Exploration And Xbox: Result Of 4 Months Without Drumming
Learning makes you smart. Source: austinevan
First things first...
Thanks to everyone who has been in touch and encouraged me to start writing again. I haven't been drumming much since February because of an old wrist condition that started to bother me. Other than keeping my gigging and teaching commitments, I've barely picked up a set of sticks. On the bright side though, it's given me time to work on my Xbox Gamerscore.
And I've used the time away from the kit to reflect on my drumming. I'm feeling like I've learned more over the last couple of months than I have in all my other years of playing. Yet, there's still way more to learn than I ever thought there could be.
So I've decided to give up on everything I was doing, start over and
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Why You Will Never Be A Good Drummer Unless You Cheat At The Lottery
Win. Source: dplanet
Cheaters always win
You've played the lottery before. If not, then you know what it is. But do you know how cheating at it can help your drumming? Obviously, you can use the money you win to buy new gear, build your own studio, quit your job and spend all your time drumming. But this article has nothing to do with money. It's about practising. Stay with me on this, it will all make sense soon.
What practising is
Let's say you want to show off a new fill at band practise or at your next gig. You have to practise that fill first before you can do it. You need to completely ingraine that fill, not just in your mind but in your central nervous system. This is what people mean when they say that something is stored in your "muscle memory".
When you get to this stage you can play the fill on automatic pilot, you can play it without having to concentrate, you can play it while thinking about something else entirely and, most importantly, you can
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What To Do When You Lose Motivation To Drum
Life is over. Source itsjustminna
You begin to doubt yourself
Maybe everyone was right. Maybe you're wasting your time. Maybe you're no good at anything. You wonder if you'll ever be able to play like your heroes.
Does this sound familiar? I've felt like this a lot with my drumming and it's not a good place to be.
Fortunately, there are things you can do to get your motivation back.
Here are 6 of the best things that will get you back into the drumming groove again.
To start with, the most important thing is:
Don't panic
It's totally normal for your motivation to rise and fall. Just realise that it's a temporary phase and that you will get through it. Try your best at this time to...
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50 Killer Drum Tracks You Should Listen To
Listen. Source nasrulekram
The 50th Article from MakeDrumWork.com
This post is a huge milestone so I really wanted to make it special for you.
I decided to collect 50 of the best songs for drumming.
I'll be honest: I got stuck pretty quick.
But instead of giving up, I asked people who are smarter than me for help.
So what follows are the suggestions of my cool, clever, beautiful friends on Twitter and
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What Type Of Drumsticks Should You Use?
Lots of sticks. Source: el clinto
"I didn't realise there were so many..."
I always thought that a set of sticks were the same as any other set of sticks. Boy was I wrong... The different types that you see in your music store all have their own unique size, length, weight, feel, tip, bounce and balance point.
It's confusing if you're not sure of the difference between all of them and, to be honest, I still don't get why there is such a stupid naming system.
Just stick to the points below and you'll be fine!
Always buy a named brand
To start with, you need to buy sticks from one of the big name brands like Vic Firth. They're more expensive but there are
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The 7 Reasons Why I Blog About Drumming
It's good to drum. Photo: neate photos
A friends of mine is thinking about starting his own blog and it got me thinking about the reasons why I blog. So after a bit of reflection, here are my top 7 reasons why I blog about drumming.
I love drumming
I've been playing for 13 years now and I love it now more than ever. It's what I do, it's who I am. I love the excitement of nailing a new groove; the way my sticks bounce on a pad; that it makes me stand out from other people. I'm more excited about it now than I ever have been!
To help you out
I know what it's like when you first start out drumming; or when you've been playing for a while and you're not getting anywhere; or
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The 7 Things Rocky Balboa Can Teach You About Drumming
Be Like Rocky. Photo Credit: Neeta Lind
This may sound odd but...
To me, Rocky Balboa is much more than just a movie character. He is a real person. Being born in the early 80's meant I was too young for his movies when they first came out. However, that didn't stop me growing up with Rocky.
His movies were the only violent movies that my parents would let me watch. They loved Rocky. They loved the character, the story, they loved that me and my brother would be quiet and stop arguing when we watched it. For me and my brother, Rocky was who we wanted to be.
The spirit of Rocky lives inside all of us. When we decide:
- To do something with our lives, that's Rocky.
- To achieve something even though the odds are against us, that's Rocky.
- To be more than just another bum from the neighbouhood, that's Rocky.
So what can we learn from Rocky Balboa that
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How To Boost Your Stick Tricks At School, At Work Or Wherever
This changed everything for me.
I learned it while I was studying at Univeristy. Who would've thought that those endless hours of reading through Psychology books in the library would have paid off. After you've learned all the moves you need and where your fingers should be, you can do this pretty much on atuo-pilot while you're reading, researching or stuck in a meeting. You can practise your drumming anywhere if you're creative.
Most of your stick tricks are based on either
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The 3 Things Monopoly Has Taught Me About Drumming
Photo credit: .A.A.
I usually win at Monopoly. In fact I've only ever lost a couple times in my whole life.
I'm not ashamed to admit that recently I've used Google to find different techniques on how to win. A lot of the techniques I found were ones that I had already used before.
But what surprised me the most was that I don't always use those techniques and I've actually won against people who have used them on me.
So I really got to thinking about why I keeping winning at Monopoly because if I could figure it out then maybe I might be able to figure out how to win at everything else in my life.
Here are the 3 things that I reckon are
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Stick Trick - Full Stick Spin
This is my favourite stick trick. Its really easy to do when you get the hang of it. Its also really quick so it fits into your drumming easily.
All you're doing is just making the stick do a whole rotation behind your middle finger. Then you catch it in your normal grip.
- Start with the stick in between your third and middle finger. So that if you're looking at your palm, the stick is behind your third finger and in front of your middle finger.
- Bend your
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