How do you find time !?

I didn't play between 1989 and 2005 while I was helping to raise my family.
 
Some weeks there just won't be time, not much you can do. Family comes first, always.

Cherish the time that you can play.

Bermuda
 
Tbdd; just watch the language. The mods take a very dim view of profanity.
 
bermuda said:
Some weeks there just won't be time, not much you can do. Family comes first, always.
Cherish the time that you can play.
Bermuda
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++1

Also: it may be a good time to really work on your hands. forget about the set and pull out the practice pad and run some drills. a little easier to do with less time available...
 
I don't, thats why I just do this as a hobby, hell if I had to make time to practice even when I didn't feel like it that would take all the fun out of it for me.
 
What I did is decide a long time ago that the work comes first, and built my life around that- it's a very tough thing to adopt once you've committed to a certain size mortgage, car payment, and level of expectation for family/relationship time. But gigging is real music time, so don't sweat it too much. A lot of people gigging a lot don't have a lot of practice time.
 
I work on my hands using my steering wheel as a practice pad while driving with my knee. My hands have most definitely benefited from the hundreds of hours I've put in since 2003.
 
My kids now are 22, 19 and 16. Two daughters both in college and my youngest is my son. When they were younger and still to this day I would actually fly home for whatever reason.

I would actually fly home to umpire my daughters softball games and then fly out and make the hit that night. I was lucky that Esteban let me do such things because of the possibility of missing a flight or delays and so forth but he was cool about it and sometimes I cut it close but I always made it. Even for each of my daughters on the nights of their high school graduations I had gigs. I made both graduations and flew out later that night.

Family is first for sure but you need to make time to practice. Even right now with my crazy schedule i got so fed up with hearing myself play that I started practicing for about 90 min during my break at the studio. You can make time to practice.
 
larryace said:
I work on my hands using my steering wheel as a practice pad while driving with my knee. My hands have most definitely benefited from the hundreds of hours I've put in since 2003.
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I also do this. I have a 3 year old, and have been building a house for the last year, so my set has barely seen the light of day. However, I feel like I've improved quite alot by focusing on my hands. You can spend alot of time on paradiddle variations that will immediately pay off when you get back on the set.
 
My practice time is usually 10-11 pm, often dragging my butt up to the 3rd floor of the house to do so.

But how I wish I had those early days with my daughter back..
 
My old teacher told me that if you put Buddy Riches brain in my head, I would play like Buddy. His point was there is a cerebral part of drumming that should not be over looked. Playing on a steering wheel etc. is actually helpful. This may sound stupid but when I gas up my car, i count off the first few numbers look away and keep counting to see if my tempo is correct. There is no substitute for playing a kit, but down time doesn't have to be all blank. Kids rock too!!!!
 
You can also do heel down exercises just by raising your toes as far as you can like 300 times every other day. There's plenty of stuff you can do. You can just read music notation and mentally practice. That's what I'm getting at. If you can't physically practice, you can usually mentally practice.
I swear just thinking about drumming is beneficial. They did a study where people practiced basketball and another group of people imagined playing basketball. There were great benefits to those who just imagined, almost as much as those who had actually played. I contend that even being on these forum helps to crystallize thoughts regarding drumming. The more clear of a picture you have, the easier it is to attain your goals.

My drumming has all of a sudden been more in demand since 2008, which coincidentally is when I joined DW. Coincidence? I attribute at least a good portion to the fact that this place has "forced me at my own will" to really dig deep and verbalize what I have had experienced drummingwise since 1970. I become more mentally clear in my intentions and it comes through in my playing. Honest Injun.
 
When I had my first child, I got diced out of my band (which I started). After that I played very little for a few years. I really didn't step up the drumming until my kids were older. Now I play in two bands, averaging playing about 3 times a week. But besides that, I don't have a whole lot of time to practice, as I put in 50-60 hours work weeks to boot.
 
that's a good point about mentally practicing. i bet that helps.

i try to practice on my kit every day (if possible) but also when i'm at work i very quietly tap out beats on my desk with my fingers and on the floor with my feet. that's better than nothing, and is actually pretty good for working out independence and coordination issues. i also have a practice pad set up on the table in front of my tv. i play along to whatever music is on, and i generally play around with rudiments and warm up exercises.
 
I didn't play for 32 years for these reasons.
Family
school
work,
money,
neighbors.
Those were the priorities and when I got older and some of those priorities changed, I was able to get back to drumming again. You will find your own schedule, but put things in perspective and enjoy all of it.
 
It might sound rather obvious, but did you already try scheduling your practice?

It helps me to just have time dedicated to drumming and practicing with the band... The ol' lady likes it too, as that was one of my main problems... Always running off at odd times and days when everyone could get together for practice.

So now I basically have a few days a week that everyone knows will be music... And on other days I just go out to the garage and practice a bit when the universe allows.
 
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