms". The nice thing about a school situation is that you're never short on material to practice (some gigs are like this, too). You're constantly working on a song or style, independence/coordination drills, rudiments/technique, etc., because you're going to be tested on them at some point soon. With those goals in front of you, it's easier to get motivated, compared to motivating yourself. You're not "thinking too much", MJ. For most people, the school does the "thinking", and you then do the practicing.

As for missing a day, most think that practice every day is a given, because of muscle memory, and also because being in the habit of every day practice is more easily managed than every other day, or a couple days a week, etc. When you never miss a day, you never think about skipping a day, ya know? It would probably help if you created a 20-minute to-do list, so that you can practice most of the things you're working on a little bit, without thinking very much about what to do or getting too involved in any one exercise. Just something to get your hands and mind a little maintenance, then you can go back to your 'day off'.

While on the road, big name musicians don't get to practice like they do at home, hence the term "road chops" or "show chops", as in being able to play the gig really well, but struggling with material you don't get to practice. Or maybe you're just gigging locally a lot, and you don't have the energy for many hours of practice. That might be alright, if the gigs are challenging you in some way. If they're not challenging, find a way to make them so (but not at the expense of the music!).
 
everyone is different

I personally love to practice, I get tons of enjoyment out of it

you would think after teaching for 7 hours , then going straight to a gig , packing up and going straight to a 3 am recording session would lead most to bed when they get home at 9 am.........not yr boy Gvdadrummasum

I'll sit down and hit the pad for an hour working out some stickings, get behind the kit and work on some Linear Time Playing by Chaffee or whatevers on my mind at the time, then pass out , wake up do it all again

days I dont work as much I may practice anywhere from 1 to 8 hours depending on how im feeling that day or how nice it is outside and how cold the beer is

there is a practice pad in my bathroom....yeah I'm that guy

hey most people have magazines right?.......well, I dont read magazines

if you enjoy practicing as much as I do then do it......
if you have to force yourself to practice....then its time to take the day off until the magnetic energy of inspiration pulls the sticks to your hands like the hammer of Thor
 
I pretty much never practice. I work a day job, and am married with 2 kids. I gig regularly with 3-4 different projects. I would definitely benefit from practice, but honestly I don't feel that my lack of practice has hindered me in any way from performing or recording with any of the folks I play with.

In that sense I don't think it is "necessary". I am not under any kind of illusion about my skill level. I'm an average drummer with a maturity level that I feel helps me conceal my shortcomings fairly well. By this I mean I limit my fills and don't try to execute things that I know are inappropriate for the song. I'm still an immature dick most of the time ;)

But if you want to be exeptional at anything you have to devote time developing. You (the OP) have probably practiced more this week than I have in my whole life.
 
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Any body know how to get to Carnegie Hall (you got a GPS) ?

PRACTICE ! PRACTICE ! PRACTICE !

Do you have to practice everyday ? This is probably not the right question.

I think a person if they want to give themselves a chance at doing well and getting to know their craft of drumming needs to be DISCIPLINE.
What I mean by discipline is that maybe a person should create a lifestlye that supports and enhances their drumming. Create a schedule, do some drum pad work. Lately I have been bored and I am going through some old books on my practice pad, its fun, I dont feel like playing the kit. Do some drum set study books. There are so many good drum books out there. If I go through somebodys drum book and all I learn is one or two things it was worth it. What ever I do in a snare drum book, I apply everything I learn someway, somehow to the drumset, because thats what its about. There is a life time of drum books out there worth studing. You should be Working out and staying in shape to keep you drumming. As far as I am concern drummers are atheletes, you dont want to get tired, you need endurance, you dont want your legs or any body part to fall asleep on you when you are playing, or sitting behind the set, these things will happen. Eating the right food, hi energy, fish or what ever, can keep your energy up when playing, instead of all the garbage we are all exposed to. Make time to listen to music. Just listening to what you like will influence your playing. Should you practice every day, NO. Whats the difference of practicing the same old stuff, stuff you already know over and over, wheres the learning in that, their is none. You can practice less, if you have a good system, what ever that is, or constantly playing challenging material. How good are you at latin, that will give you a run for your money and it will make you a better rock and jazz player. There have been times when I was in a band, and because people couldnt make practices or it was bad timing, we didnt play for a month and I didnt practice at home. When we got together the bands energy level was incredibily high and I was just crazy rocking out, and it felt and sounded great. Time off from any routine is healthy. I have read several autobiographies of musicians (drummers, bands,examples-John lennon, Neal Peart, Led Zepplain,Eric Clapton...). I have learned from reading these how to be a better drummer and musician, because that is what you are.
How you practice and what you practice is probably more important than practicing everyday. GET THAT LIFESTYLE GOING !
 
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For many, many years I practiced every single day without fail. Though drumming and music is critical to me, it was more important to me at that time than it is now in my life.

Life priorities such as family and household obligations prevent me doing so as does desire.

This being said, and more to your point (I think), if I go more than 3 consecutive days without practice, it takes an entire session to recuperate.

At this point I get about 2 hour sessions about 3-4 days per week with days off in between.

Also remember it's not about hours logged. Hours logged means nothing if the time is not spent wisely.

Believe it or not, I get more crazy if I don't listen to music on my stereo everyday for an hour or so. A day without active listening is a terrible day to me.
 
Practice should be like sex.

Well, I can say for sure that I've had (on occasion) one too many beers, and played what I thought was beautiful music all night, only to wake up in the morning and regret what ended up on tape.
 
Well, I can say for sure that I've had (on occasion) one too many beers, and played what I thought was beautiful music all night, only to wake up in the morning and regret what ended up on tape.

HAHAHAHA! I was waiting for someone to chime in on that comment.
 
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